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Loft Conversion Stairs And The Building Regulations

By Craig Ellyard

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Published: 19Feb2009
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Loft conversion stairs are an integral part of any conversion project so in this article we’ll look at some of the specific building regulations regarding them along with a helpful glossary to help you prepare and plan the loft stairs for your new project.

The Building Regulations

Rather unexpectedly the building regulations regarding loft stairs are not too onerous.

Headroom

The general rule regarding headroom is that there must be a minimum clearance of 2.0 meters for a staircase but, for loft stairs, the regulations are relaxed a little and only 1.9 meters needs to be achieved.

Because of this is there is a slope where the stairs enter the loft then the clearance only needs to be 1.8 meters and 2 meters on the highest side.

Width Of The Loft Stairs

The usual requirement regarding the width of loft conversion stairs is that they should be at least 800mm wide. But, even that is not cast in stone. If your new loft conversion has only one inhabitable room than the building regulations will allow a minimum width of just 600mm for the loft stairs.

Types Of Loft Stairs

There three main types of loft stairs; the traditional and most common type is the straight staircase although, depending on the available space, this is sometimes split into a quarter or half turn with a small landing incorporated.

The second most popular kind of loft conversion stairs are spiral staircases which can add a very stylish element to your overall design.

The third, and appropriately the last resort, are alternating step or compact stairs. These can only be used when space is severely restricted and it just isn’t possible to use any other kind of loft stairs.

Compact stairs are very steep and are very unsuitable for the young and old. It should be noted that they can only be used as straight flights and that they must be fitted with handrails on both sides of the stairs.

Building Regulations – A Summary For Loft Conversion Stairs

Accept when the building control officer will agree to the use of alternating tread or compact stairs the regulations for loft stairs are:

The pitch must not be steeper than 43 degrees

The goings which is the main part of the tread must not be less than 220mm deep

The risers which is the vertical part of the step must not be higher than 220mm

Except as noted above the minimum headroom must be 2 meters across the full width of the stair.

Although they only need to be used on one side the handrails on loft conversion stairs must have a minimum height of 900mm

The gap between handrail spindles known as balusters must not be larger than 90mm.

If the stairs turn a corner then the winders must be at least 50mm deep at the narrowest end and not less than 220mm at the centre.

Craig Ellyard writes extensively for Loft Conversion Uk and is the author of the best selling ebook Plan And Design Your Loft Conversion

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