Hi I have just been told that one of our departments has taken on another member of staff and they want to put them in their present office. I've measured the office space as around 74 cu m and this would be for 6 persons. Although this is more than the 11cu m per person this has not allowed for office furniture and I am just thinking of 6 of them sitting there and it being pretty cramped once the desks/workstations are in. (I am also thinking about passage to and from office, fire implications etc) My question is really what is a reasonable space between workstations/desks? The other thing mentioned is that I've been told that it is very rare that there are 6 persons in the office at once, but I think that is irrelevant really. Grateful for your thoughts on how you go about allocating office space from a practical perspective.

recommended guidance form approved document B (fire safety) is to allow for 6m2 per person so calculate your floor space and divide by 6. again this is only really guidance for calculation possible numbers of people that can occupy a given floor space so evacuation number can be established. I would ave thought draw the floor plan out on square paper to scale then cut out desks and other furniture that you can then move about on the paper to work out the best position to fit everyone in. Part of it might depend on how much desk space and other furniture is required in the room. if you have 5 people already in there is it crammed as it is or can you see another desk going in without any problems. At the end of the day we can't see what is in front of you. Phil