Guide
Mezzanine staircases, pallet gates and goods lifts: pricing access
Updated
The deck is the easy bit. Getting people up safely and pallets up efficiently is where the design decisions and a good chunk of the money live.
Staircases
- The number of staircases usually follows escape requirements, not convenience: travel distances and occupancy decide it. See fire protection and escape.
- Specification varies widely: width, going and rise, landings, handrails both sides, and finish all change the price.
- Position affects the floor below more than people expect, because a staircase and its landing take usable floor and can interrupt racking runs or vehicle routes.
- A second escape stair is a step change in cost, so find out whether you need one before the layout is fixed.
Getting goods up
- Pallet gate
- A safety gate at the edge of the deck that lets a forklift place a pallet on the mezzanine without anyone being exposed to the open edge. Several types exist, from simple up-and-over gates to sliding and pivot designs. A modest, well-understood cost.
- Goods lift
- A separate project rather than an accessory: structure, pit or headroom requirements, power, controls, commissioning, ongoing maintenance and a statutory thorough examination regime. Price it as its own package and factor the running costs into the business case.
- Conveyor or lift table
- Sometimes the middle answer for repetitive movement of smaller loads. Worth pricing alongside a lift if the goods are not palletised.
Edge protection and guarding
Every open edge needs guarding, and the run of balustrade is priced by the metre, so an unusual shape or a long open frontage costs more than the area alone suggests. Where the deck edge is used for loading, the guarding has to work with the pallet gate rather than be cut away for it. Handrails, kickboards and mesh infill are all specification choices with a price.
Questions to put on every quote
- How many staircases are included, to what specification, and is that number driven by escape or by convenience?
- How many metres of balustrade, and what type?
- How many pallet gates, of what type, and where on the plan?
- If a goods lift is in scope, is it a separate price with maintenance and examination costs shown?
- What does the access layout do to the floor below: racking, doors, vehicle routes and existing services?
Access equipment is work equipment once it is in use, and lifting equipment carries its own statutory examination duties. Build the ongoing inspection and maintenance into the business case, not just the capital cost.