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Regulations You Need To Account For In Stair Design

If you are in the process of adding a staircase to your home or business, you may be unaware of many of the regulations that have been put in place to ensure that your stair design is 100% safe. These regulations have been established by local governments and other representative bodies that are charged with the task of ensuring safety in every aspect of a construction. This guide may give you a good idea of what areas you need to focus on in your design:

• Angle: The angle of your stairs must fall somewhere between 30 and 50 degrees to the horizontal. This means that steep, ladder-like steps are no longer permitted.
• Depth: Most building codes state that treads must be at least 10 or 11 inches deep to ensure that they accommodate for any foot size.
• Rise: Your stair design must outline that the rise between your steps cannot vary by more than three-eighths of an inch to prevent people from tripping.
• General: You must include stairs anywhere there is a change in elevation of 19 or more inches.
• Handrails: If a staircase has more than four steps, you must install a handrail that runs the entire length of the flight. It must also be between 34 and 38 inches above the tread.

It is important to keep in mind that these regulations are not put in place to make the creation of your stair design more difficult – they are there to ensure that your structure is 100% safe for anyone who happens to be using it. Make sure that your design complies completely before submitting it for checking, as nothing even slightly out will get through.