Balcony Railing Height Standard
Respect minimum height requirements safety is important and something that should always supersede style.
Balcony railing height standard. California and a handful of other states mandate a 42 minimum deck railing height. Treads must be at least 10 inches deep measuring from front to back. Deck railing height should be a minimum of 36 inches. The irc requires guardrails to be at least 36 in height measured from the deck surface to the top of the rail.
The minimum height of the railing varies based on the height of the deck. The top rail must be at least 42 inches in height 1910 29 f 1 ii b and the handrail must be 30 to 38 inches in height 1910 29 f 1 i as measured at the leading edge of the stair tread to the top surface of the rail. The code has some very specific requirements for deck stairs. Additionally standard balcony railing heights are typically 42 inches above the balcony deck meaning the railing must extend that high and be capped by a horizontal rail for easy gripping.
For business or fencing use the railings should be 42 or 48 inches. The top of the handrail should be at least 34 inches. The minimum deck railing height allowed is 36 inches in most states and provinces. This should measure from the top edge of the top rail down to the the deck surface.
Commercial railings necessitate a higher railing at 42 inches as regulated by the ibc. Each community has different height requirements to determine if the porch or balcony requires railings. Height requirements the international residential code requires balcony railings to be 36 inches high for homes. See enclosed figure 2 for an example of a stair rail system installed after january 17 2017.
Stair rails on decks should be between 34 inches and 38 inches high measured vertically from the nose of the tread to the top of the rail. This applies to the broad majority of the united states for all residential decks. Railings for residential decks require a height of 3 feet from the floor of the deck to the rail top surface as mandated by the irc. Commercial decks attached to multifamily buildings such as apartment buildings or businesses are regulated under the internation building code ibc.
The ibc requires 42 high guardrails. Balcony railing slats are usually required to have no more than 4 inches of space between them and rise no more than 4 inches from the balcony surface.