Cable Railing Tension Requirements

Sphere rules in any guide to cable railing code you ll hear reference to the 4 inch sphere rule and if stairs are involved the 6 inch sphere rule.

Cable railing tension requirements.

3 maximum cable spacing b. 4 maximum support spacing c. 1 8 stainless steel cables. Cable tension testing equipment shall be provided by the owner contractor.

7 feet we offer cable stabilizer kits. If you wish to maintain 3 spacing for cable sections that span over 4 feet max. In order to meet this requirement typically the number of parallel cables for 36 inch high railing is 10 and 12 for 42 inch high railing for floor mounted posts. For child safety the balusters or other decorative infill must be spaced less than 4 inches apart a 4 inch diameter ball should not pass between the balusters.

Five hundred pounds of force is stated fairly often and 1 000 pounds has been mentioned as a goal. If an alternate railing design is proposed the applicant must provide the testing criteria from the. Our standard cable spacing is 3 on center running the length of each post. Most often horizontal railing systems are subject to the sphere rules handrail guardrail height requirements and load requirements.

Cable shall be tensioned to a minimu m 225lb. Estimates of the typical tension of a cable railing range from 100 to 200 pounds of force but there are even higher estimates out there. Cable railing requires support mid posts every 4 feet to maintain cable spans with minimum deflection.