Pictured above: the underside of a steel mezzanine from our project archive (V6-7), a red edge beam carrying perforated steel deck panels with the black edge railing above. What the deck is made of, and what it is built to carry, is a large part of what this article is about.

"How much is a mezzanine?" is the first thing most people ask us, and the honest answer is a range with a reason attached. The figure we publish is S$280 to S$520 per square metre of mezzanine, including stair, handrail, gate and BCA submission coordination, and it comes with a note: higher for heavier load ratings or wider clear spans. That is a wide band, and the width is the point. This article is about what sits inside it, so you can tell which end your own deck belongs at before anyone has been to site, and so that two quotations which both say "per square metre" can be compared fairly.

First, what the rate includes

The published rate is not a bare steel price. It covers the stair, the handrail, the gate and the BCA submission coordination as well as the deck itself. That matters more than it sounds. A quotation with a lower figure per square metre may simply be leaving one of those four out, and you will only find out when the stair or the submission turns up as a separate line later. Before you compare two numbers, find out whether they are pricing the same four things.

Our own quotation is written and itemised, and where a submission is needed it is part of the same document. We do not send you to a separate consultant for it.

The four things behind the range

When we explain the S$280 to S$520 band, we name four things that move it: load rating, clear span, deck finish and how involved the submission is. We do not publish what each one adds, because they depend on your unit.

1. Load rating

This is the one we see rounded up most often. We size a deck to what it will actually carry, and the numbers we work to depend on the use:

• Office or light gauge work: around 200 kg/m².
• Carton picking and light assembly: 250 to 350 kg/m².
• Pallet storage on the deck: 500 kg/m² as the minimum.
• Forklift drive-on access: 1,000 kg/m² or more, with thickened slab connections.

A standard pallet-storage mezzanine is designed for hand pallet trolley loads only. A deck that a forklift drives onto is a different structure: a heavier deck in chequer-plate or diamond-plate steel, denser joists, stricter slab connections and sometimes reinforced columns. It costs more for that reason, and it is the clearest case of a rating that has to be decided at the start. Raising a finished deck's rating is an engineering job, not an adjustment.

Your quotation should state the rating in kg per square metre and say what vehicle or load it assumes. "Industrial grade" is not a rating.

2. Clear span

Clear span is the distance the deck has to cross between columns. It is one of the variables behind the published range, and we do not put a figure on what it adds because it depends on the layout. What you can control is knowing where columns can and cannot land. If you want pallet racking under the deck, the column spacing has to line up with the rack layout, which is why we design the two together rather than as separate jobs.

3. Deck finish

The deck surface is a real choice, and the options we offer are these:

• 22 mm particleboard with anti-slip coating: the cheapest option, and suited to non-sprinklered storage.
• Chequer-plate steel: for heavier traffic, and it is sprinkler-friendly.
• Composite deck with concrete topping: for the heaviest loads and the best acoustic performance.
• Open-grate steel: for floors with sprinklers below.

If one quotation prices particleboard while another prices chequer-plate, the difference between them is the deck, not the supplier.

4. Submission and fire work

Our published note on the range says it plainly: pure storage mezzanines without BCA submission run lower, and mezzanines with sprinkler integration and SCDF approval run higher. The triggers we work to for BCA submission are a mezzanine above approximately 300 m² gross floor area, a mezzanine carrying assembly use, a mezzanine used for any public-facing function, and any mezzanine that changes the building's GFA balance. SCDF comes in when a mezzanine affects the fire compartmentation of the unit, needs sprinkler tap-offs, changes the escape paths, or is above 300 m² gross. An industrial storage mezzanine below 300 m² in a single-occupant unit often needs no submission, and we still check the URA plot record before saying so. Our post on a warehouse office on a mezzanine explains why an office does not inherit that answer.

Three fire items can change the number:

• Sprinklers. If your unit is sprinklered and the mezzanine obstructs the existing heads, additional heads must be installed below the deck. That adds cost and time. It is either coordinated with your sprinkler contractor or included in our quotation, so ask which before comparing prices.
• Smoke detection. SCDF generally requires it on the mezzanine level if the deck is above about 3 m.
• Stairs. Egress is sized to the occupant load. A 400 m² mezzanine for 20 occupants may need only one stair; the same area for 80 occupants needs two, at opposite ends.

What can sit outside the per-square-metre figure

Even with a clear rate, some items are easy to miss. Check each one against what you were quoted:

• A lift. Some occupant loads or accessibility requirements call for one. We coordinate with a separate lift contractor and include the structural openings and the pit in our scope, but the lift itself is not our work.
• Office fit-out. An office mezzanine is often paired with glazed balustrade, partition walls and air-conditioning. We hold the structural design constant and the fit-out contractor adapts to it, so ask what the deck price includes and what the fit-out trade will charge separately.
• The slab. We assess it during the survey from the building's original structural drawings, which are typically obtainable from the landlord or BCA records, with core sampling or rebound hammer testing where necessary. Most modern industrial slabs, built after 1995, handle typical mezzanine point loads. Older slabs sometimes need larger base plates or thickening to spread the load, so a quotation that never mentions your slab has either not looked at it or left it for later.

Time and payment are part of the price

A standard mezzanine takes six to ten weeks from survey to handover: about two weeks for design and PE stamping, four to six weeks for fabrication in our Singapore workshop, and one to two weeks for installation. Where a BCA submission is needed, it adds four to eight weeks for turnaround. If you have a hard date, get the dates on paper before you choose between quotations.

We bill in milestones, typically a 5 to 10 per cent deposit on signing, with the balance tied to verifiable completion stages, and you can stop at any point and pay only for what has been done. On a mezzanine that needs a submission, part of the fabrication milestone moves to a "submission accepted" trigger, so you do not pay for steel to be fabricated for a design that has not been accepted.

How to compare two mezzanine quotations

Put the two documents side by side. Any line you cannot fill in from the paper is a question for the supplier, and it is cheaper to ask before signing.

1. What rating is the deck designed to, in kg/m², and for what load or vehicle?
2. What deck area is priced, and how far apart are the columns?
3. What is the deck finish, and does it suit your sprinkler layout?
4. Are stair, handrail and gate included?
5. Who does the PE-stamped calculation, the BCA submission and the SCDF plan, and is it in the price or a separate fee?
6. Are extra sprinkler heads and smoke detection in the price or a variation to come?
7. Has the slab been checked, and what was assumed?
8. How many weeks, and does that include the submission?
9. What is the warranty, and who stands behind it? Ours is a standard five years on the racking and mezzanine frame against manufacturing defect, and one year on installation workmanship. Forklift impact damage is covered by neither.

If the cheaper quotation is cheaper on every line, good. If it is cheaper because three of the nine answers are missing, you have found where the difference lives.

A note on small decks

Our smallest mezzanine is around 80 m². If what you need is one small room or a few shelves' worth of extra space, ask whether a mezzanine is the right answer at all. We will tell you honestly if boltless shelving or taller racking fits better. Our post on mezzanine or taller racking sets out how to decide, and the companion article on what moves the price of a racking bay does the same job for racking.

What to have ready before you ask for a price

• What the deck is for: storage, picking, assembly or an office, and whether anyone will ever drive a truck onto it.
• The heaviest thing that will stand on it, weighed.
• Clear height to the lowest obstruction, not the roof. The working minimum for a mezzanine that is useful on both levels is 4.5 m.
• The deck area you have in mind.
• Whether the unit is sprinklered.
• Whether the unit is leased, and whether the landlord has agreed.
• The date you need it by.

The short version

• Our published range is S$280 to S$520 per square metre, including stair, handrail, gate and BCA submission coordination, quoted after a site survey.
• Load rating, clear span, deck finish and submission complexity move it. Storage decks without submission run lower; sprinklers and SCDF approval run higher.
• Check the quotation states the rating, the deck finish and who handles the submission before you compare the headline.
• A lift, an office fit-out and slab work can sit outside the figure.
• Six to ten weeks from survey to handover, plus four to eight if a BCA submission is needed.

Want a figure for your own unit? WhatsApp us on 9107 2601 with what the deck is for, the clear height and the area, and we will tell you what we need to see at survey. The mezzanine page has the load ratings and the regulatory triggers, and the services page sets out how a job runs and how we bill.

Related reading: mezzanine or taller racking · a warehouse office on a mezzanine · pallet racking cost per bay