Looking for some insight on my current project

this is a half wall I built in the entry way of my house, the photo shows the wall on the opposite side of the stairs measuring in at 4’ plus 6" baseboard. The wall on the stairs side measures in at 6 1/8" plus 6" baseboard the forum wouldn’t allow me to post the second photo but that is the height of that side of the wall. so my question is do I need to put any kind of railing or guard on the half wall as per building code? I tried googling it and didn’t really find anything useful. I want to keep it as is because I don’t want to obstruct the view from the entrance of the rest of the main floor but I also want my house to be as accurate as possible including following the building codes. just really looking for some suggestions on what I should do as the wall is only 1’ high to a 4’ drop on the other side. I’m just not sure of the building codes around that.

The codes differ from country to country or region to region or even city to city.
To me it looks like our Finnish code would require a higher railing at the stair landing than what your low parapet provides to prevent a person coming down the stairs from tripping over and falling head first over the low wall. While we are it, our code also decrees that the open space between stair treads must not allow a 100 mm cube to fall through.

Install tempered glass railing on top of the low wall.

I don’t know where you are and what code applies. Even if you’re in a US state that has adopted a code based on the IRC, each state can and does modify it for own use. That said, where I am, if the drop from the landing to the floor below is more than 30", you need a guard rail at least 36" high. The stair flight needs a handrail also, but maybe you have that handled on the opposite side already.

I like @ch3ck5ix 's suggestion of a glass rail.

you think I should put a glass railing or a glass wall? like just delete that wall and replace it with a glass wall might look good. I’m from Calgary AB, Canada btw

Have you built that solid wall already or not yet? Is that glass in the other railing you’re showing on the other side? It occurs to me if that’s so, why not for stylistic consistency use the same railing system and glass? It would all “go together.”


So this is what I did on the other side of the stair case I was thinking doing that on the half wall but then it would be asymmetrical. If I put the railing there wouldn’t I need to drop the wall? or just level it with the landing and shape the wall to contour with the staircase

What about dropping that wall all the way to the floor level, have the flooring material itself run over it, and then mount a glass rail from there up?