How are balustrades and handrails built on public ramps, stairs and decks?

On a public ramp, stair or deck, the balustrade guards the edge and the handrail gives people something to hold. They are often part of the same steel assembly, but they do different jobs and follow different rules.

Both are designed around the people who use the site. On a school or park, that means children, older people and anyone using a wheelchair or a walking frame, often on the same ramp at the same time.

The balustrade

A balustrade is a barrier along an edge. The National Construction Code sets where one is needed, how high it has to stand and how small its gaps must be so a child cannot slip through.

On a school or park, children climb anything they can get a foot on. A good design avoids horizontal rails that work like a ladder, and it accounts for the full drop, including ground that falls away below a deck or ramp.

The handrail

A handrail is for holding, so its shape, height and position matter more than its looks. On an accessible ramp or stair, AS 1428.1 sets the rules, including handrails on both sides, a profile a hand can grip, and extensions past the top and bottom so a person is steady before the slope starts.

Ramps also need kerbs or kerb rails along their edges so a wheel cannot run off. How the whole route fits together is covered in how accessible routes across a site are designed and built.

Fixings

A balustrade is only as strong as what holds it. Posts are set into concrete footings or bolted to a slab edge, and an engineer confirms the fixing for the load the barrier has to resist.

Old slab edges and stair treads are checked first. Concrete that has cracked or broken down near an edge can let an anchor pull out under load, and nobody finds that out until a person leans on the rail.

Materials outdoors

Galvanised steel, stainless steel and powder-coated aluminium are common on public sites, because they stand up to weather and constant handling. Salt air is harder on metal, so near the water the grade of steel and the coating are chosen for that exposure.

Water left sitting at the base of a post rusts it from the inside, so the base is detailed to drain. A tough finish helps too. Parks and schools stay open after hours, and scratches and graffiti are part of normal wear there.

Council work

At Parry Park in Lakemba, Monument delivered the clubhouse changeroom and accessible ramp upgrade for Canterbury Bankstown City Council. The work created a more user-friendly home and away changeroom facility with a compliant disabled access ramp and balustrading. The full project is described in the Parry Park, Lakemba upgrade.

Installation on an open site

A ramp or stair being upgraded is often the only way into a building. The new work goes in while an alternative route stays open, and nothing is left loose or half-fixed at the end of a shift.

Access works are planned so the people the upgrade is for can still get in while it is built. The wider approach is in what a disability access upgrade involves.

See our work