How The AFA is Ensuring Access Floor Safety

Raised Access Flooring is often a crucial component within a commercial development. The area (void) under an access floor encases essential wires, cables, and pipes which would otherwise be held in a ceiling void or trail untidily along the floor.

Furthermore, access flooring enables a more efficient environment that suits the needs of the modern workplace as desks can be reconfigured, adjusted and alterations, services and maintenance can be made in a more time-efficient manner.

Like with other commercial components, safety and quality has to be guaranteed. The Access Flooring Association (AFA) revised and updated the MOB PF2 PS Specification in 2020, that was originally released in 1982 and revised in 1992 by The Property Services Agency (PSA). The updated version is called PSA MOB PF2/SPU and provides guidance to achieve and provide the highest levels of safety and quality when manufacturing, installing, selling, buying and using access floors.

The highly-detailed document outlines the requirements of the specification in 14 different topic areas including fire and safety, durability, transmission of sound and installation. Each topic area details conditions that need to be met and specific tests that must be passed including static load tests, soft body impact tests, quality control tests and fire resistance tests.

One of the reasons why the PSA MOB PF2/SPU Specification is so highly regarded within the access flooring industry is that it supports and considers other industry legislation and specifications that the user may need to consider including the British Standard Code of Practice for Office Buildings, Regulations for Electrical Installations and Health and Safety Executive (COSHH) Regulations.

As a highly regarded industry document, the PSA MOB PF2/SPU Specification can be requested and downloaded free-of-charge directly from The AFA website.