Handrail Spacing
Handrail Spacing
(OP)
Does anyone know how much space is allowed between two guardrails? I have seen anything from 4 inches all the way to 19 inches. Please let me know your thoughts and where I can find this information.
When was the last time you drove down the highway without seeing a commercial truck hauling goods?
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RE: Handrail Spacing
When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
-R. Buckminster Fuller
RE: Handrail Spacing
See which applies to your situation best. Typically, when I design handrails such as the one you have shown, I try to keep it continuous and just have the fabricator weld the sections together.
RE: Handrail Spacing
"Guardrail" is a rather generic term.
Context may influence the responses that you get. As a construction engineer when I hear "Guardrail" I think of something different from a handrail along a stair or a railing on a residential deck. Industrial applications may differ from residential.
Ralph
Structures Consulting
Northeast USA
RE: Handrail Spacing
-For code required guards in a non industrial occupancy:
"...will prevent the passage of a spherical object having a diameter of 100mm [4 inches]..."
-For code required guards in an industrial occupancy:
"...will prevent the passage of a spherical object having a diameter of 200mm [8 inches]..."
-For all guards which are NOT required by code:
-"... will PREVENT the passage of a spherical object having a diameter of 100mm ..." OR "... will PERMIT the passage of a spherical object having a diameter of 200mm..."
(basically preventing a child from hanging themselves, morbid but I think that is the intention here)
There is also a clause detailing that the guard must be constructed in a way that its parts can not be used for climbing over the guard
RE: Handrail Spacing
I've searched for some sort of way to justify common practice in relation to that code.
I'm also generally confused about why the guardrail detailing requirements are in Part 9, since it presumably applies to buildings outside of the scope of part 9 but those requirements don't seem to be repeated elsewhere. It does mean that, technically, it doesn't apply to most types of industrial buildings, but it also means that it doesn't apply to large residential buildings which I assume wasn't the intention.
The strength requirements repeated in Part 4, but not the detailing.
RE: Handrail Spacing
RE: Handrail Spacing
Richard A. Cornelius, P.E.
WWW.amlinereast.com
RE: Handrail Spacing
RE: Handrail Spacing
For simple verticals under the IBC/UBC, the 4 inch gap (hard conversion at 25.4 mm/inch!) is universal for stairs: But if you need a little more space, use a larger diameter rod (5/8 or 3/4 diameter), or you can get fancy and use a 5/8 x 5/8 square - but rotate the square bar so it is 5/8 x 1.414 = 0.88 inch each. Thus, each set of rod + space = 4.88 inches. Over a long span, that's much further than 4 inch on center.
RE: Handrail Spacing
That particular 1.5 inch spacing is for the minimum distance between a handrail and a wall (typically) so your fingers and knuckles don't get caught between the handrail and the wall and tear up your hand. In this case, the 1.5 inch space at that particular location between the two separate handrail curves would probably NEVER ever be able to trap somebody's fingers, but it is easier to maintain the spacing at 1.5 inch than try to assume an inspector is going to think logically.
The "other" 1.5 inch requirement (or the equal "maximum grasp" lengths on formed wooden rails) are for a typical person to be able to grasp the handrail firmly before they fall: so a 1.5 nominal diameter (1-1/4 or 1-1/2 diameter pipe) handrail can be grabbed. a 4x4 can't be gripped at all, a 2 x 6 slab of wood cannot be grabbed as solidly as a smaller diameter pipe.
Note the almost conflicting assumptions going on: A wide bend handrail like that drawn cannot in any way "trap" a child's head, but equally, that style handrail cannot be assumed to prevent a child from getting past the rail and be prevented from falling down a hill or down into a hole or a floor lower down. But as a handrail, they can help adults get down a slope.
RE: Handrail Spacing