Roof Parapet Height Requirements

Unfortunately many buildings get close to this height without quite meeting the height required by osha to provide fall protection.

Roof parapet height requirements.

There are several solutions to help you raise the height of your parapet that are cost effective and aesthetically pleasing. In the old days london tended to keep burning down and that tended to irritate the folks who lived in london. Instead an 18 in. In order for a roof parapet to provide adequate fall protection a roof parapet railing should be at least 42 in height.

Simply having a roof parapet does not guarantee that adequate fall protection is in place. Parapet corrective work must be performed in conjunction with the installation of tension roof anchors. The height of the parapet shall be not less than 30 inches 762 mm above the point where the roof surface and the wall intersect. If a parapet wall is a minimum of 30 high and the height plus the width of the wall is a least 48 then it was determined that the fall hazard was removed and this was a compliant method to protect construction employees.

So projecting wooden eaves were banned in the building act of 1707 as a fire risk. Code compliant buildings from 70 100 years are subject to updates when there is a requirement for replacement. It is highly recommended that any parapet wall acting as fall protection be 1 1m high meaning older buildings with existing smaller parapet walls are recommended to be extended to meet this 1 1m guideline. The most common parapet wall construction in the city is brick masonry.

No individual building façade can exceed 40 feet in height measured from the existing grade at the base of the building wall to the ridge of a pitched roof or top of a flat roof. Where building parapet heights exceed 42 inches special provisions shall be employed to provide a safe means of access to the top of the parapet for rigging purposes if such access is necessary to the safe performance of the work. The minimum height of a parapet above any wall anchor shall be 12 inches 305 mm.