[NHCOLL-L:2797] Re: bolting down museum cases

[Janet Waddington]

Building codes are a fairly local phenomenon, so it is wise to check
with your local authority.  I am not aware of a builkding code requiring
bolting cabinets to the floor, although there are safety guidelines that
recommend securing cases to the wall if they are above a certain height
to wxd ratio. We do bolt our wooden cabinets to our compact storage
carriages.  We also screw them together back to back, side to side, and,
when they are double stacked, top to bottom. This gives them a broad
effective footprint relative to height, and they are very stable.  

Janet Waddington
Assistant Curator and Collection Manager
Managing Editor, Collection Forum
Department of Natural History - Palaeobiology
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
Canada M5S 2C6
Phone  (416) 586-5593  Fax  (416) 586-5553
Email  janetw at rom.on.ca

>>> "Gary Shugart" <gwshugart at hotmail.com> 8/22/2005 10:34 PM >>>
Hi all:  Architects are telling us that our museum cases, stacked two
high 
(VACs and wooden 2x4x4 ft), need to be bolted to the floor as per
building 
code.  Just wondering if anyone has been required to bolt cases to the

floor?  And if not, did you have to deal with building  codes?  This is
in 
new construction.

Gary Shugart
Collections Manager
Slater Museum of Natural History
University of Puget Sound
Tacoma, WA 98416
253 879-3356 (museum)
gshugart at ups.edu, gwshugart at hotmail.com