Room Data Sheets

General Office

A general office may be situated anywhere in the building. It may be the place of work for one person or a group of people.

The environmental conditions of the general office are important - a person may have to work here all day. Hence all services must be designed with aesthetics, comfort, ergonomics and of course health & safety in mind.

Electrical Services Requirements

Main Distribution - The lighting & power requirements of a general office are commonly served from a distribution board serving a group of offices or a local area.

A three phase supply may be desirable. However, it should be carefully implemented to avoid possible danger to users through adjacent services being on different phases. It is considered best to ensure that all the services within the office are on the same phase if at all possible.

Earthing & Bonding - Equipotential and Supplementary bonding must be installed in accordance with BS7671. In particular, metal rails, and raised floor systems must be bonded.

Clean or functional earth systems may be required for electronic equipment.

Power Services - Socket outlets must be installed in sufficient number to serve general equipment and in particular, office & computer equipment.

The outlets may be installed on dado or skirting trunking, or contained within service floor boxes.

It is normal for a standard wall mounted outlets to be installed for use by cleaner's etc.

Specialist Power Requirements - The most common requirement within the office is some form of dedicated circuit for essential office equipment or computers. This would likely serve several offices.

However, other loads may need consideration. Air conditioning & heating plant may need to be served from separate sources.

Lighting - General - The lighting within the office needs special consideration.

If computer (VDT or VDU) use is extensive, then the lighting must be designed with low glare characteristics. Use of uplighters should be considered to brighten up the office.

Illumination levels should be in accordance with CIBSE recommendations (approx. 450-500lux)

It is common for lighting control systems to be installed to save energy. Daylight linking must be carefully applied because smaller office may not have sufficiently wide windows to give enough daylight to make the system economically viable. Presence detection is often desirable in an general office as individuals leaving the room may not switch the lights off.

Lighting - Emergency - Emergency lighting must be installed to in accordance with BS5266.
It is often the case that smaller offices do not have a defined escape route passing through them, the installation of emergency lighting must nevertheless be considered.

Fire Detection & Alarm - Fire alarm detection and alarms should be installed in accordance with BS5839.

The office may form part of an escape route or may open onto an escape route. In such situations, with all but a manual only system, automatic smoke detection must be installed.

Sounders must be installed to give sufficient audibility. A sounder in an outside corridor will not always penetrate into the office. In such cases a sounder may be required in the office itself.

Uninterruptable Power Supplies - Local UPS may be used for standalone equipment. It is occasionally necessary to provide a "secure" circuit to the office to serve essential equipment, a central UPS being used with non-standard outlets to avoid plugging in ancillary equipment.

Cable Containment Systems - Desks and furniture can be well away from walls. If office equipment is required on such desks then means have to be employed to provide services to the middle of the area without causing health and safety hazards associated with trailing cables. Also, of course, the installation must look aesthetically pleasing.

If a raised floor is installed then services can pass underneath using either flexible or fixed wiring systems. Floor boxes containing both power and ancillary services are commonly installed.

If no floor void is present then floor trunking may be installed, again floor boxes would be used.

Where floor access is impractical, power poles may be used to bring services down from the ceiling. These should be carefully used because they can look unsightly, particularly in a small office.

Perimeter systems such as dado trunking can be used but if desks are extended from the wall, then desk cable management is required.

Data & Communications - Both data and telephone outlets are normally required to desks. The type and format depend upon the type of system used. However, the modern day trend towards structured cabling can present problems due to the large number of cables passing though either to serve the office or other areas.

Special consideration must therefore be given to ensuring sufficient space is allowed in voids, ducts and cable risers to facilitate this cabling.

Outlets can mounted on dado trunking or within floor boxes. In such cases, the depth of the accessory can present problems.

Base Generation - Secure circuits may be used served from autostart generators & UPS in order to ensure no supply disruptions. However such a setup is expensive and is it only used where absolutely necessary.

Security Alarm Systems - The office may have expensive PC and computer equipment installed. Also, office files, possessions and data will all be exposed.  The room may require security alarm cover, particularly if the room has external windows and could provide access to other parts of the building.