How Table 3306.1 works
IBC Section 3306, Table 3306.1 sets pedestrian protection by the construction's height and its distance from the lot line. Work 8 ft high or less has one row; work more than 8 ft high is sorted by distance as fractions of its height.
The rows
- 8 ft high or less, less than 5 ft from the lot line: construction railings.
- More than 8 ft high, less than 5 ft away, or from 5 ft up to 1/4 of the height away: a barrier and a covered walkway.
- More than 8 ft high, between 1/4 and 1/2 of the height away: a barrier only.
- More than 8 ft high, more than 1/2 of the height away: none.
Do the arithmetic
- 36 ft high, 7 ft away: 1/4 of 36 is 9 ft. Seven feet is between 5 ft and 9 ft, so a barrier and a covered walkway.
- 60 ft high, 20 ft away: 1/4 is 15 ft, 1/2 is 30 ft. Twenty feet sits between them, so a barrier only.
- 40 ft high, 25 ft away: 1/2 is 20 ft. Twenty-five feet is beyond it, so no protection.
- 7 ft high, 4 ft away: 8 ft or less and under 5 ft, so construction railings.
The trap: "none" and "barrier only" apply only above 8 ft. Low work near the lot line gets railings.
Walkways, railings and barriers
- Walkways (3306.2): at least 4 ft (1219 mm) wide, designed for a live load of at least 150 psf.
- Construction railings (3306.4): at least 42 in high.
- Barriers (3306.5): at least 8 ft (2438 mm) high, on the side of the walkway nearest the construction, and running the full length of the site, not just the active portion.
The trap: 42 in is the railing height; 8 ft is the barrier height and also the covered-walkway clear height, never the walkway width. A 6 ft barrier on the street side is wrong on both height and side.