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In the course of performing home inspections, I often find that guards in the form of railings or another building element are missing from the top of retaining walls. The particular walls in question are along driveways and exterior basement stairwells. In the case of a basement stairwell, I may see a handrail on the building’s wall but nothing on the top of the wall opposite to prevent a person from falling. The top of the stairwell wall is at grade level.</span>
Dennis, a guard is required on an open sided walking surface with a change in elevation of greater than 30″. The guard is required to be 36″ for residential construction and 42″ for non-residential construction. See Virginia Residential Code section 312.1.1 and Virginia Construction Code 1013.2 respectively…
One may also evaluate whether the open side is an accessible walking surface or potentially navigable terrain.
Sean P. Farrell
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