code loophole?

[hspeakman]

Open sides of stairs with a total rise of more than 30 in above the floor or grade shall have guards not less than 34 in in height measured vertically from the nosing of the treads.

[Bob Elliott]

Originally Posted by hspeakman

Open sides of stairs with a total rise of more than 30 in above the floor or grade shall have guards not less than 34 in in height measured vertically from the nosing of the treads.

What open sides ?

That does not apply here.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

The stairs are continuous and so should the handrail. It is not a landing and not an interuption in the flight of stairs.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

That’s a winder stair. It’s not a landing. It’s still part of the stairway, so yes, a stair railing is required. Don’t forget the requirement that it be “continuous” from the top step to the bottom.

The existing stair rail should have been placed on the other wall to encourage people to walk along the wider portion of the winders.

Resources:

http://www.inspectapedia.com/interio...ir_Winders.htm

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/askt...547820,00.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=stair...ient=firefox-a

http://www.aohomeinspection.com/pdf/...rpretation.pdf

[Bob Elliott]

The existing stair rail should have been placed on the other wall to encourage people to walk along the wider portion of the winders.

Good point.

[mnahrgang]

In situations like this, I stick with common sense. I am not a code inspector, and typically don't have time to research code requirements for such things. If I had run into this, I would have SAID something on the lines of "I'm pretty sure that code requires this...". On paper I would have said something on the lines of it being a "safety" concern.

It wastes too much time getting into a pissing match with a builder or home owner over weather or not something it built to "code".

If the builder is demanding the "code", I would respond that he's the builder, he should know the codes for it, and he should quote where it says it's ok.

Even then, code is the MINIMUM requirement to be legal. Not necessarily safe or a good idea.

[Doug Edwards, CMI]

Exactly!