Help with constructing a stage

[shamusot00le]

Hi All,

I'd appreciate any help in regards to building a stage in a church. I'm looking to do some kind of wooden frame with yellow tongue for the top, haven't decided what the sides are going to look like yet but they will be closed in. (Yellow tongue again maybe...)

The stage will be about 1000mm high, 8000 deep and 10000 wide.

I live in victoria. Do I need to comply with anything?

Even if there's a website you can point me to with details that would be brilliant.

Thanks in advance

[brynk]

greetings shamus otoole

according to the loading code, aussie standard 1170.1, which the building code requests politely that you comply with -

Stages in public assembly areas - area load 7.5 kPa, concentrated point load - 4.5 kN

if those figures mean nothing to you...

7.5kPa = 7.5kN / sq.m = 770kg in one square metre AND
460 kg at any point on the stage

so, considering your residential deck is rated to 2kPa and 1.8kN and any (reputable) design must meet these requirements, then you could take a design and divide all the spans by 4, or up all member sizes by a suitable ratio, or a combination of both.

now i should say at this point that the relationship between member sizes, spans and loads is not linear - but your safer bet will be cutting the spans down by 4 - this will probably wind up being over-engineering. upping the member's sizes would probably be need to be a ratio higher than 4, because the larger member over the same span must carry its own weight first before it can support any load. now find a hunk of timber that big - this is why steel becomes economical.

this would be a rule-of-thumb design, and is no substitute for getting an engineer or equivalent involved. however, it would allow you to do some table-maths to work out if it is cheaper to :

a) over-engineer the ph'uoc out of it
b) get an engineer or equivalent involved and get a design that will be sufficient, no doubt with a 'margin of error' built in

you can always get a quote to do the design and that will give you an amount that you can consider as slack for the over-engineering fund. this plus the 'spans cut down by 4' will give you a budget that will be sufficient for the build.

because it is an internal modification then it is unlikely that you'll need approval, at least if you were in the berra. but that does not absolve you of the requirement to build it to the relevant codes

regards
brynk

[Sturdee]

As the proposed stage is quite large and in a church, I would get an architect and/or engineer to design the stage.

I would hate to be responsible if the stage collapses with a large choir standing on it giving a performance in church.

Remember it is not wise to be pennywise and pound foolish, a few dollars saved designing the stage yourself could prove to be very expensive in the end. BTW I would also get a builder to build it for that same reason.


Peter.