TAKING SAFETY TO NEW HEIGHTS
OLDFIELD ACCESS PTY LIMITED
ABN 40 088 478 399 ACN 088 478 399
8 Farrow Road
Campbelltown NSW 2560
Tel. 02 46297800 Fax. 02 46279300
6 February 2016
Flexi-Safe Void Protection System
Under-Floor Installation
Supplementary Installation and Safe Use Instructions
NB These instructions are to be used in conjunction with existing Flexi-Safe Void Protection
System Installation Instructions.
General
In general, under-floor installation is as per existing installation procedure, with the following
variations……
Product Identification
New and/or revised components are as follows
Component Description
Part #
Identification Marking
Male Under-Floor Struts - straight
Female Under-Floor Struts - straight
Male Under-Floor Struts - angled
Female Under-Floor Struts - straight
Edge Angles
Posts
Connectors
Screwjacks
VSMU-VSFU-VSMU----L or R
VSFU----L or R
VAU---VP
VC
VJ
Paint marking on end bracket.
Paint marking on end bracket.
Paint marking on end bracket.
Paint marking on end bracket.
Paint marking on brackets.
Paint marking on baseplate.
Other components as per existing Flexi-Safe Void Protection System components.
Installation Timing
Void platform will be installed prior to flooring sheeting being fitted (as soon as practicable after
the stair void is constructed).
Void Preparation
Stair void must be constructed of 240 x 36 LVL E13 (or equivalent) around full perimeter of stair
void and fully fixed to support loads imposed by void platform.
Edge Gaps
As the void platform is installed prior to the upper floor frame, all gaps around the void platform are
to be 80mm maximum. It may be necessary at times to fit Edge Angles along a face of the void
(without an infill panel fitted) to reduce the gap, when the gap is not large enough to fit both an
Edge Angle and either a Deck Edge Angle or an Infill Deck to support the infill panel.Fixing Struts
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In order to determine correct position for strut installation, fit a pair of struts across void, fit an
appropriate platform between struts to ensure that spacing between struts is correct and struts are
parallel to each other and square to void edge. Check edge gaps are correct and adjust strut positions
if required. NB all edges of void are to be treated as a floor edge (max gap 80mm).
Mark Strut locations and remove deck and struts.
Notch LVL at required strut end bracket locations (notch dimensions – 10mm (min), 15mm (max)
deep x 100mmm wide - for shorter struts, notch width up to 120mm may be necessary, to avoid
difficulty when removing struts). DO NOT exceed 15mm notch depth or overcut corners of notch.
Where I-joists are fixed perpendicular to the outer face of the LVL and a strut end bracket is to be
fixed in this location, the end of the I-joist is to be notched also (maximum notch size 130mm from
inner face of LVL).
Typical LVL Notch
Typical LVL and I-Joist Notch
Replace struts in required location and fix to LVL’s with two 14g x 75mm type 17 screws (per strut
end bracket).
Typical Strut End Fixed in Position.
Strut Extension
At maximum extension, no more than 425mm of the inner section of the
telescopic tube (male strut) should be visible. NB minimum 125 mm of inner telescopic section
must be visible to enable removal of strut assembly.
Continue installation as per existing installation procedure.Fixing Edge Angles
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Position Edge Angle in required location
Mark locations of Edge Angle brackets and remove Edge Angle.
Notch LVL at required Edge Angle bracket locations (max notch dimensions as above for fixing struts ).
Where I-joists are fixed perpendicular to the outer face of the LVL and an Edge Angle bracket is to
be fixed in this location, the end of the I-joist is to be notched also (maximum notch size 130mm from
inner face of LVL).
Typical LVL Notch
Typical LVL and I-Joist Notch
Replace Edge Angle in required location and fix to LVL’s with two 14g x 75mm type 17 screws
(per Edge Angle bracket).
Typical Edge Angle Bracket Fixed in Position.
Continue installation as per existing installation procedure.Fitting Strut Support Posts Assemblies
All struts over 2.5m in length must be fitted with strut support post assemblies.
Post assemblies are to be positioned to ensure that the maximum unsupported span of any strut does
not exceed 2.5m.
To fit a support post assembly, position the connector in the required location on the strut, place the
post (or extended post) over the top of the screwjack and secure top of post to connector with bolt
and wingnut (tighten wingnut firmly).
Adjust height of screwjack.
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Drill 10mm dia. hole in concrete slab and fix screwjack baseplate with 8mm dia. x 50mm masonry
anchor, to prevent accidental dislodgement of post assembly.
Typical Post Assembly - fitted to strut
Typical Post Assembly - fitted to screwjack
Continue installation as per existing installation procedure.
Strut support post assemblies consist of a post (# VP), a connector (# VPC) and a screwjack (#
VPJ).
Standard strut support post assemblies can be used for floor-floor heights of between 2.7m to 3.1m
(2.4m and 2.7m ceiling heights).
For floor-floor heights in excess of 3.1m, a pair of posts is spliced together with parallel couplers (#
SACPC) to form an extended post. Couplers are to be fitted spaced as far apart as possible.
An extended post can be used for floor-floor heights of up to 3.95m.
Struts longer than 2.5m will have the required minimum quantity of connectors fitted to the female
strut eg 1 connector for struts 2.8m to 4.9m, 2 connectors for struts 5.2m to 7.3m.
Occasionally, additional post assemblies will be required eg where it is necessary to fit a pair of
post assemblies either side of a doorway, rather than a single post assembly in the doorway.
In this case additional connector(s) are to be fitted to the female strut.
Safe Work Practices
Take care not to exceed the rated load of the platform.
The under-floor void system is rated to Light Duty (225kg per bay), as per AS/NZS1576.
For the under-floor void system, a bay is defined as the area enclosed by four (or more) strut
or post support points. The area between a pair of struts may now be considered as more than
one bay, if the struts are fitted with support post assemblies.
For instance…..
A strut without a support post assembly fitted may support one bay either side of the strut
A strut with one support post assembly fitted may support two bays either side of the strut
A strut with two support post assemblies fitted may support three bays either side of the strut
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Where adjacent struts don’t have the same number of support post assemblies fitted, the
number of bays is determined by the strut with the least number of support post assemblies
fitted.
Infill panels supported on infill decks or deck edge angles are regarded as an extension of the
adjacent bay. Infill Panels supported by struts and edge angles only are regarded as
independent bays.
All bays may be loaded simultaneously
The maximum load concentration within a bay (of more than 2.2 square metres) is 100kg in
any square metre of working platform area.
Take note of the locations of struts and posts prior to accessing the void platform, in order to be
aware of bay locations, particularly if platform loading is likely to be significant.
Typical Working Platform Layout
(showing bay locations)
Take care when fitting the floor sheeting, not to apply adhesive to the strut end brackets or to the
edge angle brackets.
Take particular care when trimming floor sheeting around the perimeter of the void, not to cut into
strut end brackets or to the edge angle brackets. Ensure that the depth of the saw is accurately set.
If any components are damaged, contact Oldfields Access immediately.
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