A Guide to Vertical Cable Safety Barriers – Principles For Good Design

Efficient and stylish, floor to ceiling vertical cable barriers have become a popular means of ensuring fall safety on balconies, atria and so forth. While the effectiveness of such systems is clear, and their emerging popularity is welcome, specifiers should follow some basic rules to ensure the performance of the solution.

Barriers that are designed and installed without full consideration of factors like cable behaviour, the importance of connections, and so on can be problematic. And, depending on application, the consequences can render a barrier non-compliant.

Titled, ‘A Guide To Vertical Cable Barriers’, this presentation is intended to help ensure you arrive at an appropriate design. Noting the limitations in the way the NCC and other regulations deal with such systems, our speakers outline how to meet best practice when it comes to the specification of Vertical Cable Barriers.

At the end of this presentation, you should be able to:

• Outline the attractions of Vertical Cable Safety Barriers and the types of applications they suit.
• Explain how the National Construction Code regulates the installation of Vertical Cable Safety Barriers
• Outline limitations in the way Vertical Cable Safety Barriers are regulated in Australia
• Identify the types of products that are most suitable for use as Vertical Cable Safety Barriers

Speakers

Rowan Murray – Founder & General Manager, Ronstan Tensile Architecture

Rowan Murray is Founder and General Manager of Ronstan Tensile Architecture and an owner of Ronstan, having guided the company to a position as a recognised leader in Tensile Architecture across three continents. During this period Ronstan launched the first “Tensile” mesh and pioneered its use throughout Australasia in applications such as those to be discussed today as well as in zoological enclosures, as balustrades, fences and other architectural applications. Rowan is Secretary of the Lightweight Structures Association of Australasia inc.

Dr Paul Joseph – Design Manager, Ronstan Tensile Architecture 

Dr Paul Joseph has 42 years of experience in Tensile Architecture in Technical, Design Management and Project Management roles. After graduating from Melbourne University in 1980, Paul worked as a Civil Engineer at Connell Group (now Aurecon) for two years before completing a Ph.D. in Light Gauge Steel Columns at Cambridge University in 1987. Paul’s career has seen him play pivotal roles in some of the worlds most significant lightweight structures across Asia and the Middle East. Today, Paul specializes as the Design Manager at Ronstan Tensile Architecture, overseeing the design, production, and installation of Ronstan project activities.

Peter Lim – Director, Tensys Engineers

Peter Lim is a director of Tensys and working in the field of lightweight structures, complex geometries and space frames for the past 35 years. His expertise and experience is not only in design but also project management, execution and delivery of these unique structures internationally. Peter and Tensys are recognized internationally for their work breaking new ground across Asia in the field of ETFE membranes for large span structures such as stadiums. Tensys experience, modelling, analysing and designing with tensile mesh has seen the completion of some of the largest structures utilizing this material across Asia to date. Peter is actively involved with the Schools of Architecture at Monash, UTS and Swinburne Universities where he assists with programmes in Lightweight Tensile Architecture.