Roof Parapet Height

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

Roof parapet height.

With it parapet walls are indicated automatically on the roof sketch as flattened panels similar to an unfolded pizza box. This is in response to your letter of january 28 1983 concerning perimeter protection at setback roof levels. Parapet corrective work must be performed in conjunction with the installation of tension roof anchors. A parapet height of 29 inches where employees are exposed to falls from a roof does not comply with the height requirement in 29 cfr 1910 23 e 1 and can not be considered acceptable by osha.

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. Courtesy of max baker and the national research council of canada. Osha construction regulations require guardrails for elevated work 6 feet or more above the ground to be a height of 42 inches 1 1 m plus or minus 3 inches 8 cm 29 cfr 1926 502 b 1 www osha gov pls oshaweb owa disp show document p id 10758 p table standards. If you didn t get it right you concentrated the stresses at roof edges and you could suck in a parapet or tear or rip a membrane at the parapet photographs 3 and 4.

There are several solutions to help you raise the height of your parapet that are cost effective and aesthetically pleasing. Accounting for roof penetrations when dealing with parapet walls the extra material needed to cover the vertical surface of the inside face of the parapet isn t the only added factor to take into consideration. 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 reinforced concrete beam is provided at the top of the wall the minimum height above the wall anchor may be 6 inches 152 mm.

In order for a roof parapet to provide adequate fall protection a roof parapet railing should be at least 42 in height.