Technical guides
Technical Guides for Specifiers
Short, sourced guides to the standards and regulations behind balustrades, balconies, stairs and steelwork. Each one links to the official source.
Guides
Balustrade heights and loads
Minimum guarding heights from Approved Document K and barrier design loads from BS EN 1991-1-1 and BS 6180, in two tables, with sources.
Read more02Glass balustrade specification
How to specify glass for balustrades: toughened (BS EN 12150), laminated (BS EN 14449), heat soak, impact class (BS EN 12600), low-iron glass, post-breakage.
Read more03BS EN 1090 and execution classes
What BS EN 1090-1, -2 and -3 cover, how execution classes EXC1 to EXC4 are chosen, why EXC2 is the UK default, and CE versus UKCA marking for steelwork.
Read more04Gateway 2 for metalwork packages
What Gateway 2 means for balcony, balustrade and stair packages on higher-risk buildings: timescales, fees, Regulation 7(2), change control and the golden thread.
Read more05Specifying rooftop plant screens
Specifying visual plant screens: planning conditions, wind load to BS EN 1991-1-4, free area, fixing without damaging the roof, finishes and access doors.
Read more06Steel section tables
Sizes, dimensions and properties of UK beams, columns, channels, angles and hollow sections, with CSV and PDF downloads.
Read moreGeneral guidance only. Always check the current edition of each document, and get project-specific design from a competent engineer.
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