Height Requirements Of Balcony Balustrade In The Uk

Height Requirements Of Balcony Balustrade In The Uk

When installing a balustrade for your balcony, you should not only take into account the design and material needed for the balustrade, but also other important details such as its use, height and especially the regulation requirements in your area or locality. Easyfix offer a range of balcony balustrade to fit any purpose.

In most cases where the building is designed to be useful in more than one way, the balustrade is usually designed with the possible worst-case scenario in mind.

In this article, I’ll be explaining the height requirements of the balcony balustrade in the UK and other important things you need to know.

What Are The UK Height Requirements For Balcony Balustrade?

For external balconies, the required height for the balustrade in the UK is about 1.1 m measuring from the datum (often considered as the point or height which you can stand on) to the top of the handrail. These include the edges of roofs, Juliette balconies, and other types of balcony designs etc.

In the UK, Document K and BS6180 require all landings, flights and areas raised above ground level in single-family dwellings where the difference in levels adjacent to each other is greater than six hundred millimeters to be protected. 

This includes all parts of a gallery, roof, floor, balcony, basements, light wells, or other similar unleveled areas next to a building to which people have access.

If these buildings are not dwellings or constantly inhabited, protection is required if there is a difference of 380mm or more. This is to help protect building utilizers and make them familiar with the layout.

Balustrade Height Regulations

The regulations for balustrade heights are specified in the building regulation Document K and similarly in table 1 of the BS6180. The height of the balustrade is also dependent on the area in which the building is situated.

For single-family dwellings, a balustrade should be placed in front of a window where the minimum height from the finished floor level measures at least up to about eight hundred millimeters for the balustrade height. Balustrade should be placed in front of edges, internal floors, stairs, steeps, void areas, and ramps measuring at least about nine hundred millimeters from the finished floor or ground level.

Sometimes, UK residents often prefer that their balustrade guiding an internal landing area does not feel very much safe if it measures up just to the least requirement. In most instances, people prefer that their balcony balustrade measure up to 1100mm high around internal voids and especially on steep landings.

Note: If you have low parapet walls around your balcony areas, the measurement of the height of the balustrade installed on the top of low parapet walls should not be taken from the finished floor level but instead, the top of the parapet. This is because the low parapet wall could make up for a steep rendering the balustrade ineffective.

One major way to get around this is to fix the balustrade on the inside of the wall instead of fixing the balustrade on top. This can often be referred to as a side-mounted balustrade.