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Stairway headroom clearance is a bit short in this Beacon NY Home © D Friedman at InspectApedia.com Stair Headroom Codes
Codes on objects projecting into stairways

Stairway headroom & width codes & requirements:

Clearances for Stair Construction & Inspection; ADA standards for projecting hazard clearances. This document provides building code specifications, sketches, photographs, and examples of the stair passage width & stair overhead clearance or head room needed for indoor or outdoor stairs.

How much space is needed over steps or stairs, and exactly where should those measurements be taken?

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

Stairway Height, Width, Headroom Requirements

Stairway headroom clearance requirements (C) D Friedman Eric GalowStairway overall height, width, and headroom requirements & codes are detailed here.

At page top our photograph shows an inadequate head room clearance in a narrow stairway in a home in Beacon, New York. This home sports a narrow stairwell with angled treads, no handrailings, and ... well, not much headroom. Multiple trip, slip, fall and bang hazards.

[Click to enlarge any image]

On the other hand, the cost of a stair re-build in this home would be steeper than the stairway. For a stairway not in regular use or not between living areas in an older home not forced to meet current building standards, the compromise of substituting caution for cost may be acceptable.

Our stair headroom measurement photo uses the vertical red arrow to show where headroom clearance should be measured at a stairwell:

Definition of stair headroom: or stair overhead clearance is the vertical distance measured between the outer edge of the stair tread surface (close to the stair tread rounded nosing), and the under-side of the ceiling above.

Specifications for Stairway Overhead Clearance: Headroom

Re-stating this for clarity:

Stair way headroom should be 12' or less between floors - or restated, the total rise for a set of steps between floors should be less than or equal to twelve feet.

This means landings could be required if the total rise height of a stairway is more than 12 ft.

Sketch at left provided courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates, a Toronto home inspection, education & report writing tool company [ carsondunlop.com ].

Model & Example California Building Code Specifications for Stairway Headroom Requirements

Every stairway must have a headroom clearance of not less than 6'8" measured vertically from the plane of the tread nosing to the soffit above at all points. [37]

How to balance headroom vs. landing length vs. building obstruction

Stair Landing dimensions (C) InspectApedia.com R.N.Details about headroom requirements over stairs are at

STAIR HEADROOM

Here we discuss a problem of running into a head-room problem when changing the location or dimension of a stairway landing.

Reader Question: I am finishing my basement and planning to install a landing at the bottom of the stairway that will be 2 steps (one actual step) down to the floor. The landing step will be to the left of the landing as you walk down.

My question is - since there is no door at the bottom of the steps, is there still a requirement that the landing be 36" deep?

I will have a railing at the back of the landing (and there will be a wall to the right).

Due to the proximity of a support post, the landing will only be 2'9" deep, unless I come back up another step and have three steps down from the landing. But if I do that, there will be less head clearance in stepping from the landing onto the first step. Thanks - Rick 3/20/2013

Reply:

Rick,

Typically building stair codes specify that in the direction of travel the stairway landing or platform shall have a dimension at least as great as the width of the stairway. So if your stairs are 36-inches wide the codes want the platform to run 36-inches in the direction of travel.

This can be tricky because in some jurisdictions codes specify varying minimum stairway widths. An IBC Stair code, for example, can call for a minimum width of 44 inches for public stairways and a minimum width of 36 inches for "stairways serving an occupant load of 50 or less) - IBC 1009.1 And

(f) Landings. Every landing shall have a dimension measured in the direction of travel equal to the width of the stairway. ... - California Title 24, Part 2, Section 3305(e) (f)

In one approach the builder would back up far enough from the end of the stairs to have room for a full width landing, insert the landing there and then continue the stairs down to the left. This might mean that the landing is two or even three steps higher, to get enough room away from an obstructing wall found in the direction of run of the stairs.

The user would walk down stairs, and near the end, step onto a full-sized landing, make a left turn, walk across the landing, and continue one or two or however many necessary additional steps to get down to the finished floor.

Competing Stair Measurement Requirements: headroom, landing length & width, & building obstructions

But our email discussion you point out a competing difficulty: moving the landing up one stair tread runs into a headroom clearance with the floor above.

As I understand your illustration (above left), the problem is that making the landing length (in direction of travel) equal to the width of what I am guessing is a 36-inch wide stairway means that you'd have to build the platform out intruding into the otherwise free space of the room below.

And even if you did so, you have a supporting post that intrudes back into the walking space.

2'9" = 33-inches in the direction of travel. If your stairway is 36-inches in width, then typical codes want the run direction of the landing to also be 36-inches.

In my OPINION, if your stair landing run is close to 36" - say 35 or maybe even 34" excepting for the intrusion of the post itself (which narrows the width of the landing right at its exit onto that final step), in recognizing the difficulty of fitting everything into the existing space, your local building code inspector may elect to accept your stairs as drawn.

If the inspector will not accept your stair as drawn, you may have to open the ceiling, install blocking or headers to allow you to move the post over to get enough room, then intrude the landing those few inches into the room beyond. In my experience, going to the building department and asking for help gets the inspector on your side rather than casting her or him as someone to "get by".

U.S. ADA Protruding Object Standards Require a Barrier or Guardrail Under Stairways & Stairwells-Headroom

ADA requirement for stairway or stairwell barrier for visually impaired - original source www.ada.gov/regs2010/2010ADAStandards/images/ADA-AB15.gifReader Question: ADA citation for requirement of barrier guard to avoid head injury beneath stairways - for the visually impaired

15 March 2015 Angie said:

I'm in Oregon and looking for the ADA code for guardrail under stairwells. All I can seem to find are pictures of 27" high, but no documentation attached.
Can anyone point me in the right direction.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Reply

Hi Angie, you ask an important question. The specific ADA citation that accompanies the illustration that you found is:

307.4 Vertical Clearance. Vertical clearance shall be 80 inches (2030 mm) high minimum. Guardrails or other barriers shall be provided where the vertical clearance is less than 80 inches (2030 mm) high.
The leading edge of such guardrail or barrier shall be located 27 inches (685 mm) maximum above the finish floor or ground.

At above left is the ADA Standards to which you refer. The illustration suggests that a barrier be erected beneath stairways or in stairwells in which there would be a risk of head injury to a walker below the stairs if s/he could not see the down-sloping under-side of the overhead portion of the rising stairway.

The hazard of concern is that the underside of a stairway would be an overhead hazard when there are less than 80 inches of head room provided unless there is a cane-detectable barrier. I suspect the reason you didn't find this citation easily yourself is that it appears under the ADA's standards regarding protruding object hazards.

The illustration suggests that a barrier be erected at a maximum height of 27" (685 cm) above the walking surface and at a distance such that the overhead clearance would first be less than 80" (2030 cm). This illustration is cited from the 2010 ADA STANDARDS AT A U.S. Government website providing information and technical assistance on the ADA - the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This interpretation of the ADA appears in settlement agreements that are part of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division's Project Civic Access cited below.

The requirement for a cane-detectable barrier below stairways also appears in legal documents regarding settlements with other agencies besides the various civic entities in the U.S., such as other public forums and facilities including Lincoln Center in New York City (cited below).

We cite the ADA source of this specification and we note that this requirement has been cited in several legal proceedings and settlements.

Citations on cane detectable barriers & stairways

 




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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2017-12-17 by (mod) - stairwell distance required from the top of the stairs at the top to the header

I"m not sure I get the question. Are you asking what's the length of the cutout opening through which the stairs rise to the upper floor?

That's not specified as it will be different for stairs of different horizontal run length. Instead the key figure is headroom as you ascend or descend the stairs - given in the article above.

On 2017-12-12 by Catherine

What is the stairwell distance required from the top of the stairs at the top to the header at the other end? Is 109” enough?

On 2017-07-26 0 by (mod) -

Bob you posted this question back on July 17 - please see my reply below dated July 18 and let me know if questions remain. Daniel

On 2017-07-26 by Bob

We bought a house with a basement staircase that is perfectly fine and gives about 6
6"8 clearance at its lowest. However it does this by having a huge box bulkhead in kitchen. If that werent enough, it also has a small step in front of the bulkhead. That covers the last angled bit of headspace the staircase needs to reach 6'8", at that, its shortest point. I told my wife i'm sure we could at least get rid of the little step that sticks out beyond the boxy bulkhead. I guess i would need to box out a little piece of the stairs ceiling 3/4 of the way down where it corresponds to the small bit of stairs jutting into kichen?

Could i make up for that headspace by winding the stairs? Without adding any bulkheads or headspace above the place the staircase would be turning? It would be just the nornal basement ceilng height. I cant quite picture this in my head. Theoretically could this work, the concept?

On 2017-07-18 by (mod) -

Bob, that can work if the turn or landing itself has enough headroom.

Use the search box just above to find our article on CIRCULAR STAIRS and on WINDER STAIRS to see some examples.

On 2017-07-1 by Bob

Btw, its a step because i guess they tried to make that angled bit be a bit more useful, making a step instead of having what would look like a small mini ramp in front of bulkead.

We bought a house with a basement staircase that is perfectly fine and gives about 6
6"8 clearance at its lowest. However it does this by having a huge box bulkhead in kitchen. If that werent enough, it also has a small step in front of the bulkhead. That covers the last angled bit of headspace the staircase needs to reach 6'8", at that, its shortest point. I told my wife i'm sure we could at least get rid of the little step that sticks out beyond the boxy bulkhead. I guess i would need to box out a little piece of the stairs ceiling 3/4 of the way down where it corresponds to the small bit of stairs jutting into kichen?

Could i make up for that headspace by winding the stairs? Without adding any bulkheads or headspace above the place the staircase would be turning? It would be just the nornal basement ceilng height. I cant quite picture this in my head. Theoretically could this work, the concept?

On 2017-03-14 by (mod) - "Cant' be fixed" is baloney.

Kat

closing the barn door after the horse ... I recommend inspections for all such purchases, jumping through all the trouble-hoops as would a mortgage-type buyer, since when you sometime decide to SELL the house you can't expect the next buyer to be as generous nor as unafraid as you were.

That lecture over, there will always be some stuff to figure out.

Headroom and stairs are typically "grandfathered" though the final sayso is in the hands of your local building department whenever any code question arises. Typically the issue comes up when you are renovating or doing something that requires a building permit. Then any new work has to comply with current codes, and sometimes an inspector will want other building features brought to current standards too.

"Cant' be fixed" is baloney. You can always "fix" anything. The more salient question is "what's it going to cost" or "how much trouble will it be".

The stair headroom problem is a common one; solutions don't depend on joist direction but rather on how much space you have to extend a stair, put in a turn or landing, or cut out more of the second floor to get headroom.

Example: you might have to cut out the second floor opening to a longer size to get the headroom you want, then of course install a new header - there'll already be one but it has to move out away from the present end of the opening.

On 2017-03-14 by Kat

I just purchases a very small house for cash built in 1920 and didn't need to get an inspection because of not asking for a mortgage. The inside stairway headroom is only 5'8". Is this something that would be grandfathered in and pass inspection as I was thinking to rent it out until I move in a year from now. I was told it can't be fixed due to the joists above run parallel to the staircase? Any thoughts?

On 2016-05-11 by Anonymous

In what year did a clearance height of 6'-8" in stairways be come Mandatory in the state of Vermont

On 2015-12-29 by (mod) - final legal authority is your local building department

Patricia

In questions like this the final legal authority is your local building department. Their word is law. You MIGHT try

1. ask the building department what design they will accept considering the age and dimensions of the home

2. ask the building department if they will accept a lower headroom if you obtain plans from a design professional engineer or architect

Keep me posted.

On 2015-12-29 by patricialang20 house was damaged in Sandy Hurricane

My house was damaged in Sandy Hurricane and now being rehabbed. A stairway issue has been pointed by town inspectors. They claim that they will disallow the stairway for not passing the 80" height rule. Background: House built in 1949 and reconfigured and added a second story in 2004-2007

. Now "attic" space becomes two bedrooms and one bath and stairway is needed. (Previously there was a ladder to attic space).

The stairway takes a 90 degree turn and has a 36" square landing. A portion of the landing headroom is 78" due to main heating ducts overhead, while the remaining portion has plenty of clearance. Are there any exceptions or grandfather clauses that I might fall back on? Otherwise, how will we access the second floor?

On 2015-03-15 by (mod) -

Thank you Angie for the useful question. I've researched it and posted a detailed reply in the end of the article just above. If you need further assistance just ask.

Question: half steps?

(Mar 17, 2014) Anonymous said:
are half steps legal

Reply:

Anon I'm not sure what you mean by "half steps" but if you are referring to steps that have a low riser height, those are permitted but need to be built with a sufficient tread depth or step "run" in horizontal distance in the direction of travel in order to avoid a trip hazard.

Question:

15 March Angie said:
Hello,
I'm in Oregon and looking for the ADA code for guardrail under stairwells.
All I can seem to find are pictures of 27" high, but no documentation attached.
Can anyone point me in the right direction

Reply:

Thank you Angie for the useful question. I've researched it and posted a detailed reply in the end of the article just above. If you need further assistance just ask.


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