huangyhg

mechanical mezzanine min live loads
does anyone know where to find the min required live loads for a mechanical mezzanine? i have searched asce 7 and ibc for it. myself and my boss recall the loading to be 150 psf, but we cant substantiate a resource to check this....
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asce 7-05 appendix c, chapter c4, table c4-1 "minimum uniformly distributed live loads":
air conditioning (machine space) 200psf see note a
boiler room, framed 300psf " "
compluter equipment 150psf " "
elevator machine room 150psf " "
transformer rooms 200psf " "
note a: use weight of actual equipment or stored material when greater.
1994 ubc, table 16-b "special loads" (note 1) line 7. mechanical & electrical = total loads
note 1: the tabulated values are minimumn loads. where other vertical loads required by this code or required by the design would cause greater stresses, they shall be used.
i'd try to get the equipment size and weight and do a layout even if its a guess. what about concentrated loads? depending on the equipment size and spans, 150psf may be a little light.
thanks smb. much appreciated.
yes, don't forget to check the deck for concentrated loads (posts from an equipment support frame, etc).
yes, 150 psf is typical for mech mezzanine, however this can be quickly exceeded when you have chillers, cooling towers and boilers. try and find out what is going up there.
if all you have is air handling equipment the load will likely be significantly less. many hvac units end up in the 50 psf range actual total load and it seems to me 150 psf would be overkill.
i agree with jlnj. when dealing with hvac you typically end up with much less than 150psf. although when we don't know the specific equipment we use 150psf and verify it with the final equipment when it's selected.
if we know it is a large piece of equipment (chiller, boiler, etc.), as den32 stated, we do not estimate a floor load without getting the load information.

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