Staircase Building Regulations - General Information

The Staircase in your building project will need to conform to Building Regulations. Building regulations relate to the shape, depth, height and level of your staircase as well as the pitch, the clearance above it and the width of the landings. Details of permitted handrails and balustrades as well as their related heights and the distance between the balusters are also covered. The building regulations issues can be explored on the excellent government website www.planningportal.gov.uk. You may also Click here to download 'Approved Document K - Protection from falling, collision and impact' in Pdf. format direct from the building regulations website.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE IS A NEW VERSION OF APPROVED DOCUMENT K This is in effect from 6th April 2013. The above link takes you to the new version of the document

These building regulations will dictate to a greater or lesser extent what you can achieve with your staircase design.

The main points to note regarding building regulations for a staircase from this document are:

The minimum tread size (the horizontal part of each stair) is 220mm from the nosing to the nosing of the next tread and the riser (the height of each step) must be between 190mm and 220mm.
There are no recommendations for minimum staircase widths, the width of a standard flight of astaircase is 860mm and anything less than 600mm is impractical. The gradient (pitch can not be greater than 42 degrees).
A staircase with open risers likely to be used by children under five should be built so that a 100mm sphere cannot pass through the open risers. The same regulation applies to the balusters - described in the regulations as the 'guarding'.
Staircase Landings should generally by provided at the top of each flight.

Clear headroom of 2000mm should be provided over the whole width of your staircase but this can be reduced to 1900mm in some situations for loft conversions.

Please consult with our Technical Department for further advice on all aspects of Staircase Building Regulations. We strongly recommend that all customers liaise with their local authority Building Control department or District Surveyor to ascertain the exact requirement for yourstaircase and conformation to building regulations.

In addition to this, parts B (Means of Escape) and M (Access for Disabled) of Building Regulations also apply to spiral stairs in certain situations.

Building Regulations and British Standards for a Spiral Staircase

Further to paragraph 1.21 of Part K of the building regulations states that a spiral staircase and helical staircase complies with Building Regulations if it is designed to comply with British Standard BS5395 part II (Code of practice for the design of helical staircases and spiralstaircases 1984)

British Standards for a Spiral or Helical Staircase

Technical requirements relating to design, construction and installation of a spiral staircase to British Standards.
External stairways over six metres in height may also require weather protection, such as balustrade panels and canopy roofing. Please consult with our Technical Department for further advice on all aspects of Building Regulations. We strongly recommend that all customers liaise with their local authority Building Control department or District Surveyor to ascertain the exact requirement for the individual situation.

Please see below a summary table of British Standards (BS)5395 part II giving various categories or stairways.

Category	Spiral Staircase Description	Rise per tread	Min. clear width	Min. going centre
A	Small private spiral staircase intended to be used by a limited number of people who are generally familiar with staircase eg internal staircase in a dwelling serving one room not being a living room or kitchen, access spiral staircase to a small room or plant in an office, shop, factory, not used by the public, or fire escape for small number of people.	170-220	600	145
B	Private spiral staircase similar to category A, but also providing the main access to the upper floor of a private dwelling.	170-220	800	190
C	Small semi-public spiral staircase intended to be used by a limited number of people, some of whom may be unfamiliar with staircase eg spiral staircase in factory, office, shop or common stair serving more than one dwelling.	170-220	800	230
D	Semi-public spiral staircase intended to be used by larger numbers of people, some of whom may be unfamiliar with staircase eg spiral staircase in factory, office, shop or common stair serving more than one dwelling.	150-190	900	250
E	Public spiral staircase intended to be used by large numbers of people at one time eg spiral staircase in place of public assembly	150-190	1000	250