Included is ‘the construction or alteration of any platform, bridge, or the like from which it is not possible for a person to fall more than one metre even if it collapses’. The Building Act's Schedule 1 lists the building work not needing a consent. Building consents for low decksĪ low deck may not need a building consent. In light of this determination, where the ground slopes gradually away from a deck a reasonable approach is to measure the height of fall at a distance of 1200mm out from the deck.ĭetermination 2008/081 Safety barrier to a deck located adjacent to a retaining wall. The need for a barrier on a low deckĭetermination 2008/81 has made clear that the horizontal distance to a steep slope must be considered when deciding the need for a barrier on a deck. If there was no barrier on the deck, the determination concluded the deck needed to be 1200mm from the face of the wall to protect people from falling off the deck and tumbling down the wall. The more likely scenario is that they would fall down the hillside onto the rocks below.” Recent determination decision on ‘safety from falling’ĭetermination 2008/81 considered the situation where a proposed low deck, 500mm high, would be close to a steep rock retaining wall. The judge said “it seems to me that the slope of the cliff face is such that if anyone fell from the platform or from the handrail level, they would be unlikely to fall neatly and directly into the small space of less than one metre between the edge of the platform and the outer retaining wall. A slope of 45° is steep enough for someone to tumble down and injure themselves (stairs in a house typically have a slope of about 40°).Ī court decision some time ago (Judge MA Frater, District Court Gisborne, ) dealt with a situation where there was a cliff with a platform at the top, 800mm above a small retaining wall and set back about one metre from it. Unfortunately fatal mountain climbing falls occur from time to time, but many of them are not vertical falls. One dictionary definition of ‘to fall’ is ‘to descend rapidly from a higher to a lower level’. If a deck or patio is 1.5 metres above a flat lawn, then the height someone could fall is obviously 1.5 metres. Where people could fall one metre or more from an opening in the external envelope or floor of a building, or from a sudden change of level within or associated with a building, a barrier shall be provided.
Clause F4 (Safety from Falling), in F4.3.1, states:
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