Stair Lighting: Guide to Lighting Requirements & Codes for Stair & Landings InspectAPedia® -
Lighting requirements for stairs & landings: specifications & codes
Stair & railing safety hazards, photos of defects
Sketches of stair design requirements
Our site offers impartial, unbiased advice without conflicts of interest.
We will block advertisements which we discover or readers inform us are associated with bad business practices,
false-advertising, or junk science. Our contact info is at
InspectAPedia.com/appointment.htm.
This document provides building code specifications for lighting over stairs, in stairwells, and on landings; We provide photographs, sketches, and examples of defects used in inspecting indoor or outdoor stairs, railings, landings, treads, and related conditions for safety and proper
construction. Sketch courtesy Carson Dunlop.
Stairway Lighting is Required, with light switches at top and bottom of the stairway if the stairs encompass more than three stair treads (Canada) or six stair treads (U.S.).
Our photo shows an exterior light at an open stairwell to a second floor apartment. The light lost its weather protection, failed, leaving the occupant with a dark stairway. This defect combined with other slip and fall hazards to lead to an injury.
In a separate case, the loss of lighting at the usual front entrance to an apartment building led a tenant to attempt to enter from a different stairway that was not maintained, contributing to an injury there.
In a separate case a new home owner installed a bulb with watt rating higher than the light fixture permitted, resulting in a house fire when the overheated fixture melted, short-circuited, and set the plastic fixture and vinyl siding on fire.
List of Common Stair Lighting Defects
Interior light fixtures or switches used on outside stairs - not weather protected (see photo at left)
Stair lighting missing or light switches not present at both top and bottom
Stair light switches not properly located (wrong height)
Stair lights burned out, damaged, not working
Stair or landing lighting too dim - insufficient lumens
Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest corrections or additions to articles at this website, and if you wish, to receive online listing and credit as a contributor. Particular thanks are due to the many experts and also consumers who read and critique technical articles at InspectAPedia.com.
Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.
Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.
Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
"The Elimination of Unsafe Guardrails, a Progress Report," Elliott O. Stephenson, Building Standards, March-April 1993
"Are Functional Handrails Within Our Grasp" Jake Pauls, Building Standards, January-February 1991
Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Second Edition, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen,A. S. Hyde, Jon R. Abele, ISBN-13: 978-1-933264-01-1 or
ISBN 10: 1-933264-01-2,
available from the publisher, Lawyers ^ Judges Publishing Company,Inc., www.lawyersandjudges.com sales@lawyersandjudges.com and also from the InspectAPedia Bookstore (Amazon.com)
The Stairway Manufacturers' Association, (877) 500-5759, provides a pictorial guide to the stair and railing portion of the International Residential Code.
The following stair books and other books on stair history, design, and architecture can be purchased at our Amazon-Supported InspectAPedia Bookstore
Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
The Staircase: History and Theories, John Templar, MIT Press 1995
The Staircase (two volumes), John Templar, Cambridge: the MIT Press, 1992.
"The Dimensions of Stairs", J. M. Fitch et al., Scientific American, October 1974.
More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs
...
InspectAPedia® Home & Site Map - Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair, & Problem Prevention Advice: In-depth research & advice on diagnosing, testing, correcting, & preventing building defects & indoor environmental hazards. Unbiased information, no conflicts of interest.
The Mold Information Center: What to Do About Mold in Buildings, When and How to Inspect for Mold, Clean Up Mold, or Avoid Mold Problems
Environmental Inspection, Testing, & Diagnosis On-Site IAQ, Gas, Air Testing, Mold Investigation, Sick Building Diagnosis, Lab Services, & Remediation Plan Preparation - indoor air quality testing, problem source determination, supporting lab work, written remediation plan addressing removal of environmental and other hazards and prevention of their recurrence.