Above-ceiling contaminant shielding system for sensitive building areas

In a building construction, the improvement comprising:

• means defining a generally horizontally extending overhead boundary;
• means defining a ceiling spaced below the boundary to present a utilities region above the ceiling and a use area below the ceiling;
• and
• a safety shield impervious to liquid penetration and located within said region between the ceiling and the overhead boundary for protecting the use area from intrusive liquids which enter the region above the shield,
• said shield including a plurality of interconnected panels secured within generally the same plane to present an imperforate, generally flat surface overlying the ceiling,
• said shield further including a plurality of parallel, spaced rows of elongated supports for said panels,
• said supports of each row having a pair of opposite ends and being arranged in end-to-end relationship with one another,
• the panels being disposed between proximal pairs of the rows of supports and secured thereto,
• said panels being arranged in a series between each pair of rows of supports,
• each of said supports having upright end plates at its opposite ends adapted to abut corresponding end plates on the next support in the row,
• each of said panels having a pair of opposite end faces adapted to abut adjacent end faces on neighboring panels in the series,
• there being sealing gasket means between each pair of abutting end plates and between each pair of abutting end faces.