Will My Glass Balustrade Need a Handrail?

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With so many choices and options to consider to bolster the spectacular view from your property it can often be a question of how to frame, emphasise and best reflect the panorama from your balcony or patio. Do you want a balustrade with a sturdy handrail for grip and a surface to lean upon or a sleeker profile with a frameless system? Explore some options here…

I don’t want a handrail but I’m told I need one! Why?

Do you want an unimpeded view of the world outside your window, unbroken by the eye-catching horizon of a balustrade handrail? Some customers like the convenience and comfort of one of our Hybrid® handrails: Aerofoil or Orbit crowning the panes of stunning glass to rest upon and socialise, but increasingly popular and generating interest from customers is our Frameless SG12, Structural Glass Balustrade. This is an elegant solution to achieve a low visibility, unobtrusive and seamless barrier that will encompass that special place for you to relax, unwind and simply while away hours of contentment.

So, is a handrail an absolute necessity as required by law? The answer is that if you utilise toughened laminated glass – you don’t need one (hurrah!) as laminated glass, correctly installed, is strong enough to structurally support itself without the need for a handrail to provide strength. What is laminated glass? That’s thicker, laminated glass with a membrane layer sandwiched between the 2 panes of toughened glass. If one of the panels fails and shatters independently, the other is strong enough to continue to perform its job and stay in place.

Our Fully Frameless SG12 system uses a robust base track to achieve its structural strength and rigidity and this means that it doesn’t require posts for support that would further obscure the view. So, what you get is the considerable aesthetic benefit of virtually limitless expanses of pure uninterrupted glass without supports, clamps or posts - or even the line of a handrail.

If you want to install a curved frameless balustrade without a handrail, that’s possible too, just as long as the base channel that the glass panels fix into is below the finished floor level.

What did new British Standards Change?

Changes to legislation were introduced in 2011 that revised BS6180, the standard that deals with balustrades and barriers and these altered requirements, allowing a wider set of options for glass-only balustrades.

The standard states in clause 8.5.2:

“Where the barrier protects a difference in level greater than 600 mm, a handrail should always be used unless a laminated toughened glass construction is used that would remain in-situ if a panel fails.”

I’d like something to lean on other than glass…

So, it’s clear to see that the laminated toughened glass construction of our Frameless SG12 system means that a handrail is not required by current regulations and a glass-only balustrade is perfectly fine to install, above or below the floor surface of your balcony structure. However if you do want a subtle top rail that will finish and protect the panels of glass with the ability to use as a handgrip or comfortable ornamental finish then a beautifully designed, aluminium elliptical handrail or a minimalist rectangular top-rail to top the panels is available as an option.

Conversely, when unlaminated toughened glass panels are utilised for a balustrade system, a handrail is always required, where BS6180 further states:

“Any handrail should be attached to the glass in such a manner that, should a glass panel fail, the handrail: a) will remain in position and b) will not fail if the design load is applied across the resulting gap.”

All of Balconette’s balustrade systems comply with these stringent tests. So you can order with peace-of-mind.

Thanks to changes with building regulations and improvement in manufacturing techniques, since 2011 the use and implementation of Frameless glass balustrades without a handrail has skyrocketed.

Please see our options for designing a Fully Frameless balustrade here.