Every specification, installation guide and engineering document we publish, in one place. Three product lines, two infill types, and the arithmetic behind all of it — including what we have not certified.
The one thing to know before you read any of itCR Fence & Rail holds no ICC-ES evaluation report (ESR) and no Intertek code compliance research report (CCRR) for these systems. Everything published here is our own engineering against published code requirements and published material minimums. It is not a third-party rating, and we will not present it as one. Your building official has the final say.
We put that at the top of the hub rather than in a footnote, because the alternative is that you find out from an inspector.
| Line | Post | Wall | Material | Weight | 36 in | 42 in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EdgeLine shipping, spec changing | 40 × 40 mm 1.57 × 1.57 in | 1.5 mm (0.059 in) | Galvanised carbon steel | 1.81 kg/m | 1.14 × | not sold at 42 in |
| ProGuard preview — not yet in production | 50 × 50 mm 1.97 × 1.97 in | 2.0 mm (0.079 in) | Galvanised carbon steel | 3.01 kg/m | 3.16 × | 1.34 × commercial case |
| CoastLine preview — not yet in production | 50 × 50 mm 1.97 × 1.97 in | 3.0 mm (0.118 in) | 6061-T6 aluminium | 1.52 kg/m — half the steel lines | 2.26 × | 1.29 × commercial case |
| Load case | Magnitude | Where it applies | Clause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concentrated | 200 lb | Top of the guard, in any direction — including straight down | IRC R301.5 · IBC 1607.9.1.1 |
| Uniform commercial | 50 lb/ft | Along the top rail. At 6 ft spacing this is 300 lb per post — more than the concentrated load | IBC 1607.9.1 |
| Infill | 50 lb | Any one square foot of infill | IBC 1607.9.1.2 |
| Opening | 4 in sphere | Anywhere in the guard. 4⅜ in on the open side of a stair | IRC R312.1.3 |
We compute on the wall the mill may legally ship, not the wall on the drawing. Chinese cold-formed hollow section carries a −10% wall tolerance, so a 2.0 mm nominal may arrive at 1.80 mm. Every safety factor we publish is at nominal × 0.90.
And we size against the downward case, not the easy one. “In any direction” includes someone sitting on the rail. For a rectangular top rail that is much harder than sideways, because the section is shallower that way and bending strength grows with depth cubed. A supplier quoting only the horizontal case is quoting the easy direction.
| Level | Stairs | What sets the limit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picket guard rail | 6 ft | 6 ft along the slope | Top rail bending |
| Cable railing | 4 ft | 4 ft along the slope | Cable sag against the 4 in sphere — not bending |
Stair spacing is measured along the slope, nosing to nosing — never horizontally. Set posts at the horizontal spacing and the sloped distance between them exceeds the maximum, which is how rails come out short and cables sag past the sphere limit.
Questions this set does not answerSpecifying for a project and need something these pages do not cover? Ask us. We would rather answer a hard question than lose you to a vague one — and if the honest answer is that we are not the right supplier for your project, we will tell you that too.