Window railings in France: height, rules and price

When is a window railing required?

Upstairs, a window whose sill is less than 900 mm from the floor must be guarded: the French building code requires it in new homes and in building works subject to its rules. In an old house where no such works are planned, adding a railing is therefore not compulsory; the rule is still the safety reference, and the workshop applies it to all its railings. From 900 mm up, it no longer asks for any protection. On the ground floor it asks for none; the workshop keeps the same height there as upstairs.

How high? It is the handrail that counts

Gaps between the bars (NF P01-012)

The workshop checks the gaps with balls, following the NF P01-012 standard: in a gap that starts less than 800 mm from the floor, a 110 mm ball must not pass through; in a gap that starts higher, a 180 mm ball. It keeps a 3 mm margin: a railing is only sold if every gap is smaller than the ball, less those 3 mm. The check is redone for every window, as the number of crosses depends on its width.

Below 600 mm from the floor, the workshop leaves nothing to put a foot on: when the frame starts lower, vertical bars close its lower part, and the crosses only start above.

The rosette counts too. Set where the bars cross, it fills the centre of the cross: a smaller rosette, or none at all, leaves a bigger gap, and fewer designs meet the rule. For each window, the product page only offers the designs that do. A frame with bars only has no crosses, so no rosette: there is none to choose or pay for.

This is what the site means by “French safety standards”: the height and the gaps, checked window by window. No railing that fails them is sold.

Worked examples for a window 1,000 mm wide

An upstairs window, 1,000 mm wide, with the product page's starting options: handrail “Oak, grooved”, steel “Charcoal black”, rosette “Flower, cast aluminium Ø100”. For each sill height, here is what the workshop calculates, with the design the product page offers first; other compliant designs can be chosen there.

Price of one railing, worked out by the same engine as the product page, fixings and fitting guide included. Delivery, fitting or collection from the workshop are chosen next, on the product page.

French windows: the Juliet balcony

In front of a French window, the bottom of the opening is at floor level, or nearly. The railing then rises from the bottom of the opening to the handrail, and vertical bars close its lower part: that is the first row of the table. It fits between the walls like a window railing, and is ordered the same way, on the same product page.

High windows: a handrail on its own, or nothing

When the sill is high, little room is left under the handrail. From 866 mm above the floor, even the workshop's smallest frame, with bars, no longer fits: the workshop then makes a handrail on its own, at the same height, on quotation. From 986 mm, the sill is almost at handrail height: there is nothing to fit. Where the rule applies, upstairs, protection remains required as long as the sill is below 900 mm.

Measure yourself, or have the workshop come

Measurements are taken with a tape, in millimetres. The width between the walls, twice: at the sill, then one metre up from the floor. The workshop builds to the smaller of the two; if they differ by more than 10 mm, it recommends a measuring visit. Then the sill height, from the finished floor. The window height is optional: it checks that the railing fits in the opening. If it does not, the workshop makes it face-fixed, in front of the window, on quotation.

If you prefer, the workshop comes to measure: €19.99 within 30 km of Saumur, then mileage and driving time, up to 200 km. This amount is deducted from your order if you order afterwards.

What changes the price

The price is worked out from your measurements, on the product page, before any commitment. It depends on the window width, the railing height and the design that meets the rule, then on your choices: the handrail, the rosette and, if you prefer it to the crosses, a glass panel. On the product page: from €300 for a window 100 cm wide.

With another rosette, the product page sometimes offers another design, and the price changes with it: so the difference is not the same from one window to the next. The product page works it out from your measurements.

Several windows go in the same basket, each to its own measurements and at its own price.

Lead time

Made to order — allow 4 to 6 weeks

Delivery

By carrier in mainland France, delivered and fitted by the workshop, or collected from the workshop in Saumur — fixings and fitting guide included