Staircase Regulations UK: Rise, Going and Handrail Height

Staircase regulations for a house: the figures

The 2013 edition of Approved Document K, for use in England, sets these figures for a private stair in a house.

Rule	Stair in a house	Approved Document K
Rise	150mm to 220mm	Table 1.1
Going	220mm to 300mm	Table 1.1
Pitch	42 degrees at most	Table 1.1, note 1
Twice the rise plus the going	550mm to 700mm	Table 1.1
Steps	Level treads, the same rise and going throughout a flight	Paragraph 1.5
Open risers	Treads overlap by at least 16mm, and a 100mm sphere cannot pass through	Paragraph 1.9
Headroom	At least 2m, or 1.9m at the centre and 1.8m at the side of a loft conversion stair without space for 2m	Paragraphs 1.11 and 1.13
Landings	Top and bottom of every flight, at least as wide and long as its smallest width	Paragraph 1.20
Tapered treads	Rise and going as Table 1.1, at least 50mm wide at the narrow end	Paragraphs 1.25 to 1.27
Handrails	Top 900mm to 1000mm above the pitch line or floor, on both sides of a stair 1000mm or wider	Paragraph 1.34
Guarding	900mm high at the sides of flights and landings with a drop of more than 600mm	Paragraphs 1.38 and 1.41
Guarding to a flight, where children under five may use the building	No opening a 100mm sphere can pass through, not readily climbable	Paragraph 1.39

Rise, going and pitch of each step

The rise is the height of each step and the going is the depth of each tread, measured from one front edge to the next. Twice the rise plus the going should come to 550mm to 700mm, Approved Document K says.

A 220mm rise on a 220mm going sits inside both Table 1.1 ranges and comes to 660mm, but its pitch is 45 degrees, over the 42 degree maximum.

Handrail height on stairs

Paragraph 1.34 of Approved Document K puts the top of the handrail 900mm to 1000mm above the pitch line, the line joining the front edges of the steps, or above the floor. A stair 1000mm wide or wider needs a handrail on both sides, and the document sets no minimum width for a stair in a house.

LABC sets out a handrail on at least one side of the staircase as good practice, and on both sides if it is 1m wide or more. LABC says the handrail should follow the pitch line on firm brackets fixed underneath, so it can be gripped along its whole length.

Balustrades and guarding: height and spindle gaps

Paragraph 1.38 of Approved Document K sets guarding 900mm high for stairs and landings, and paragraph 1.41 puts it at the sides of flights and landings wherever the drop is more than 600mm. Any wall, balustrade or similar obstruction can be the guarding (paragraph 3.2).

Where children under five may use the building, guarding to a flight should stop a 100mm sphere passing through any opening and not be readily climbable, paragraph 1.39 says, and paragraph 3.3 says to avoid horizontal rails.

LABC puts the ideal spindle spacing at 99.9mm, as long as there is no sideways give. LABC also says the top rail should not deflect more than 25mm or 1/65th of its length, whichever is smaller.

Headroom and landings

Paragraph 1.11 of Approved Document K sets at least 2m of headroom over flights and landings, and paragraph 1.13 accepts 1.9m at the centre and 1.8m at the side of a loft conversion stair without space for 2m.

Every flight needs a landing at the top and bottom, paragraph 1.20 says, and a cupboard or duct door can open over the top landing only if kept shut or locked shut in normal use (paragraph 1.21). A door can swing across the bottom landing of a house stair only as Diagram 1.8 shows, leaving at least 400mm clear (paragraph 1.24).

Winders, spiral stairs and loft conversion stairs

Winders, which Approved Document K calls tapered treads, take the Table 1.1 rise and going, paragraphs 1.25 to 1.27 say. The going is measured at the centre of the tread on a stair less than 1m wide, or 270mm in from each side on a stair 1m or wider, and consecutive tapered treads need the same going.

Spiral and helical stairs are designed to BS 5395-2 (paragraph 1.28). An alternating tread stair is allowed only in a loft conversion without space for a normal stair, for access to one habitable room plus a bathroom, a WC or both, if that WC is not the only one in the house, paragraphs 1.29 and 1.30 say. A fixed ladder with handrails on both sides is allowed only in a loft conversion with one habitable room and no space for a normal stair (paragraph 1.32).

Measuring your stairs against the regulations

Every rise in a flight has to be the same (paragraph 1.5), so each rise is the floor-to-floor height divided by the number of risers, and the going is worth measuring on several treads. Rise divided by going at 0.9 or less keeps the pitch within the 42 degree maximum.

Do you need building regulations approval for a new staircase?

It depends on the work, so ask before the old staircase comes out. Checkatrade says new stairs are subject to the building regulations and puts a building control officer’s fee to inspect and approve a staircase at around £200, so check whether that fee is in the price quoted for a new staircase.

LABC says altering or replacing the existing handrails in a home is generally uncontrolled and need not be notified to the local authority. The exceptions are handrails to stairs serving a split-level entrance floor and staircases in homes built to Part M4(2) or M4(3), which LABC says need a Building Notice or full plans application first.

Nottingham City Council says any alteration to the walls around a staircase will require inspection and approval from local building control, and that those walls protect your escape in a fire.

A listed building needs listed building consent for most building work, internal and external, Nottingham City Council says, and its My Property tool shows whether a property is listed.

Ask building control, or the carpenter or joiner quoting for the job, what approval the staircase needs and who arranges it. Among the ten Nottingham carpenters and joiners we compare, DMP Joinery in Arnold has designed and installed bespoke staircases across Nottinghamshire for over 15 years.