Wall Mounted Residential Stair Handrail Height Code

With that said let us continue with the irc provisions.

Wall mounted residential stair handrail height code.

Handrail height on the stairs should be no less than 34 inches and no greater than 38 inches. We chose 36 in. Codes require railings against a wall to be between 30 inches and 38 inches high while handrails on open stairs must be 34 to 38 inches high. The top edge height may exceed 45 inches 114 cm provided the guardrail system meets all other criteria of paragraph b of this section see figure d 11 of this section.

The way this is measured is to begin at the leading edge of the stair nosing and run an imaginary vertical line upward until it reaches the top of the railing. C the top of stair railings handrails and handrail extensions installed on or after april 3 1997 shall be at a vertical height between 34 and 38 inches above the nosing of treads and landings. Don t be one of those guys. The top edge height of top rails or equivalent guardrail system members are 42 inches 107 cm plus or minus 3 inches 8 cm above the walking working surface.

Temporary handrails must have a minimum clearance of 3 inches 8 cm between the handrail and walls stair rail systems and other objects. Step 3 below shows how to find this wall mounted handrail height point at the top of the stair. Handrail height is the height of the handrail in relation to the stairs. For stairs installed before april 3 1997 this height shall be between 30 and 38 inches.

If you need to install a handrail on interior stairs in your home you must set it between 34 and 38 inches above. California 2007 building code effective 1 january 2008 for safety guardrails on balconies decks and on the horizontal area of stairway landings for walking areas whose surface is more than 30 inches above adjacent walking surfaces or the ground for group 2 individual residential dwellings as well as for group 3 occupancies specifies that the guardrail must be 42 inches or higher. Handrails must not be more than 37 inches 94 cm high nor less than 30 inches 76 cm from the upper surface of the handrail to the surface of the tread. For example in california the guardrail height requirement per the california residential code crc is to be no less than 42 inches.

To meet building code requirements the stair railing should be mounted so that the top of the handrail height is 34 to 38 in. Guardrail opening limitations baluster spacing r312 1 3. Above the front edge of the stair nosings. Railing height measure railing height from the bottom of the ground at each step to the top of where the handrail will be located.