Deck Guards

[lagudo]

Good Day All,

I inspected a home that had deck guards on a covered porch 10 feet off of the ground. The guards extended from corner post to home in a continuous run. One side was an 11' uninterrupted run and the other side 12'. Top rail height from top of deck to top of rail was 38". Cap was a 2X6 with 2x2 uprights spaced 3 1/2" apart attached to 2x4.

The question is I thought that there couldn't be more then 6' maximum spacing between deck post for a guard railing. I cannot find any code on it. R312 says guards are required but where do I find post spacing requirements.

Thanks in advance.

[bdoles2]

Yes it is 6' between guard rail posts.

Pages 15-16 for guard distance. Decks

And this for reference - Deck Guide

For stairs I've seen code stating that 5' between rails and 8' between rails. I'd rather see the 5'.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Originally Posted by lagudo

Good Day All,

I inspected a home that had deck guards on a covered porch 10 feet off of the ground. The guards extended from corner post to home in a continuous run. One side was an 11' uninterrupted run and the other side 12'. Top rail height from top of deck to top of rail was 38". Cap was a 2X6 with 2x2 uprights spaced 3 1/2" apart attached to 2x4.

The question is I thought that there couldn't be more then 6' maximum spacing between deck post for a guard railing. I cannot find any code on it. R312 says guards are required but where do I find post spacing requirements.

Thanks in advance.

Hi. Louis;

I would like to help you and pictures would help if you have any.

With what I can understand from your Post is that the railing would have to be able to withstand #200 of force to not have anybody get hurt.

Deck guard that you speak of, is that for little children?

Marcel
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[lagudo]

Brian,

Thanks for the response. I have that same document also but I'm looking for an actual reference number for the IRC. The front page of that document states that " Provisions contained in this document that are not included in the IRC are considered good practice recommendations. Where differences occur between provisions of this document and the IRC, the provisions of the IRC will apply". I understand the good practice recommendations and that the code is the minimum requirements but if the code doesn't have that requirement, I feel I have no standing in providing my client this information. I could just state the facts but with no basis of code behind it. Any thoughts.

[Barry Adair]

“Handrail assemblies and guards shall be able to resist a singleconcentrated load of 200 lbs., applied in any direction at any point along the top, and have attachment devices and supporting structure to transfer this loading to appropriate structural elements.”
International Residential Code ® - 2000, 2003 & 2006 (Table R301.4 (d)
– 2000, Table R301.5 (d) – 2003/2006)
International Building Code® -2000, 2003 & 2006 (section 1607.7.1.1)

Best practices: In order to do this successfully, the main railing posts should be spaced approximately 6 feet apart. The advantage of this design is that the full length of the post resists the rail load.

GUARD REQUIREMENTS [R312]
All decks greater than 30" above grade are required to have a guard as shown in Figure 24. If a guard is installed when one is not required, it must meet these requirements. Guard systems not meeting these requirements may be used when approved by the authority having jurisdiction.

Advise client of best practices!

[bdoles2]

Originally Posted by badair

Advise client of best practices!

My thoughts exactly

I advise them of best practices and don't quote code in my reports. I'm not a code inspector and don't have any authority, so make your clients aware of the best practices.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Originally Posted by bdoles2

My thoughts exactly

I advise them of best practices and don't quote code in my reports. I'm not a code inspector and don't have any authority, so make your clients aware of the best practices.

I agree, thanks Brian and Barry, very well said.

Marcel