Randall Clark
05-25-2018, 03:46 PM
Saw this in new construction. Landing has a 10" long section without a guard. A person could step from landing onto stair tread below that is ~15" down, a fall hazard IMO. This would be prone to occur with a person not familiar with the home, in the dark feeling along the stairs with feet and hands on railing, a child, etc.
I could not find a code violation based on my interpretation of stair rail and landing guard requirements. But I thought I'd dig a little deeper because it bugged me. I got the following response from our State building code division:
"Based only on the attached pictures you sent, I would say that the handrail (can’t see the handrail in any of the pictures) meets the intent of R311.7.7.2 Continuity since the newel post is sitting on the top landing. The definition of “flight” in chapter 2 of the 2012 NC Residential Code may be helpful for you in this section since the section requires handrails to be continuous for the full length of the flight. I also don’t see a guard issue here since the drop from the top landing is not more than 30 inches to the lower landing or the two treads adjacent to the top landing. I don’t see a code violation here based on what you sent."
I mentioned this in the report as a potential hazard, but curious what other's think about this. Concern or not?
I could not find a code violation based on my interpretation of stair rail and landing guard requirements. But I thought I'd dig a little deeper because it bugged me. I got the following response from our State building code division:
"Based only on the attached pictures you sent, I would say that the handrail (can’t see the handrail in any of the pictures) meets the intent of R311.7.7.2 Continuity since the newel post is sitting on the top landing. The definition of “flight” in chapter 2 of the 2012 NC Residential Code may be helpful for you in this section since the section requires handrails to be continuous for the full length of the flight. I also don’t see a guard issue here since the drop from the top landing is not more than 30 inches to the lower landing or the two treads adjacent to the top landing. I don’t see a code violation here based on what you sent."
I mentioned this in the report as a potential hazard, but curious what other's think about this. Concern or not?