Stairs

Stair definition
Stair is a series of steps arranged to
connect different floors of a building
It is provided to afford the means of
ascent and descent between various
floors of the building.
The room or enclosure of the
building, in which the stair is located,
is known as staircase

Technical terms
Tread: it is the upper horizontal portion
of a step, on which foot is placed while
ascending or descending
Riser: it is the vertical portion of a step
providing a support to the tread.
Going: horizontal distance between two
successive riser faces
Rise: vertical distance between two
successive tread faces

 Flight: it is the series of steps without

any platform landing or break in their
direction
Landing: landing is a platform
provided between two flights of a
stair. Landing is of two types:
Half spaced landing
Quarter spaced landing

 Half spaced landing extends to the

full width of the staircase
Thestairturnsbackinexactlythere
verse
directionofthelowerflight
(Change in stair direction =180)

 Aplatformofastaircasewherethest
airturnsatarightangleonly
Change in Stair Direction= 90

 Flier :
This is an ordinary
step of rectangular
shape in plan

Winder:
This is a tapering step used for changing
the direction of stair

Stringer : the sloping member supporting

the steps is known as stringer

Waist : the thickness of sloping slab in

case of RCC stair is known as waist

 Pitch or slope: the angle made by

line of nosing with the horizontal is
termed as pitch
Handrail: it is the inclined rail
provided at the edges of stair &
parallel to the nosing line at a
suitable height. It provides a grasp to
the hands during ascent & descent
Baluster: vertical member which
supports the hand rail

 Newel post: it is the vertical post placed at

the end of flights to connect the ends of
strings and handrails
Railings : it is a framework consisting of
handrail, baluster, newel posts & additional
members provided to serve as a safety
barrier
Scotia : it is an additional finish / moulding
provided on nosing to give additional
strength/ improved elevation to the nosing

 Soffit: the under side of a stair is

known as a soffit
Run: the total length of a stair in a
horizontal plane is know as run

 Head room: the vertical distance

between the nosing of one flight &
soffit of the flight immediately above
it is called headroom
Walking line : it is approximately the
line of movement of people on the
stairs during ascent or descent. It is
situated at a distance of 450mm
from the centre line of the handrail

Headroom

Types of stairs
Stairs can be divided based on:
Shape of the stair
Material used for the stair

Based on the shape, stairs are

classified as
5. Geometrical stair
1. Straight stairs
6. Spiral stair
2. Turning stair

1. Quarter turn stairs

2. Half turned stair
3. Three quarter turn stair

3. Circular stair

Classification based on the

shape

1. Straight stairs

Long, straight stairs are provided if the

space available for the staircase is
narrow
These
steps are
straight & they
may be in single
or multiple flights
with landing in
between the
flights

2. Turning stairs: in case of turning stairs the

flights take turns. Usual types of turning
stairs are:

Quarter turn stairs- a stair turning through one

right angle is called quarter turn stairs
Bifurcated stairs- if a quarter turned stair is
branched into two flights at landing, it is called a
bifurcated stair. Commonly used in public
buildings.
Half turn stairs: a stair turning through 2 right
angles. It is again classified as dog legged and
open newel stairs
Three quarter turn- a stair turning through three
right angle is called three quarter turn stairs. In
this case an open well is formed in the middle

Classification based on the

shape
Open- newel stairs:
It differs from dog legged stairs slightly
There is a gap of 0.15-1.0m between
adjacent flights
It is commonly used in schools & offices

Classification based on the

shape
Dog legged stairs
It consists of two straight flights with
180 degree turn between them
It is commonly used in residential
buildings

5. Geometrical stairs:
These stairs have any geometrical
shape & they do not require ant newel
posts
Handrail of the geometrical stairs are
continuous
It is similar to open newel stair, except
the well formed between two adjacent
flights is curved

6. Spiral stairs:
Also known as circular / helical stairs
In spiral stairs, the steps radiate from
the centre & they do not have any
landing or intermediate newel posts
Flight consists of winders only
Spiral stairs are provided where space
available is limited

Spiral stair

Types of stairs based on materials

used
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Stone stairs
Brick stairs
Wooden stairs
RCC stairs
Metal stairs

NBC provision for stairs

Minimum width required for
staircase
Residential building: 1m
Educational buildings: 1.5m
Public buildings: 2m

 Minimum tread required:

Residential buildings: 25cm
Public buildings: 30cm
Maximum height of riser
required:
Residential building: 19cm
Public buildings: 15cm

 The minimum head-room of a

staircase shall be 2.2 m
Height of hand rail = 1m
Length of flight:
Generally the number of
risers is limited to 12 to 16
per flight

1. Stone stairs:

Stone stairs are provided where ashlar

stones are readily available
Stones used for construction should be hard,
non absorbent, fire resistant
These are used in approaches to the
basements, heating chambers, ashlar
masonry buildings etc.
Types of stone masonry are:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.

Rectangular steps with rebated joints

Spandril steps
Tread & riser steps
Cantilevered tread step
Built up step

Rectangular steps with rebated joints:

rectangular stone blocks are used
They are placed with an overlap of
25mm to 40mm

Spandril steps
The steps are triangular in shape &
are cut in such a way to so as to
obtain a plain soffit

Tread & riser steps

In this case, tread & risers are
provided as in case of timber steps

Cantilevered tread steps

It consists of steps
formed by treads
only
Thick stone slabs
are used without
any riser
Steps may be
rectangular /
triangular in shape

Built up steps
These steps are in
the form of treads &
risers of thin stone
slabs
These are placed
over brick or concrete
steps
Generally adopted for
marble steps

2. Brick stairs
Brick stairs are now not used
frequently
Entrance steps forms a typical brick
stair
These steps need a facing with a
coat that can resist wear and tear
like a concrete finished with mortar
or stone slab finish
Single flight brick stairs are also
occasionally used built with arches

3. Wooden stairs
Wooden stairs are light & easy to
construct, but has very poor fire
resistance
Well treated fire resistant hard wood
of proper thickness is used for stairs
These are only used for low rise
buildings
It consists of stringers which are
inclined beams of 30-50mm
thickness & 250-400mm depth

4. RC C stairs
These are widely used type of stair in
almost all types of buildings
They have excellent resistance to fire
& wear
They can be cast in any desired
shape & size
They are durable, easy to maintain &
attractive in appearance

Metal stairs
It is made up of cast iron or mild
steel
These are used as fire escape stairs
in factories, godowns, workshop etc
They are strong & fire proof
Disadvantage is that it produce lot of
noise when used & also it is not
attractive
Therefore it is not commonly used in
residential buildings

Ramps
A ramp is a sloping surface
connecting two floors.
It is provided when a large number of
people move from floor to floor such
as in railway station, or to facilitate
movement of physically challenged
people or patients from floor to floor
But it requires more space than
ordinary stairs

 Slope of a ramp should not be more

than 1 in 15
A ramp can be straight, dog legged, zig
zag, or curved
Whenever direction of ramp changes, a
level landing equal to the width of the
ramp should be provided
At door openings, landing at least 1.1m
wide are required

 Handrails should be provided on both

sides of ramps
For hospitals, minimum width of
ramp should be 2.25m
The surface of ramp should be non
slippery
Ramps are generally provided on
railway stations, stadiums, shopping
malls, hospitals, multi storey car
parking etc

Escalators
Escalators are electrically operated moving stairs
Escalators are kept in motion by using a
revolving drum
They are used in commercial complexes,
airports, railway stations
Escalators consume less power compared to lifts
They are always arranged in pairs- one for
downward movement & another for upward
movement

 They may be placed parallel to each other

or diagonally opposite to each other
Speed of escalator is 25-30m/min
Their inclination is kept 30 degrees to the
horizontal
Components of an escalator includes a
structural frame work carrying an endless
belt carrying steps & hand rails
At lower end a pair of sprocket wheel is
provided , while at the upper end a
matching pair of sprocket wheel & a worm
gear driven machine is provided

Lifts
Lifts are provided for vertical transportation
Classified as passenger lifts, goods lifts,
hospital lifts, service lifts etc
It is mandatory to provide lifts in buildings
with more than four storeys
No: of lifts & their capacity depends on the
no: of floors & the floor area
Lifts with different capacities are available
in market ranging from 4 to 20 persons

 For designing lifts, weight of the

person is considered as 68kg
A lift consists of following
A lift car moving on rails
Suspension ropes
Counterweight on pulleys
A machine room with winding machine
A lift pit with buffers for car
Landing doors

 The lift usually extends from 1.6to

2.6m below the bottom landing
Openings of height 2.0m are required
at every floor
At the top, a machine room of
suitable size is provided