California 2007 building code effective 1 january 2008 for safety guardrails on balconies decks and on the horizontal area of stairway landings for walking areas whose surface is more than 30 inches above adjacent walking surfaces or the ground for group 2 individual residential dwellings as well as for group 3 occupancies specifies that the guardrail must be 42 inches or higher.
Wall mounted residential stair handrail height code.
Handrail height on the stairs should be no less than 34 inches and no greater than 38 inches.
All railings built for non individual residential dwellings are built to an installed height of at least 42.
Codes require railings against a wall to be between 30 inches and 38 inches high while handrails on open stairs must be 34 to 38 inches high.
Systems built for individual residential single family dwellings are built to an installed height of at least 36 3.
Stair handrail height as for their height they can be placed within 34 to 38 inches and shall be provided on at least one side of a flight of stairs having four for more risers.
The height is measured vertically from the line connecting the nosing.
Required guards shall not have openings that allow passage of a sphere 4 in diameter.
Railing height measure railing height from the bottom of the ground at each step to the top of where the handrail will be located.
If they are placed up against a wall they should have a clearance from the wall not less than 1 inches.