Guarding Performance Requirements

It is the view of the Department that the requirements of regulation 57 in Part H will be met if, in order to reduce the risk to the safety of people in or about buildings – (a) pedestrian guarding is provided in buildings which is capable of preventing people from being injured by falling from a height; (b) vehicle barriers are provided which are capable of resisting or deflecting the impact of vehicles. An appropriate level of safety can be achieved by different standards of provision for guarding, depending on the circumstances; for example, in a building to which the public are admitted, the standard of provision may be higher than in a dwelling, to reflect the lesser familiarity and greater number of users. Where access is required only for the purpose of maintenance, greater care can be expected from those gaining access, and it would be reasonable that less demanding provisions could satisfy the requirement.