Technical Guidance Note (Level 1, No. 32): Floor slab construction

When developing a scheme for a structure, the choice of floor slab construction is critical to the columns, foundations, walls and overall stability. As such, the floor slab’s form should be selected with care and consideration. This Technical Guidance Note provides information about a number of common floor construction forms that are currently available. It focuses on concrete based solutions: some acting compositely with steel elements, such as reinforcement and/or steel members. Descriptions of each flooring system together with their key features (which cover topics such as buildability, aesthetics and compatibility of other elements e.g. building services) are included. Please be aware that floor slab technology is continually evolving and that new floor slab solutions continue to become available as a result. (This article was updated in October 2016 to reflect errata issued since its original publication.)