GUARD RAILS CODE

Stair rails: guards on open side of stairs in most building codes describe the requirement for a guard along open stairways (of more than 30' above floor).

You don't want a handrailing to be permitted to be set at an arbitrary height above 42' because someone may place such a handrailing higher than can be readily grasped while ascending or descending the stairs or during a stair fall.

Note that this is for guardrails along horizontal walking surfaces, not the stairway itself - which we call a handrail or hand railing.

GUARD RAILS CODE

California 2007 Building Code (effective 1 January 2008) for safety guardrails on balconies, decks, and on the horizontal area of stairway landings for walking areas whose surface is more than 30-inches above adjacent walking surfaces (or the ground) for Group 2 individual residential dwellings as well as for Group-3 occupancies specifies that the guardrail must be 42-inches or higher.

Current Recommended Guardrail heightВ requirement is 42-inches or higher above adjacent surfaces.

Pre-1970 Guardrail height codesВ (railings on landings and open hallways, porches, screened porches, balconies that are more than 30' above floors or grade): required and must be greater than or equal to (=>) 36' high (prior to 1970 in many jurisdictions).

Our photo at left illustrates the addition of a handrailing (blue arrow) placed lower than the top of the stair guardrail (red arrow) at an installation that we photographed at the CIA, Hyde Park, NY. See RETAINING WALL GUARDRAIL CODES Guardrail Height Requirements Under Various Building Codes & Standards Guardrails are also installed (sometimes) at other site features such as retaining walls. The railing height and graspability issues are different between guardrails and handrails.Дetailed definitions of these three terms areД®xterior railings and guardrails for decks & porches are detailed

A handrailing or stair railingВ is installed along one or both sides of an ascending / descending stairway, to provide a safe grasping surface to reduce fall injuries, and where stairways are open, to prevent falls off of the side of the stairs.Д«ut watch out: many people use these terms interchangeably.

A stair rail or stair guard is a safety railing or barrier located along the open side(s) of a stairway.

A guardrail is shown by the red arrows in our photo at left.

DetailsДЄre at GUARDRAILS on BALCONIES, DECKS, LANDINGS - this article.

A guardrailВ is a safety railing or barrier located along a horizontal surface such as a balcony, deck, or porch.

GUARDRAIL & HANDRAIL STRENGTH & TESTING REQUIREMENTSДefinition of a guardrail compared to a stair rail & handrail - a quick guide to railing types.

BUILDING CODES SPECIFICATIONS for GUARDRAILS.

SPACE BETWEEN BALCONY HANDRAIL BOTTOM & FLOOR SURFACE.

BALUSTER SPACING & OPENING REQUIREMENTS.

DEFINITION of a GUARDRAIL vs a STAIR RAIL vs HANDRAIL.

GUARDRAILS on BALCONIES, DECKS, LANDINGS - home.

Here we discuss: GUARDRAIL HEIGHT Requirements DEFINITION of a guardrail compared to a stair rail & handrail - a quick guide to railing types BALUSTER Spacing & Opening Requirements s for Guards & Railings SPACE BETWEEN Balcony Handrail Bottom Segment & Top Surface of Flooring BUILDING CODES Specifications for Guard Railing Requirements. Guardrail guide: stair landing, porch, deck & walkway guardrail specifications & codes: height, dimensions, spacing, construction, photos & sketches of guardrail defects & safety hazards. Guardrail Specifications & Defects: requirements for guard railings at stair platforms, landing guard railings & other elevated walkways We also provide an ARTICLE INDEX for this topic, or you can try the page top or bottom SEARCH BOX as a quick way to find information you need. Our page top photo shows a cable type guardrail that proved irresistable to children who found that it was tempting to climb, stretch and hang upon.

Guidelines for building guardrails on balconies, decks, landings, stair landings: this document provides building code specifications, sketches, photographs, and examples of defects used in inspecting indoor or outdoor guards or guard railings required at stairway landings, porches, decks, walkways, balconies. Guard railing height & other specifications and building codes: We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website. InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest.

Guard rails