Are safety climb devices required on towers?

It?s oftentimes asked if there is a requirement that mandates that towers must be retrofitted with safety climb devices.

Revision G, which went into effect January 1, 2006, requires that any antenna supporting structures that exceed 10-feet in height, and antennas intended for climbing, is required to be equipped with a minimum of one climbing facility equipped with a safety climb.

Up until then there were no requirements for a safety climb in previous revisions. Revision F only said that safety climbs will be provided when specified by the purchaser.

The current revision says that a safety climb device does not have to be installed over the entire height of a structure when its installation would adversely affect the performance of an antenna. However, the structure must then be equipped with a warning sign or climber attachment anchorages must be provided.

TIA/EIA-222-G is a voluntary standard and has no legal bearing. It only gains formidable strength if it's referenced by the International Building Code (IBC) or any other code, and the code or TIA/EIA-222-G is adopted by a permitting jurisdiction. Then it is the law. So, every new tower would be required to have a safety climb if the structure is designed under Revision G.

The standard?s requirement for a safety device is not retroactive. However, if an older tower is over capacity, it must be redesigned to Revision G, not the revision it was originally designed under. Then one could reasonably argue that it would be required to have a safety climb.