Posted By Paul J Williams I dont see how hot desking would matter, just divide the room volume (remembering the max ceiling height rule) then divide by the USUAL number of people who will be WORKING in the room at a particular time. If there are 10 people hot desking but only 5 there at once divide by 5 not 10

Posted By Paul J Williams what are the room dimensions? (exclude all moveable furniture)

Posted By Paul J Williams very true Paul, otherwise you could fit 1000 peole in a chimney.

Posted By Laurie You and me both, Jack. If there are five workstations, which may be used by 500 people, only five of those people are going to be there at one time. Any others, drifting in and out looking for a free space are just visitors, like mail clerks, cleaners, gossipers and the like (no, I am not equating cleaners with gossipers!). Or, like Jack, am I oversimplifying? Laurie

Posted By Jason Touraine The 11 cu m wouldn't

Posted By Tony Clark Dont forget to discount any non usable space such as walkways, emergency exit routes , stairs and cupboards etc.

Posted By Paul J Williams I think you include non useable space in your calculations, but you would then take these factors into account afterwards.

Posted By David J. Hmm an other thick person here! How can you not know how many people will be in the room? I always thought 5 chairs = 5 bums = 5 PC’s. anyone else is surplus. The cubic measurement is only a guidance.. bottom line (pardon the pun.. I haven’t risk assessed it), is that people should be able to freely move around the room with no one trapped in a corner.. have to climb over desks or chairs or the office glutton to get out in an emergency!!!

Posted By Bill Elliott My sincere thanks to all those who responded to my question both on and off forum. Thanks too, to those that did not read my posting properly but gave me insight into what I already knew! To refresh, there are potentially 10 staff (say) all of whom work in the community but are required to start from and return to base to deal with post, enter work onto PC's deal with enquiries etc.etc.. Q - when deciding how much room is needed - do you size it for 10 - knowing that all of them MAY not be there at the same time - BUT COULD BE - OR use some other method of calculating space? Travel distance for escape in the event of fire or other emergency is not an issue and is already considered. To David J - I would suggest some moderation of your language Sir.

Posted By Jack Ah, a slightly different problem than I understood from the first post but perhaps it was just a little ambiguos! This is a problem that has existed since well before 'hot desking' was coined especially in social work and similar teams. In fact I remember dealing with it under the OSRP Act! That, I seem to recall, had some helpful wording about 'habitually' in relation to time in the office. Suggestions about them staggering the times they visit the office often fall on deaf ears because they all seem to like to come in at the same time (especially Friday afternoon). Obviously it has to be managed but I think the point still remains: 1 bottom per seat. Perhaps an overflow waiting room or meeting room where the 11 Cu M wouldn't apply. (Together with encouraging planned staggered use). I do recall threats of enforcement in situations like this but it was a long time ago. It is one of those issues that should be easy to deal with by application of some common sense but there is sometimes a sparsity in social work circles or is that just my prejudice showing? Generally these issues can be dealt with by discussing it with all the staff concerned.

Posted By Chris Matthews Altough I understand the method to calculate room space/occupancy, would it not be simpler to after determining the space available per person there will be a definitive answer, then take into account the volume of storage units, walkways, emergency exits, etc. then determine how many workstations can be accommodated. It would then be a management decision to determine how to best use the desks available with the staff in their employ. Just a thought. Chris