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§9.2.7

Repeated Headers and Title Bands

The header row appears again mid-page—same table or a new one?

✅ NormativeSettled. The requirement holds as written.📄 Page ruleCan be applied from the page alone.Read §9.2.7 in the RFC ↗

The requirement

Within one page, a column-header row printed again after data rows MUST close the table and open a new one at the repeat. Header repetition is the table-boundary signal.

When it applies

Sketch of the printed page — layout, not output
| State | Rate |
| AL    | 1.10 |
| State | Rate |   ← header printed again after data rows:
| MT    | 0.95 |     the first table ends, a second starts here

Reading the examples. Each one pairs a source page with the output the rule expects. ✅ Sample: the rule applies. ❌ Counter-sample: it looks like it applies and does not, or a rendering got it wrong. A non-conforming output, in red, is shown only for contrast. … marks content left out of an excerpt.

Requirements

  • A re-declared header row MUST start a new table. The rows under it belong to that new table, not to the one above.
  • An entity or geography band that reappears as a title bar before each block likewise MUST open a new table each time it appears.
  • The repeated header MUST be kept: it is printed, so it is the new table's header row.
  • Two tables separated by a repeated header MUST NOT be fused, even where they read as one series broken up for layout.
01

✅ SampleThe rule applies

The Monday to Friday band with its AM/PM label reappears as a title bar before each…busbands

The Monday to Friday band with its AM/PM label reappears as a title bar before each stacked block, so each block is its own table.

Source page
Repeated Headers and Title Bands — The Monday to Friday band with its AM/PM label reappears as a title bar before each…. Source page.
Expected output · table 1 of 3
Monday to Friday AM
Harborview Terminal 6.15 6.45 7.00 7.15 7.35 7.50 8.05 8.20 8.35 8.55 9.25 9.55 10.25 10.55 11.25 11.55
Thistledown Mall 6.25 6.55 7.12 7.28 7.49 8.04 8.19 8.33 8.48 9.07 9.37 10.07 10.37 11.07 11.37 12.07
Northgate Plaza 6.35 7.06 7.23 7.40 8.03 8.18 8.33 8.47 9.00 9.19 9.49 10.19 10.49 11.19 11.49 12.19
University Quarter 6.43 7.16 7.33 7.50 8.13 8.28 8.43 8.57 9.09 9.28 9.58 10.28 10.58 11.28 11.58 12.28
Fenwick Green 6.55 7.33 7.50 8.07 8.30 8.45 9.00 9.11 9.23 9.42 10.12 10.42 11.12 11.42 12.12 12.42
Oakford College 7.13 7.51 8.08 8.25 8.48 9.03 9.18 9.29 9.41 10.00 10.30 11.00 11.30 12.00 12.30 1.00
Repeated Headers and Title Bands · Source page

The Monday to Friday band with its AM/PM label reappears as a title bar before each…

Repeated Headers and Title Bands — The Monday to Friday band with its AM/PM label reappears as a title bar before each…. Source page.
02

❌ Counter-sampleLooks like it applies and does not — or a rendering got it wrong

Four period blocks that look like one table whose headers reappear after each data group2021-q3-consensus-poll-calculation

Each block has its own Period title and participant count above its header, so each is a wholly separate table — the title and count form its opening <caption> rather than data rows.

Source page
Repeated Headers and Title Bands — Four period blocks that look like one table whose headers reappear after each data group. Source page.
Expected output · excerpt, block 1 of 4
Period Q3 2031 Number of participants: 9
Sales million EUR Gross profit margin % EBIT margin % Net result million EUR
Average 142.6 39.4% 18.6% 25.7
Median 144.0 39.3% 19.0% 25.1
High 147.2 39.8% 20.4% 36.9
Low 118.3 39.0% 14.2% 15.6
Repeated Headers and Title Bands · Source page

Four period blocks that look like one table whose headers reappear after each data group

Repeated Headers and Title Bands — Four period blocks that look like one table whose headers reappear after each data group. Source page.

Read it against the mirror case

If two fragments share a header that is not repeated, they are one table — see Split Tables Sharing a Header (§9.2.9). Together, the two rules make header repetition the single boundary signal, decidable from what is printed without judging what the rows mean. An exception for a case that "obviously" continues weakens both rules and MUST NOT be made.

Across a page break

Across a page break, a repeated header is routine and says nothing about whether the table ended. That case is governed by Cross-Page Tables (§4.3), not by this rule; within one page, a repeat is a boundary.

Look-alike

Two similar pages that call for different decisions. Synthetic, for teaching the boundary.

A bold line inside a grid. Divider row, or the start of a new table?

A

Band inside the grid

ProductPremium
As of December 2024
Term Life1,204
As of December 2023
Term Life1,150
The convention

One table. The band is a full-width row.

B

Repeated header

StateRate
AL1.10
StateRate
MT0.95
The convention

Close the table, start a new one at the repeat.

Look at the structure. What evidence changes the answer?

More

Rule id tables-repeated-headers-and-title-bands · tables boundaries headers