Avoid Costly Oversights!
Understand SANS and BALUSTRADES
The majority of drawings received on a daily basis at Steel Studio to quote on, state that the balustrades needs to comply with SANS10400. It is extremely important to note that SANS10400 is not the only code that balustrades needs to conform with.
Equally important but not limited to are SANS10160, SANS10137 and SANS1263 which are noted further down. An example of these are all escape routes in public spaces have severe loading requirements (3.0kN/m) compared to standard areas in office buildings (1.5kN/m). Residential applications have loading requirements of 1.5kN/m.
The only way a balustrade contractor can ensure that the balustrade system complies with the correct load for each occupancy category, is to have a Professional Engineer do the necessary calculations and sign off on the design. The balustrade contractor must submit an Engineer’s certificate on completion stating that the balustrades comply with all of the regulations as set out by SANS. This certificate will be requested by the building inspector in order to issue an occupation certificate.
Make sure when appointing your balustrade sub-contractor, the design has incorporated the below mentioned SANS codes and possibly other required codes. The sub-contractor needs to be made aware that an engineer’s certificate is required on completion. It is a costly exercise to repair and/or replace a design that does not comply.
SANS10160:-2:2011
Self-weight and imposed loads. Table 1- Imposed loads on floors, balconies and stairs in buildings, describes the category, specific use sub-categories and examples of building occupancy classification A to D. Table 2 – Imposed loads on floors due to industrial use and storage, describes the category, specific use sub-categories and examples of building occupancy classification E. Table 7 – Horizontal loads on partition walls and parapets, provides requirements in terms of loading for Categories A to E as well as required concentrated and distributed loads.
SANS10400:2011 Part M 4.3.1
“Any flight of steps which contains more than 3 risers shall have protection on both sides provided by a secure wall, screen, railing or balustrade which shall be not less than 1m high and so erected that any such wall, screen, railing or balustrade in any occupancy classified as E2, E3, E4, H1, H2, H3, H4 or H5 shall not have any opening above the pitch line that permits the passage of a 100mm diameter ball; provided that such protection in any occupancy that is not an occupancy classified as E2, E3, E4, H1, H2, H3, H4 or H5 shall consist of at least one other rail midway between such handrail and stair tread”
Where glazing is present in the balustrade installation, the balustrades additionally needs to comply with:
SANS1263:-1:2006 Part 1: Safety performance of glazing materials under human impact).
Point 9.4.7 refers to the fact that the glass needs to withstand an impact of 400J of energy by means of a sand bag(30kg) test.
SANS10137:2011
The installation of glazing in buildings.