Duty

BS 5234 defines four strength or duty claims

  • Light (LD):  suitable where possibility of damage is small
  • Medium (MD): for use e.g. General office areas
  • Heavy (HD): for use e.g. Public circulation areas
  • Severe (SD): for use e.g. Areas prone to high traffic

Annexes A-F with BS 5234 include:

  1. Partition stiffness
  2. Resistance to damage from small hard body impact
  3. Resistance to damage from large soft body impact
  4. Resistance to perforation from a small hard body impact
  5. Resistance to structural damage from a large soft body impact
  6. Resistance to damage from door slam tests

Relevant tests must satisfy all six components.

Within the system performance charts in the Speedline Drywall Manual, you will find the classification of the strength of the partition under the column heading Duty Grade BS 5234.

Heights

Maximum heights are determined via tests under BS 5234 to a maximum limiting deflection of L/240 at 200 pascals.  The maximum height is determined by its ability to resist a uniformly distributed load at 0.2kN/m2.  Information gathered from these test is used to give structural calculations to support maximum permissible heights.

Care must be taken when building to ensure loads do not exceed those stated.  Where it may be possible that wind loading (for example in high bay warehouses) is greater than stated, please speak to the Speedline technical team to verify usage.

Of particular interest may be the range of Severe Duty rated walls achieved using single layer configurations of plasterboard described in the high impact section of the Speedline Drywall Manual, saving both time and money.

Please contact [email protected] for further information on the individual test or to see where the test or assessment was carried out quoting the system references.

Speedline high impact solution incorporating british gypsum gyproc duraline
One layer of British Gypsum 15mm Gyproc Duraline each side of Speedline C stud at 600mm centres. Size of C stud as per table.
1 x 15mm British Gypsum Gyproc Duraline (No APR)duty grade (1)max height (2)nominal thickness (3)fire resistance (4)sound insulation RwdB (5)System Reference
PSHD70 - Heavy Duty StudSD4.2 (m)102 (mm)6044PSHD70-B-63

Key

  1. Duty Grade BS 5234-2: 1992 Annexes A-F
  2. Calculated on a maximum limiting deflection of L/240 at 200 Pa at 600mm stud centres, greater heights can be achieved by reducing centres
  3. Excluding finishes
  4. BS 476: 1987: Part 22 in minutes
  5. BS EN ISO 10140-2: 2010
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