Re: Florida Building Code- Residentail vs. NFPA

eds · 2006-04-11T16:14:26+00:00

Several years ago I was an "expert witness" on a case where a drunk student fell over a 36" rail at 2nd floor of a rental 2 family house. He was permanently disabled, having landed on his head. Although both a structural engineer and I testified that the rail was up to code structurally and in design, the jury took one look at the poor guy in his wheel chair and gave him $16,000,000. That's why you overdesign so you can say you did everything you could to prevent the accident.EDS

Apr 11, 2006 1 Replies

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eds 20 years ago

>>Having a discussion with a Palm Beach area designer.
>>Latest FBC - Residentail code allows 36" high balcony rails and NFPA still
>>requires 42".
>>Has anyone encountered this and if so, what direction have you taken? >
> Codes only provide you with the min. requirements not necessarily best
> practice construction. Go with the 42" rail. In Canada, we use the
> equivalent in metric which is 1100mm (round number).

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LAWYERHATER 20 years ago

This is a prime example of why most people are not qualified to sit on a jury. I think it's getting to the point we need professional juror's rather than select a group of people off a voting list.

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