Mercury Balustrade Panel for a Faster Install and Lower Project Cost

New subdivisions are going in all over the place and developers maximise their investment flattening out the sections. That means a lot of retaining walls with falls of over 1m needing balustrade compliant fencing. Based on feedback from New Zealand's leading fencesmiths, the Mercury Balustrade panel range was designed specifically for retaining walls.

• Made from aluminium so its light weight and fast to install.
• Balustrade compliant at 2.4m centers.
• Rakes up to 30 deg.
• Pool safety compliant. 
• Compliant using standard 65shs posts.
• Economically priced.

Lets look at some of the design criteria.

The New Zealand Building Code 1170.1:2002 has different occupancy designations with different load criteria. We recommend reading the relevant sections of code to gain a full understanding of the details. But for the purpose of this release a basic overview will suffice.

• Residential retaining walls are under designation A and this requires that the balustrade can take a distributed load of 350N/m and a point load of 600N.
• Residential decks and balconies also fall under designation A but have a higher load criteria. DIstributed loads must be 750N/m and point loads 600N. Decks also tend to have smaller post centers to suit the joist centers.
• Commercial retaining walls, balconies and decks in areas not susceptible to overcrowding fall under designations B, E and C3. Distributed loads must be 750 N/m and point loads 600N.

Our other design criteria was rigidity. The Mercury panel needed to not just meet the building code but also feel stiff and solid. This lead us to design two different panels using custom extrusions and a patented internal mechanism to make the resistant to vertical loads that it would be subject to if someone was standing on the bottom rail of the panel. Both panels are code compliant at 2.4m centers and have a PS1 to prove this to your building inspector (more details on the product page).

• Mercury Residential: 40x40mm top and bottom rails and 25x25mm pickets
• Mercury Commercial: 40x50mm top rail, 40x40mm bottom rail and 25x25mm pickets

The design doesn't just meet the code, it kicks it out of the park! Mercury Balustrade Panels are the most rigid, full width raking panel on the market. The patented mechanism not only allows it to rake it also adds to the rigidity, putting it up there with custom made steel panel but without the drawbacks or pricetag!

So why Mercury?

• balustrade compliant at full 2.4m centres
• SOLID – both structurally and aesthetically (chunky 25x25mm pickets and 50x40mm top rail)
• no bowing of rails as is often associated with some panels
• rakeable – rakes up to 30°. No cutting and stepping of panels
• cost effective – less posts required when installing at 2.4m centres
• new “easy install” brackets supplied with panels
• aluminium construction – high resistance to corrosion
• balustrade available in 1m and 1.2m heights

Read more on the Mercury Product Page