Three or More Handrails For Wide Stairways

This building code is a little confusing. For stairways larger than 88 inches, a gripable hand rail is required.

Special Note: This building code is hard for me to interpret, because I've seen public buildings that don't have a gripable handrail on stairways wider than 88 inches. There is a train station and a newly built county courthouse building in our area that don't follow this particular building code.

The picture above shows a middle hand railing which could be acceptable, but the two hand rails on each side of the stairway, need to be protective guard rails and might not be approved, by most building inspectors.


Attention: Don't forget to check with your local building department to verify any building codes on this website. This information could be incorrect or outdated.



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