Compartments in retail premises

[TG]

Can anyone tell me whether space seperation in retail premises (seperating the storage area with the retail area) has to be fully compartmentalised (that is to say the compartment walls should run to full height of the building in a continuous vertical plane)

Or is it possible to use the space seperation walls to a certain height?

[kurnal]

Depends what you mean.

The compartment wall only has to run the full vertical height of the building if it is separating two buildings.

Within a building a compartment walls can subdivide a single storey level but must run from one compartment floor through the full height of the storey to the underside of the compartment floor above.

Or are you asking about the total maximum size of a compartment in an unsprinklered shop, which is 2000 sq m. Provided the total area of the compartment is within this limit then the storeroom need not be separated from the retail area by a compartment wall- but some fire resistance will be needed depending on the size of the store- at least half hour for stores 250-450 sq m, and one hour for larger stores.

So within this you can be a bit more relaxed about what you do in the ceiling void than if you need to provide a compartment wall.

[TG]

Thanks for the reply.

This is a single storey building that (50 x 40 x 8m approx) on one floor and has a seperate storage space from the retail area.

This seperation is by means of an internal wall that is approximately 4-5m in height.

My question is does the internal wall have to go all the way to the top or is there another solution (No AFD in the building by the way)?

Thanks again