Why Guard Requirements Change Above a Certain Height

Most codes distinguish between a low platform, where a fall is a rolled ankle at worst, and anything higher, where a fall becomes genuinely dangerous — and the guard requirements shift at that threshold. Below a certain height, some jurisdictions don't require a guard at all, or allow a shorter one; above it, minimum heights increase and the structural loading a guard needs to resist typically increases too.

This is part of why a guard that was fine on a low first-floor deck can fail review when the same design gets reused on a raised second-storey deck — it's not the same requirement just because it's the same style of railing. Treating guard height and structural capacity as tied to the specific fall height involved, not a single number for every project, avoids the surprise at inspection.