Ultimate Guide To Handrail Balustrade Compliance AU
Ultimate Guide To Handrail Balustrade Compliance AU
Ultimate Guide To Handrail Balustrade Compliance AU
Reference Documents
The National Construction Code contains performance requirements for the construction of buildings. This code
provides the minimum necessary requirements for safety, health, amenity and sustainability in the design and
construction of new buildings and any new building work in existing buildings throughout Australia. The volumes
that must be used for the design of building handrails are:
• Volume 1 – Building Code of Australia (BCA) – Covers Class 2 to 9 buildings which are commercial, industrial,
and multi-residential buildings.
• Volume 2 – Building Code of Australia – Covers Class 1 and Class 10 buildings which are residential and
non-habitable buildings.
The geometric requirements of handrails (For example, handrail height must be a minimum of 865mm, so that
they are comfortable to use for most people and provide sufficient stability, support, and assistance). They also
refer to two Australian Standards for the design loads that the handrails and its fixings must withstand:
• AS 1657 – This standard covers the design requirements of mezzanines, stairways, walkways, and service
platforms to provide safe access to places generally used by operating, inspection, maintenance, and service
personnel. This standard does not apply to areas that are accessible to the general public such as apartment
balconies, rooftop gardens or similar or to situations where special provision is made in appropriate building
or other regulations e.g. way of escape from fire.
• AS 1428 – This standard sets out the minimum design requirements for access and mobility on new building
work to enable access for people with disabilities. It covers aspects of access to and within a building. It does
not cover Class 1a or 1b buildings (private dwellings) and non-common areas in Class 2 buildings (e.g. block of
units). However, it may be used as a legal reference.
Reference Documents
The Austroad Guide to Road Design Part 6A is the reference document that must be used for designing handrails
on pedestrian and cycling path projects to keep cyclists and pedestrians safe on a cycleway. It provides guidance
on the geometric design of handrails on paths for safe and efficient walking and cycling within and outside the
road corridor.
The design of paths may also be influenced by design considerations and requirements covered in other parts of
the Guide to Road Design that need to be considered within roadsides. In particular, designers should also refer
to:
• Guide to Road Design Part 6: Roadside Design, Safety and Barriers.
• Guide to Road Design Part 6B: Roadside Environment.
Please note that Guide to Traffic Management in relation to traffic management devices and requirements may
also need to be considered as this may also influence the design.
Disclaimer Note: Moddex has prepared this compliance guide as general information guide only. This guide should not be used as a substitute for seeking
3
A Summary of the Handrail Requirements under AS 1428
The AS 1428 standard defines the minimum design Further Design requirements:
requirements for mobility access on new building work Under AS 1428.1-2009 Clause 12, handrails shall be
to enable safe access for people with disabilities, with designed to comply with the following:
particular attention on: • The cross-section of the handrail must be
• Continuous accessible paths of travel and circular or elliptical, with a height & width of not
circulation spaces for people who use less than 30mm or greater than 50mm for 270°
wheelchairs; around the uppermost surface. The horizontal
• Access and facilities for people with ambulatory axis on elliptical handrail must be the axis with
disabilities; the greater dimension.
• Access for people with sensory disabilities. • A clear space between a handrail & an adjacent
wall or other obstruction must not be less than
When is a handrail required?
50mm. A clear space of 600mm is also required
Handrail is required to both sides of a stair/ramp,
above the top of the handrail.
with a minimum of 1000mm clearance between both
• Handrails are to have no obstruction to the
handrails.
passage of a hand along the rail.
What are the height regulations for a
handrail? Please note that there are more requirements stated
• The top of the handrail must be not less than under Clause 12 and that the above list is only a
865mm or greater than 1000mm from the nosing small selection of them. For full AS 1428
of a stair or the plane of the finished floor level on requirements you can visit
a ramp, walkway or landing. https://www.standards.org.au/
• Handrail height shall be consistent throughout the
ramp, stair and landing.
The below comparison shows the requirements
• The dimensions indicating the heights of handrails
detailed in AS 1428.1-2009 Clause 12 and whether
shall be taken vertically from the nosing of the
it’s compliant:
tread to the top of the handrail.
• If a balustrade is required at a height greater than
the handrail, both shall be provided.
4
A Summary of the Handrail Requirements under AS 1657
5
A Summary of the Handrail
Requirements under the
Austroads Guide to Road
Design Part 6A.
The installation of a barrier at the side of a path used them coming off the pathway. Treatments in these
6
The minimum height of a fence should be 1.2m and
should only be used where the severity of the
hazard is considered to be low. A higher fence (≥
1.4m) should be considered where the fence is
protecting path users from a very severe hazard (high
falls, water hazards etc.) or at a location where there
is a risk of the cyclist being vaulted off their bicycle if
they collide with the fence, like the sharp turn after a
downhill fall mentioned above.
7
A Summary of the Handrail Requirements under
NCC 2016 BCA Section D2.16.
Under the NCC 2016 BCA Section D2.16, a continuous Please note, the heights are measured vertically from
barrier must be provided along the side of: the surface beneath, except for stairways where the
• A roof in which general access is provided; and height must be measured vertically from the nosing
• A stairway, ramp, floor, corridor, hallwa, line of the stair. A transition zone can also be
balcony, deck, verandah, mezzanine, access incorporated where the barrier changes height from
bridge or similar; and 865 mm on a stair flight or ramp to 1 m at a landing
• Any delineated path of access to a building or floor.2 The maximum 125 mm barrier opening for a
stairway is measured above the nosing line of the stair
If the trafficable surface is 1 m or more above the
treads.
surface beneath, in the areas listed above.
Please note that the list to the left & table below is
A barrier required under the above must be
constructed in accordance with the table below. only a small snippet of the compliances detailed
under NCC 2016 BCA Section D2.16 for barriers. The
standard must be read in full to understand all of the
compliances required to create a complaint barrier
system.
8
Design Tips:
Disability
Ramps
Handrail Terminations on Ramps under AS1428
Under AS 1428.1-2009 Clause 10.3, ramps shall have Figure 24 below shows our Assistrail AR20 with
a handrail complying with Clause 12 installed on each Flexalyte on a 4° ramp, with the handrail turned
side of the ramp, as shown in Figure 14. through 180° closure bend at the top & bottom of the
At the terminations of the handrail, the handrail must ramp.
extend a minimum of 300 mm horizontally past the
FIGURE 24
transition point at the top and bottom of the ramp
except where the inner handrail is continuous at an
intermediate landing.
There are six examples of how the handrail should
terminate at the top or bottom of a ramp, according to
the Australian Standards. These are shown in Figure
15(A) below.
FIGURE 15 (A)
10
Top Mount Inline Handrails
11
Circulation Space for Wheelchair
Turns – 30° to 90°
Under the Australian Standards of AS 1428.1-2009, Under Clause 6.5.1, the circulation space required
wheelchairs require a minimum circulation space for a wheelchair to make a 60° to 90° turn shall not
whenever attempting a 30° to 90° turn. be less than 1500mm wide and 1500mm long in the
These degrees of turn are split into two parts within direction of travel. A space splayed across the internal
the standards: 60° to 90° & 30° to <60°. corner can be allowed for. The following images below
show different angles of change in direction, ranging
from 60° to 90°.
Under Clause 6.5.2, where the angle of turn is 30° but The multiple handrail & balustrade systems that
less than 60° and the width of the path of travel is less Moddex supply do have varying protrusion lengths
than 1200mm, a splay of 500mm x 500mm is required between each system, which can affect how wide a
on the internal corner of the pathway. The image pathway needs to be constructed to.
below shows a path less than 1200mm wide with a
change of direction of 35°.
12
Location of Ramps to Prevent Protrusion of
Handrails at Property Boundaries
13
A kerbrail system is
required on ramps and their
Kerbrail Ramp Requirements
intermediate landings; under AS 1428
• Whenever the ramp is
deemed public access
• or otherwise required. There are many guidelines that need to be followed for a
compliant kerbrail system. The most important guidelines for
compliant kerbrails in AS 1428 applications are listed below;
• Kerbrails are required on both sides of a ramp,
however if one side or both are solid walls, then no
kerbrail is required on these walls.
• The height of the top of the kerbrail shall not be within
the range of 75mm to 150mm above the finished floor.
• The maximum gap allowed between the very bottom of
the kerbrail and the finished floor is 75mm.
• The ramp-side face of the kerbrail is to be flush with
the ramp-side face of the handrail OR no greater than
100mm behind the ramp-side face of the handrail. A
kerbrail that protrudes past the ramp-side face of the
handrail is deemed non-compliant to AS 1428.
14
Ramps that Return or
Double-Back
15
Design Tips:
Stairs
Stairway Location and Handrail Extensions at an
Internal Corridor
In accordance with AS 1428.1-2009 Clause 11.1 (b), As shown in the plan & section view below, Moddex
stairs that intersect at an internal corridor shall be set recommends the minimum set back must allow for at
back in accordance with Figure 26(B), as shown below. least one tread length + 435 mm for our standard 180°
closure bend.
FIGURE 22
17
Top and Wall Mounted Handrails Substrate
Requirements on Stairs
Top mounted Handrails such as AR10, AR45 or CB30 Wall mounted Handrails such as AR150, used on
used on stairs, require a substrate width of 1150+mm stairs, require a substrate width of 1210+mm to meet
to meet the minimum 1000mm clear between rails the minimum 1000mm clear between rails
requirement of AS 1428 & NCC/BCA. Space permit- requirement of AS 1428 & NCC/BCA.
ting, a substrate design width of 1200mm+ to achieve
compliance & allow for stanchions to be placed 75mm
in from edge of concrete is ideal
18
Compliant Handrail Positioning on Intermediate
Landings
In accordance with AS 1428.1 12 (a), handrails and The start position of the second flight will affect this
balustrades shall not encroach into required distance with configurations such as Moddex type
circulation spaces i.e. a clear, unobstructed area, AR45, CB30 and CB50. Below are the 3 different
enabling persons using mobility aids to manoeuvre. scenarios using type CB30 balustrade that will affect
the distance between the handrail and the wall.
This point can be adversely affected by the location of
As angle and landing lengths can change, the scenario
the start position of the second flight which also
that will achieve the most width is example C.
determines the positioning of the handrail or
balustrade.
19
Design Tips:
Other
Scenarios
Handrail Compliance in a Class 9B Building
used as a Primary School
21
Handrail Requirements on
Step-Type Ladders under
AS 1657
Under AS 1657:2018
Clause 7.3.4, a
step-type ladder must • The clearspace between the handrails must not be less
complying with • The clear distance between the handrail & the plane of
5.6 provided on both perpendicular to the slope of the step-type ladder, must
sides of the ladder and not be less than 150 mm or greater than 200 mm.
must also comply with • The bottom of the handrails shall commence at a point
22