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Posted By Adam Jackson
Can anyone point me in the direction of some info. on balcony railing height? I'm trying to find something somewhere which specifies how far above the ground the lower horizontal railing should be. Its a wrought iron railing and the lower horizontal bar is currently about 10 inches from the floor.
I've been through the building regs and found that the railing should be at least 1.1m high but can't find anything on the lowest height.
Risk Assessment is of little use - we've done that and we are at the "yes 10 inches is sufficient" vs "no 10 inches is not sufficient" argument stage so some hard data one way or the other would be of great help.
There are times I wish the HSE/Government/Europe would ditch risk assessment in favour of cold hard numbers and laws again!
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Posted By Robert Thomas
Hi Adam
It would be appropriate to apply the section concerning Guarding of Stairs where the test for opening dimension is that of passing a 100mm dia. sphere through the balustrading.
Hope this helps
Regards
Rob
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Posted By Adam Jackson
Rob,
You're a lovely man.
Cheers
Adam
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Posted By peter gotch
Adam
Is this a new balcony or an old one.
If the latter, then it may not be appropriate to apply modern building standards to a historic element of a structure.
Incidentally the 100mm dia sphere is written into British Standards. In simple terms it assumes that population at risk will include small children.
Not usually applied to scenarios such as riverside walkways. Balances need to be struck between risk and eg aesthetics.
Regards, Peter
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Posted By Adam Jackson
Its an old building which has recently been converted for multiple offices for small businesses. They've just put some fancy wrought iron bannisters on the balconys but they've got pretty large gaps underneath them. The argument so far has been that yes kids could fall through but its an office environment so kids won't be at risk. On the other hand, this place is huge so its a fairly good bet that at some point someone will have kids in (there are upwards of 40 different tennants using the offices) and they could fall under the railings easily. My stance is the gap is too big, but it would be expensive to solve hence some impartial data such as Rob gave is useful. If there's anything else you think could be useful I'm happy to classify you as an honourary "lovely man" as well.
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Posted By Charles New
I have used the following as my rule, and it is based on the Building Regs Approved Doc K and BS 6180 'Barriers in and around buildings' as well as BS5973 or BS12811 for scaffolds as it is now.
If the edge protection is for purposes of maintenance and repair then a barrier of 1.1m in height is sufficient so long as there are no gaps greater than 470cm. (ie you need an intermediate handrail). If there is a risk of something being kicked over the edge then a 150mm toe board is needed also.
Where children are likely to use the area, then the 100mm sphere rule applies, and a 150mm toeboard incorporated. You also need to note that protection should be such that the 100mm spacing is in the vertical plane not horizontal, ie you do not want to create a ladder for a child to climb.
Hope this helps
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