Balcony railing of fibre cement poses fall risk: Otkes

The Safety Investigation Authority (Otkes) warned that using fibre cement boards as protection barriers on balconies is not suitable as fall protection or for preventing falls, said Otkes in a press release on Thursday.

The authority made the advisory following an investigation into an accident took place in Helsinki in September 2025 where one person died after falling through a balcony railing board of an apartment building to the ground.

When the safety investigation began in the autumn, it was noted that the fibre cement balcony boards at the home where the accident occurred should be tested in order to determine their durability in terms of protecting against falls and whether there were any defects in the attachments.

Strength tests performed by the Otkes on 18 May confirmed that fibre cement board is not suitable as fall protection or for preventing falls.

"We performed 10 different strength tests on the balcony board. The test results showed that, in practice, the impact caused by a small child aged 3–6 is sufficient to cause the board to fail,” said Toni Kekki, Specialist of Otkes.

Kekki said a glass balcony panel is required to withstand an impact force of 220 Joules, which is equivalent to the impact of an adult falling against the glass.

“No equivalent standard has been specified for fibre cement board, even though the product is intended for exactly the same purpose as glass. Fibre boards are widely used because they are not only cost-effective but also a preferred solution in terms of facade appearance,” the Specialist added.

Under the Safety Investigation Act, the Safety Investigation Authority must notify the relevant authority if faults or deficiencies are detected during a safety investigation that the authority must urgently correct in order to prevent new accidents.

The Safety Investigation Authority issued an accident threat notification concerning the structure of the balcony board to the Ministry of the Environment and the City of Helsinki (Building Control Services).

The authority urged the supervisory authorities to take supervisory measures to promote balcony safety.

In addition, the accident risk notification is addressed to the building control departments in municipalities and cities and to the housing company as a public notification.

“Based on the studies now carried out, it is clear that the board solutions currently in use are not strong enough. The Safety Investigation Authority does not know how many similar balcony boards are in use in Finland, but even the best estimate is in the tens of thousands. Near-miss situations involving the failure of balcony boards are not registered anywhere, which means that the authorities are not aware of them,” Kekki added.