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Guardrail Height Requirements Under Various Building Codes & Standards

 Pre-1970 Guardrail height codes (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)
 Current Recommended Guardrail height requirement is 42-inches or higher above
adjacent surfaces
o E.g. 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.
[33].
o Note that this is for guardrails along horizontal walking surfaces, not the stairway
itself - which we call a handrail or hand railing. 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.
 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). Stair rails
must be => 34" high - see STAIR RAILS, STAIR GUARDS for details.

Exceptions to the 42-inch rule for stair guards are allowed when the top of the stair guard is also
serving as a handrailing. But as our photo (above left) illustrates, it's also feasible to provide both
a 42-inch stair guard and include a 34-inch high handrailing along the stairs.

Guards shall be located along open-sided walking surfaces, stairways, ramps and landings that
are located more than 30” above the floor or grade below. Guards shall form a protective
barrier not less than 42” high, except when top rail also serves as a handrail, guard height shall
not be less than 34.” - Alameda CA Residential Stairway, Handrail, and Guardrail Minimum
Code Requirements.

Guardrail, Stair Rail & Handrail Strength Requirements - the 200 pound load
criteron & others

In their 2001 study of an unsafe wooden deck railing assembly, Barnett and Switalski point out
that the first American safety standard to address railing design (except residential railings) was
the American Standard Safety Code for Floor and Wall Openings, Railings and Toe Boards,
ASA A12-1932. [45][46]

That study and other sources cite an array of standards that address some but most-likely not all
of the considerations in building or testing a safe guardrail or deck rail system. By 1967 in the
U.S. there were national standards for railings and guardrails, and by 1973 ANSI standards were
available.

The railing must be strong enough to resist horizontal loads from people leaning on it.
200 Pound Concentrated Load, 50 Pound PSF Load Guardrail Strength
Requirements

The 2000 IRC (IRC Table R301.5) and other typical building codes requires that a guardrail or a
handdrail be able to resist a 200-pound concentrated load applied along the top in any direction,
while some local codes still in effect specify a smaller load of 20 pounds per linear foot.

After an above-ground swimming pool was removed, the owners continued to use the deck in
our photo (left). Deer netting was installed across the open edge of the deck - and it worked fine
until someone fell thorough it. The torn remains of the deer netting can be seen on the left side of
this photograph.

Under the IRC, the infill or balusters must resist a concentrated horizontal load of 50 pounds
applied to a square foot area. The baluster requirement is easily met with standard fastening
techniques, but meeting the IRC guardrail requirement is difficult without adding steel hardware.
The majority of residential decks, which rely on notched posts lag-screwed into the band joist, do
not meet the 200-pound requirement.

Watch out: at least some of the standards & procedures specified for testing handrailing &
guardrailing or stair rail strength focus on static strength testing. Dynamic testing such as the
forces exerted when a person is falling and grabs onto a railing may be important for further
consideration.

An additional warning from ASTM explains how you can or cannot use the standards summaries
listed here and in further detail at the ASTM website. Quoting:

This abstract is a brief summary of the referenced standard. It is informational only and not an
official part of the standard; the full text of the standard itself must be referred to for its use and
application. ASTM does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation
that the contents of this abstract are accurate, complete or up to date.

In-Situ Testing of Guardrails & Handrails

 [Additional handrail test requirement citations wanted - Contact Us]


 Florida: "Checklist #0460 for the approval of: Railings (Stairs & Balcony)", Miami-Dade County,
Florida Building and Neighborhood Compliance Department Product Control Section, Balustrade
& Plastic Railing
Perpendicular to railing load test, with loading per conditions specified in section 1618.4.6 of the
Florida Building Code, on a minimum 8-ft section and 3 posts.

Test load shall be 2 times the design load, with minimum 80% recovery.Internet mail address:
bldgdept@miamidade.gov
Homepage: http://www.miamidade.gov/building - Web search 02/04/2013, original source:
http://www.miamidade.gov/building/library/checklists/railings.pdf, copy on file as
FL_MIami_Railings.pdf
 Florida 2010 building code,
o Section 504 STAIRWAYS "All steps on a flight of stairs shall have uniform riser heights
and uniform tread depths. Risers shall be 4 inches (100 mm) high minimum and 7 inches
(180 mm) high maximum. Treads shall be 11 inches (280 mm) deep minimum. Open
risers are not permitted." etc.
o SECTION 1714 IN-SITU LOAD TESTS . websearch 02/04/2013, original source:
http://www2.iccsafe.org/states/florida_codes/ [handrails are not explicitly cited here]
 Section 1012 - Handrails, [begins p. 84] Florida Building Code Handbook, State Requirements for
New Educational Facilities Construction, Florida Department of Education 2007, retrieved
02/04/2013, original source: http://www.fldoe.org/. This edition of the Florida Building Code
handbook is a modification of the original 2004 Florida Building Code Handbook that was
developed for the Department of Education

Examples & Photos of Stair Platform or Guard Railing Defects at Landings,


Decks, Balconies

 Guardrail wrong height (see photo): Guard railing wrong height on stairs (above) or
landing (at left) - too low to grasp or too high to grasp, or too low to prevent falling off of
a platform
 Guardrail balusters improperly spaced - too far apart, falling hazard or head trap - this is a
very common defect found on older exterior decks and porches, and on older-model steel
circular stair kits and stair landings.
 Guardrail balusters damaged, missing, loose, not secure
 Newels or posts at ends of guard railing not secure, loose
 Guardrail not secured
 Horizontal "guardrail enclosures" (can be climbed by children).
 Railing loose, not properly secured (litigation photos)
 Railing missing
 Railing wrong dimension - cannot grasp; railing does not permit continuous grasping
over length

Stair Landings are required at top and bottom (with exceptions at top of interior stairs or in
garage if door swings in, away from the stairs)

Here we detail the requirements


for GUARDRAILS on BALCONIES, DECKS, LANDINGS (railings on landings and open
hallways, porches, screened porches, balconies that are more than 30" above floors or grade).

For details of guardrail baluster spacing and design see Balusters. For more details about
balusters (vertical spindles in railing construction) see stairway railing details
at RAILING CODES & SPECIFICATIONS for a discussion of safety barriers along stairs.

 Stair landing minimum size in direction of travel should be equal to or longer than 36"
(=> 36")
Examples of Stair Platform or Landing Defects

 Guardrail or handrail not secured - loose, flimsy, won't withstand resistance


 Guardrail wrong height - too short
 Stair platform missing where required (total rise between floors > 12' for example)
 Stair platform improper size or location
 Landing is pitched, sloped, or damaged (trip hazard)
Baluster Spacing & Opening Requirements for Guards & Railings

Stairway handrail & stair balusters & guard details are in this sketch.

Balusters (vertical posts comprising the barrier in guards and railings)

 Baluster opening between vertical members (maximum sphere passage <= 4 3/8")
 Baluster opening in triangular area below guard bottom rail and stair tread (maximum
sphere passage <= 6")
Hand-railing heights are given:

 U.S. handrails for stairs with one side against a wall: 30-38"
 U.S. handrails at open stairs: 34-38" above the stairs
 Canadian stair handrails: 32-36" above the stairs
 Wall clearance: Handrails along a wall must have at least 1.5" of clearance between the
inside surface of the rail and the wall surface.
 Railings should not project into the required width of the stairway by more than 4.5" at
or below the handrail height above the stairs.
 Floor clearance: OPINION: we recommend either 4" between bottom surface of the
guardrail or stair rail bottom and the top of the floor surface, or use 2" or less to avoid a
foot trap. See the foot trap anecdote we report just below.

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