Storage & Archive Areas

Storage and archive areas hold goods, records and materials: general storerooms, paper and media archives, compactus and mobile shelving rooms, cleaners' stores, chemical and dangerous goods stores, and resident and tenant storage cages in basements. Functionally a store must carry its load, keep its contents safe from fire, water, pests and theft, keep hazardous materials segregated, and not obstruct escape or fire protection. Stores are easy to overlook because they are rarely visited, yet they concentrate fire load, floor load and hazardous materials in one place.

In apartment buildings, resident storage cages in basements are common property spaces filled with private belongings, so fire and battery risks there are shared by everyone in the building.

What shortens fitness for purpose:

• Denser or heavier storage than the room was designed for, such as compactus added to an office floor.
• Changes in what is stored, from paper to plastics, from tools to lithium batteries, without reviewing fire protection.
• Water from pipes running overhead and basement flooding.
• Neglect in rooms nobody visits.

Floor overload

Compactus and mobile shelving full of paper impose loads far above ordinary office floor loads. Installed on upper floors without engineering, they cause cracking and deflection and, in extreme cases, threaten the floor.

Fire load and sprinkler obstruction

Stores concentrate combustible material. Storage stacked close to sprinkler heads blocks their spray; high-piled plastics exceed what the sprinkler system was designed for; doors to stores are propped; and stores without detection let fires grow unseen.

Lithium-ion batteries

E-bikes, scooters and batteries stored and charged in basement cages and stores are a growing fire source; such fires are intense, produce toxic gases and can reignite.

Water damage

Archives and stores under pipework, plant rooms, wet areas or in flood-prone basements suffer leaks and floods that destroy records and stock. Archives should never sit under water pipes.

Dangerous goods incompatibility

Chemicals stored together that react (such as pool chlorine and acids, oxidisers and flammables), without bunding, ventilation or separation, can release toxic gas, cause fires or contaminate drains.

Archive environment

Paper, film and media need stable temperature and humidity; damp basements grow mould, and pests (silverfish, rodents) damage records.

Egress and access

Stores overflowing into corridors and stairs, and blocked access to fire equipment, valves and switchboards, are common in buildings where storage is scarce.

Basement stores also sit where floods arrive first, so stored contents and the services that pass through stores are at combined risk.

On site

• Storage within the clearance zone under sprinkler heads; stacked to the ceiling.
• Compactus and heavy shelving on upper floors; cracks or deflection in the floor.
• Pipes running above archives and stores; water staining on boxes.
• Chemicals stored together without bunding or segregation; corroded containers.
• E-bikes and batteries in basement cages; charging cables run to outlets.
• Mould on boxes or walls; pest evidence.
• Storage spilling into corridors, stairs and plant rooms.

In the records

• Floor loading design and approvals for compactus.
• Dangerous goods register and manifest.
• Sprinkler design basis.
• Leak and flood history.
• Building rules on storage cages and charging.

• Fire doors to stores propped open to make access easier, and stores left unlocked.

Most storage findings come from a mismatch between what the store was designed for and what is now in it, so begin by recording the actual contents and their weight and combustibility.

Record the time and conditions of each observation, because the condition of these spaces changes with operations and the worst state is the one that matters for safety.

Findings are graded by what they demand: safety (can hurt someone now), failure (failed and damaging the building), condition (distress present and progressing), lifecycle (renewal due on age and exposure), deadline (a regulator or ordinance sets the date), check (investigate before sizing works) and nil (cosmetic or stable).

Storage findings are graded by consequence: a store whose contents could start, feed or spread a fire, overload a floor, or release toxic gas is a safety grade; a damp or untidy store of inert goods is a condition grade.

A building surveyor leads, with a structural engineer for heavy storage, a fire engineer for storage hazard and sprinkler adequacy, and a dangerous goods specialist where chemicals are stored.

• Storage survey of every store: contents, height, density, clearances to sprinklers, access to fire equipment and egress.
• Floor load assessment for compactus, archives and heavy storage against the floor's design.
• Sprinkler adequacy review against the actual stored commodity and height.
• Dangerous goods review: inventory, quantities, compatibility, separation, bunding, ventilation, signage, and notification thresholds.
• Water risk review: pipes above stores, flood levels, drainage.
• Environmental monitoring in archives: temperature, humidity, pests.
• Battery charging review in basement stores and cages.

The report should list safety findings by store, the capacity and suitability of each, and works and management changes.

• Load control: relocate heavy storage to ground floors or over beams, strengthen floors, or limit shelving density.
• Sprinkler clearance: marked maximum stacking heights, and sprinkler upgrades where the stored hazard has outgrown the design.
• Dangerous goods stores: segregated, bunded and ventilated cabinets or rooms, with signage, spill kits and a current register.
• Water protection: reroute pipes, add drip trays and leak detection, raise storage off floors in basements.
• Archive environment: dehumidification, stable temperature, pest control.
• Battery policy: ban charging in cages and stores, provide designated charging rooms with detection.
• Housekeeping rules enforced with regular checks.

• Records digitisation to reduce paper archives and their floor and fire loads.

Most storage findings are fixed by management at little cost. Floor strengthening and sprinkler upgrades are lump sums. Dangerous goods cabinets and stores are itemised. Archive environmental control is a lump sum with running costs. Leak protection is itemised. Safety items are code compliance; equipment replacement is lifecycle.

Digitising or offsiting archives can avoid floor strengthening and free valuable space. Dangerous goods non-compliance can bring regulatory penalties and insurance consequences that far exceed the cost of proper stores.

• Australia. Work health and safety regulations govern hazardous chemicals, with AS 1940 for flammable liquids and AS 3780 for corrosives; state laws set dangerous goods notification thresholds; AS/NZS 1170.1 sets floor loads for storage; sprinkler design for storage follows AS 2118.1.
• United Kingdom. The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) and COSHH govern chemicals; BS EN 1991-1-1 sets storage loads; the responsible person must manage fire risk in stores.
• United States. OSHA hazard communication and flammable liquid standards and NFPA 30 govern chemical storage; NFPA 13 sets sprinkler design for storage; ASCE 7 sets storage live loads.

Insurers in all three countries commonly set conditions on storage heights, battery charging and chemical storage.

Records retention laws may also apply.

• Floor loading design and approvals for heavy storage.
• Dangerous goods register and manifest.
• Sprinkler design basis for storage areas.
• Leak and flood history affecting stores.
• Building rules on storage cages and battery charging.
• Archive environmental monitoring records.

• Insurer conditions on storage.
• Inventory of stored contents by room.