Safety netting, something like you'd see in a circus!

I want to get some netting, strong enough to hold the weight of a child. I have explored every option to make safe a passageway around a garage where the garage is built into a much higher garden if you follow. Basically there is a retaining wall behind and to side of garage which is around 10 feet high with the back garden level with the top of the wall.

Suggestions to increase height of wall with fence or similar on the garden side have been dismissed as should an adventurous child manage to climb that wall then the drop would be even greater onto the concrete below. Covering it in was another option but too expensive for suitable material as it is very wide and not that easy to do with windows etc in garage.

So latest plan is simply to attach net between garage back wall and garden wall maybe half way up so should there be an accident at least injuries would hopefully be limited.

Any idea where I could even attempt to source something like this? It's not a large amount but most netting I see online for building trade etc is for sides of scaffolding and while fine as a side barrier it is not strong enough for my purpose.

have you looked at the Fishing industry type netting,

For the size of your application a good place to start might be agriculture safety. There are some suppliers of systems to fit under perspex lights that are fitted in agriculture sheds roofs - there have been a number of fatal accidents here.
Google fall arrest nets.

Would the type of netting that you get with a trampoline suffice?

I don't think trampoline netting would be strong enough, it's for a side application same as the scaffolding type stuff, not sure I'd be happy with a fall from a height onto it.

Excellent suggestions above those, particularly the fall arrest nets, have already been googling, thanks.

You are correct to be concerned, but I think you have to think this out again! About 20% of all work-place fatalities are triggered by a fall from height. Fall arrest netting is an option in construction or agriculture where there is a need for people to be working at height and specialists are responsible for its design and installation. With respect (and correct me if I'm wrong), an amateur design and a permanent installation are a recipe for disaster. There are too many variables, will the net break, how much will it stretch, how high is it above ground, how heavy is the child, did they fall or did they jump, how well is it maintained, what influence will weather have over time?? What's to stop this adventurous child from thinking that the fall arrest netting was a trampoline?

You need to think about making sure that the child never gets to the edge of the roof in the first place. You need a barrier and you need to make sure that a child can't or won't climb it. You might even consider using the barrier to block all access to the roof and not just to the edge if that's possible. A standard edge protection barrier is 900 mm tall. The barrier should be constructed so that it can't be easily climbed, usually by having vertical bars and the bars should be close enough together so that a child can't slip through them. These details are in the Building Regulations, they apply to stairs, balconies and landings too. I don't know if you have a particular child in mind or not, but if there are children in the family then they need to be told that the area is dangerous and that climbing on the barrier is not acceptable. Many families live or holiday in apartments with balconies and thankfully accidents of they type you mention are rare when there is an adequate design, a bit of common sense and a bit of good parenting in the mix. Good luck with this project.

It's not a roof that is the issue, it's the garden which is kind of hard to keep kids out of. The site is on two levels kind of, house lower down and garden higher up, the garage has been built into the garden meaning the upper garden is level with the top of the retaining wall at back of garage, there is a passageway all around the garage 5 feet wide, that is the danger area. I have had a builder look at it and building a further wall/barrier above existing retaining wall would need to be too high and there is difficulties building upwards on existing wall or attaching supports for fencing and God forbid should a child manage to get over it then the drop to the concrete below is even greater.

I know it's not a perfect solution but it's better than nothing. It is more to avoid an accidental fall off the upper wall, the child will of course be well warned not to go near it but you never can tell with children and while they will be supervised in the garden for a long time to come, as we all know it only takes a few seconds of distraction for an accident to happen. The child isn't in the least bit adventurous yet anyway but again it's more accidents than deliberate acts I am trying to mitigate against.

All the issues you mention re strength/maintenance/installation I would be taking a lot of advice on, I'm not about to buy a bit of net and just screw it to the wall and hope for the best. I appreciate the advice but we have been looking at this problem for months now with no obvious solution to actually fix it totally and this is just an idea that may work to make the area safer.

Sorry, I think I have a better idea now of how the land lies. I still think that edge protection at the garden level is the only realistic option. Without it even adults are at risk from the 10 foot drop. A suitable edge protection doesn't have to be that high to protect a child and then you don't have to be worried about distraction or accidents. Maybe speak to a different builder or handyman to get a different opinion on it. Alternatively could you grow an impenetrable hedge like pyracanta or hawthorn?

Actually a good thorny hedge is not a bad idea!

I'm a mighty fine handyman myself so the builder was only to see if he could come up with a solution I had not thought of. My preferred solution if it had been cost effective was actually to turn the passageway into a play area totally but the width of it (5ft) scuppered that plan a bit, had it been only 3 ft it would have been easier. I wanted to basically build a timber platform around half way up the gap then on one side of the garage have a sloped ramp climbing frame like you would see in a playground and on the other side of garage a slide from the platform, let them climb up one side, run across the back and slide down the other side. I had found a supplier for the frame and slide but the width meant very heavy timbers would have to be used like scaffolding boards for example and this would have been very bulky and costly. I had something like decking in mind but the the span is too wide for unsupported lengths this width. I also looked into the soft rubbery surfaces they have in playgrounds for the ground to break a fall at least but they cost a fortune.

I like the hedge plan as a second line of defence, will research suitably big prickly plants, have a berberis hedge myself which you wouldn't attempt to go through either. Thank you

Monbretia said:

I had something like decking in mind but the the span is too wide for unsupported lengths this width.

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A 5 foot width would easily be spanned with the use of joists.

Yes but that adds a whole other layer of work to the job, would have been simpler if it was a 3ft width that could support itself on side timbers, don't want to have build a whole underneath supporting frame for it.

Fair enough. To me doing so would be a lot easier than affixing a net where you'd have to consider issues with horizontal forces being exerted on surfaces never designed to carry them if a weight did ever fall on it.

The timber would have been my preferred option as it would have turned a hazard into a useful area even if creating a haven underneath for who knows what but I priced timber and it was working out very expensive before you even get into labour plus the playground bits then.

As an immediate start I'm going to go with planting a strong hedge as paper-folder suggested, probably berberis as the thorns are a deterrent to even going near it, I think it is an excellent idea and one I had not considered.