Barriers, railings, balustrades, gates and fence panels built from stainless tube, bar, wire rope and mesh. Stainless needs no paint and keeps its appearance for decades if the grade and finish suit the site — which in the hot, salty coastal air of the Gulf means 316 or duplex, a smooth finish and regular washing.
Stainless fencing ranges from architectural balustrades on stairs and balconies to marina railings and perimeter security fences. The components are mostly standard semi-finished products: welded ornamental tube for handrails and posts, solid bar and flat bar for balusters and frames, wire rope for cable infill, welded or woven mesh for panels, and glass clamps and fittings for glass balustrades.
Most failures of stainless railings are cosmetic — brown 'tea staining' on the surface — and come from the wrong grade or finish for the site. Chlorides from sea spray and humidity concentrate on surfaces that are not rinsed by rain, so near the sea a molybdenum grade (316) is the minimum, a smooth, polished or electropolished finish with the polish lines vertical holds less salt, and crevices and rough welds should be avoided. Washing as part of normal facade cleaning keeps the surface clean.
Structural design is governed by the barrier loads in the building code — in British practice BS 6180, which sets horizontal line loads for barriers by building use — and by the fixing into concrete or steel, which must also be stainless (A4 anchors and bolts) to avoid galvanic corrosion and rust staining. Welds are ground and repolished, and fabricated parts are pickled and passivated so that iron picked up from tools does not rust.
In the GCC, stainless balustrades and railings are a standard specification for towers, hotels, malls, airports, metro stations, waterfronts and marinas. Coastal projects in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states usually call for 316 with a fine satin or polished finish, and duplex 2205 for splash zones and heavily exposed marine structures. Fabrication is done locally from imported tube, bar, wire rope and fittings.
A railing or fence is designed as a system: posts, top rail, infill and fixings. Order the components by grade, size and finish, and the finished system by drawing, load requirement and site exposure.
| Region | Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| UK | BS 6180 BSI |
Barriers in and about buildings — code of practice, including horizontal loads for balustrades |
| USA | ASTM A554 ASTM |
Welded stainless steel mechanical tubing — the usual handrail and ornamental tube |
| Europe | EN 10296-2 CEN-CENELEC |
Welded circular steel tubes for mechanical and general engineering purposes — stainless steel |
| USA | ASTM A276/A276M ASTM |
Stainless steel bars and shapes — balusters, posts and fittings |
| Europe | EN 10088-2 CEN-CENELEC |
Stainless steels — sheet, plate and strip of corrosion resisting steels for general purposes, with surface finish designations |
| International | ISO 3506-1 ISO |
Stainless steel fasteners — A4 bolts and anchors for fixing railings |
Grade equivalents and the standards bodies: Steel grades & standards
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