About Access Flooring
Access Flooring is a division of Raised Floor Solutions and an approved designer, supplier and installer of Kingspan Access Floors.
Raised access flooring has become an integral part of the flexible modern office environment, accommodating a heavy reliance on technology through the concealment of data, telecommunication and power sources and allowing the refurbishment or reconfiguration of spaces with minimum disruption according to evolving business requirements.
Access Flooring will supply and install raised access floor systems to suit Client specification or design brief.
- A variety of special bonded finishes are available, such as vinyl, natural wood or marble
- A professional UK wide service is provided by skilled raised access floor contractors from the company’s Lancashire based Head Office and projects range in size from 10m2 to 50,000m2
- As access floor specialists, the team can advise clients on the most appropriate Kingspan access floor products according to the type of project
- As members of the Access Flooring Association, guidance on product selection ensures installation is in accordance with PSA performance specification (PSA MOB PF2 PS/SPU) and Common European Standard BS EN 12825
- Clients are provided with an Operations and Maintenance Manual containing full instructions on how to maintain and care for the raised access floor system
- Optional annual maintenance programme providing expert technical advice on the long-term use and care of the raised floor system.
As a division of Raised Floor Solutions Ltd, Access Flooring is able to deliver a complete composite flooring solution in association with sister divisions Metal deck Steel Decking and Metcon Concrete Floors.
What is a Raised Access Floor System?
Raised access flooring is commonly used in the construction of new or refurbished buildings to conceal essential cabling and building services such as data cables, heating and ventilation pipes and telecommunications whilst still allowing easy access for maintenance and upgrades. It is an elevated floor made up of steel floor panels supported on pedestals that is laid above a solid floor therefore creating an open space in between.
To find out more about Raised Access Flooring, read our knowledge article
Kingspan Access Floors
Kingspan Access Floors is the world leader in the access flooring sector and manufactures in excess of 170,000 floor panels each week for use in a wide range of projects across the globe
Floor panel products are manufactured to PSA and BS EN standards and comply with ISO 9001 Quality Management, ISO 14001 Environmental Management and ISO18001 Occupational Health and Safety. Kingspan Access Floors are also backed by Kingspan’s own product warranty and in house product testing and technical support facilities.
For detailed descriptions of the range of access floor systems available including technical data sheets please visit the PSA MOB PF2 PS and BS EN 12825 links below.
PSA MOB PF2 PS
PSA MOB PF2 PS is the industry standard for access flooring products in the UK.
It was produced in partnership with the Access Flooring Association (AFA) of which Raised Floor Solutions is a member.
The specification consists of performance requirements verifiable by standard testing procedure; fire safety, moisture and thermal movement, strength grades, dimensional accuracy, floor panel finishes and electrical binding and continuity.
There are four UK PSA grades determined by load carrying capability; Light Grade, Medium Grade, Heavy Grade and Extra Heavy Grade. The Light, Medium and Heavy Grades all have three times safety factor. The PSA products datasheets provide technical information and guidance on the different access flooring products available according to Grade and project type.
Testing and certification for compliance with one of the four standards must be conducted by an independent testing station with NAMAS accreditation. PSA MOB PF2 PS recognises the need to specify installation criteria in addition to manufacturing standards.
BS EN 12825
BS EN 12825 was introduced in 2001 and outlines classifications for raised access floor systems based on their ultimate load this is the point at which failure will occur.
The raised access floor system is tested to its ultimate load up to the point of failure. To determine the classification of the floor system, the deflection of the floor panel is measured to produce a graph of applied load/deflection.
Raised access floor systems are classified by ultimate load, safety factor, deflection under working load and dimensional tolerances. This allows for six classes of ultimate load ranging from greater than 4kN to greater than 12kN. Against each of these six ultimate loads there is a choice of a safety factor of 2 or 3. For each of these ultimate load and safety factors, there are three maximum deflections under working load conditions; 2.5mm, 3.0mm and 4mm.
Where BS EN 12825 differs from PSA MOB PF2 PS, is that it does not interpret the classifications or advise which class of raised access floor is suitable for a specific application.
The BS EN Products datasheets provide technical information and guidance as to product classification against specific areas of application.
An example of a typical office standard use BS EN classification might be 3/A/3/2:
3 is the ultimate load class in excess of 8kN
A is the deflection under instantaneous working load of less than 2.5mm
3 is the safety factor
2 is the dimensional tolerances classification
Lower Embodied Carbon Access Floor Panels
Access Flooring is proud to be able to supply and install access floor panels from Kingspan’s new Lower Embodied Carbon (LEC) range. A market first, the new range contains the lowest amount of embodied carbon of any panels manufactured by the company whilst delivering the same high performance.
Initially, the range includes Kingspan RMG600+ with 57% less embodied carbon that Kingspan’s standard range. More access floor panels are in development. Download the data sheet for more information.
Server Rooms & Data Centres
Any space housing sophisticated and heavy IT, equipment, high density cabling and ventilation, such as server or communication rooms or data centres, will benefit from the installation of raised access flooring.
High density cabling can be easily concealed beneath Kingspan Access Floors’ anti static factory bonded floor panels yet can be accessed quickly and easily for maintenance, reconfiguration or in the event of a communication failure.
Server Rooms or Data Centre floors tend to require a Heavy or Extra Heavy Grade to accommodate large floor voids and heavy equipment.
High Specification Finishes
A range of high quality floor finishes are available from Access Flooring, including glass, granite, marble, natural stone and timber. These finishes are frequently specified on contracts requiring a prestigious interior environment where floor well access is still required, such as business reception areas, boardrooms, hotels, high profile retail stores, museums, art galleries and car showrooms.
A recent edition to the Kingspan Access Floors range of high specification floor finishes is Attiro a magnetic real wood floor specification for raised access floor installations. Each timber panel has a magnetic base, which secures it to the steel encapsulated raised floor panels. This greatly reduces the installation time over traditional tongue and groove wood flooring and enables an individual panel to be quickly and easily lifted without major disruption to the whole raised floor system.
Access For All
Since 1991, Building Regulations have promoted the principles of Access for All ensuring the requirements of wheelchair users and individuals with any form of disability or impairment are considered at building design stage.
The Building Regulations state that buildings should be designed to be suitable for:
– Disabled customers and visitors
– Friends and families accompanying disabled people
– Parents with pushchairs or carrying heavy luggage/shopping
– Parents with young children
– Some older people who not consider themselves disabled but for whom easier access makes getting about less of a problem
The Regulations apply to new buildings, where building work is being carried out, where a building is being extended or where certain changes of use have taken place.
The provision of ramps within a raised floor system can accommodate changes in floor levels to ensure access for all is achieved.
Access Flooring is able to design, supply and install ramps, access steps and handrails to provide a flexible and cost effective solution to meet all accessibility requirements in conjunction with the specified raised access floor system.
Design
Raised Floor Solutions offers a full in-house design service. Early project involvement allows the company to value engineer the steel deck, concrete floor slab and access flooring elements to establish the most efficient design solution.
All design work is assured by the latest Kingspan design software and professional indemnity insurance.
Contact us 
Raised Floor Solutions Ltd
3B, Maple Court
White Moss Business Park
Skelmersdale
WN8 9TW
Tel: 01695 555003 or 01695 555070
Email: enquiries@raisedfloor.co.uk
Email: enquiries@metaldeck.uk.com
RFSGroup
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