The Ontario Building Code | Guards and Railings

3.4.7.6. Guards and Railings

(1) The open sides of every platform, balcony and stairway forming part of a fire escape shall be protected by guards not less than 920 mm high measured vertically above the nosing of any tread or platform.

(2) The top rail of a guard is permitted to serve as a handrail if it is free from obstructions that could break a handhold.

(3) A wall handrail shall be installed if the fire escape is more than 550 mm wide.

(4) openings="http://thehandyforce.com/windows/" title ="Window installer in Toronto">openings through any guard that is required by Sentence (1) shall be of a size that will prevent the passage of a sphere having a diameter more than 100 mm unless it can be shown that the location and size of openings="http://thehandyforce.com/windows/" title ="Window installer in Toronto">openings that exceed this limit do not represent a hazard.

(5) Unless it can be shown that the location and size of openings="http://thehandyforce.com/windows/" title ="Window installer in Toronto">openings do not present a hazard, a guard for a fire escape shall be designed so that no member, attachment or opening located between 140 mm and 900 mm above a platform or the nosing of any tread will facilitate climbing.