STAIRS

A stair is a set of steps leading from one floor to another

FUNCTIONS OF STAIR

1. Provide a means of circula on between floor levels.

2. Establish a safe means of travel between floor levels.

3. Provide an easy means of travel between floor levels.

4. Provide a means of conveying fi ngs and furniture between

floor levels.

TERMINOLOGIES

Terms used in stairs

FLIGHT: It is a series of steps without any break such as a pla orm, landing, etc.

STAIRCASE: The room or enclosure of the building, in which the stair is located.

STAIRWAY: The opening or space occupied by the stair. OR Any por on of the building which provides a
route of travel and is formed by a single flight or a combina on of two or more flights and one or more
intervening landings.

TREAD: It is an upper horizontal por on of a step used to keep the foot while ascending or

descending.

1
STRINGS: Inclined beams/boards that support the risers

GOING: It is the horizontal projec on of the flight.

RUN: It is the total length of stairs in a horizontal plane, including landings.

RISE: It is a ver cal length between the upper faces of any two consecu ve steps.

WIDTH: It is the least distance from the nosing of a tread to the face of the riser

PITCH OR SLOPE: It is the angle which the line of nosing of the stair makes with the

horizontal.

NOSING: It is the projec ng part of the tread beyond the face of the riser.

RISER: It is the ver cal por on of a step providing a support to the tread.

HEAD ROOM: It is the minimum clear ver cal distance between the tread and

overhead structure (i.e., ceiling, etc.).

PITCH LINE: Is that line drawn to touch the projec ng edges or nosing of the treads.

LANDINGS: It is a flat pla orm provided between the flights.

BALUSTRADE: It consists of a row of balusters surmounted by a hand rail, to provide

protec on for the users of the stair.

BALUSTERS: It is a ver cal member suppor ng the handrail.

NEWEL OR NEWEL POST: Newel post is a ver cal member which is placed at the ends of flights to connect
the ends of strings and hand rail.

SOFFIT: It is the underside of a stair.

STRINGS/STRINGERS: These are the sloping members which support the steps in a stair.

LINE OF NOSINGS: It is an imaginary line parallel to the strings and tangen al to the nosings.

SCOTIA: It is a moulding provided under the nosing to improve the eleva on of the step, and to provide
strength to nosing.

HEADER: It is the horizontal structural member suppor ng stair stringers or landings.

HAND RAIL: It is a rounded or moulded member of wood or metal following generally the contour of the
nosing line, and fixed on the top of balusters.

WINDERS: These are the tapering used for a change of direc on in a stair.

FLIERS: These are parallel steps forming a straight flight.

STAIRWELL: This is an open space between flights of stairs

QUARTER-TURN LANDING: It is usually square, the same width as one of a flight.

HALF-TURN LANDING: It is equal to one flight and extends across two flights.
2
TERMS USED IN STAIR CONSTRUCTIONS

STEPS: These are formed by a series of risers and treads in a stair. The dimensions of the risers and treads
of steps determine whether the stair is steep or shallow. The dimensions of steps should be within
acceptable limits for the ease of climbing and descending.

The riser and tread vary according to the use to which the building will be put. The accepted dimensions of
rise and tread are given in the table below.

STRUCTURE RISE NOT MORE THAN (mm) GOING NOT LESS THAN (mm)
House 175-200 210-225
Block of flats 190 225-250
Factory 175-200 250
Public building 165 250
Theatre 150 275
School 140 275

RULES AND REGULATIONS AFFECTING THE CONSTRUCTION OF STAIRS

The rule states the propor ons for the design of a suitable stair as twice the Rise(R) plus going (G) equals
575, or that the rise mul plied by the tread in millimetres equals 1650. Expressed as 2R+G=575 (limits
between 550mm and 700mm)

Problem

A house has the first-floor level at 2.48m above the ground floor. Find the suitable dimensions for the steps
in the proposed stair. From the table, take rise size of 177mm,
2480
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑠 = = 14.0113
177
The number of risers in the stair will be 14 each measuring 177mm

From 2𝑅 + 𝐺 = 575

𝐺 = 575 − (2𝑋177)

𝐺 = 575 − 354

𝐺 = 221

A rise of 177mm and a going of 220mm will give a comfortable stair.

REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD STAIR

Following are the general requirements which a stair should fulfil.

Loca on

The loca on of stairway should be so chosen such that sufficient ven la on and light should be available. If
it is feasible, it may be located centrally so as to be of easily accessible from different parts of a building.

Width of Stair
3
Width of a stair, in general, should be adequate for the users without much crowd. It depends very much on
the type of building and the number of users. In general, 1.0 m width is adopted for residen al building and
about 1.5 m width for public buildings.

Pitch of a Stair

The pitch or slope of a stair should prevent undue exor on to the user and at the same me there should
not be any waste of space. Normally the slope of a stair should not exceed 40° and should not be fla er than
20°.

Length of a Flight

In order to make the ascend comfortably, the stairway should not have steps more than 12 and a minimum
of 3.

Headroom

The headroom or the clear distance between the tread and the soffit of the flight immediately should be
adequate. This should be at least 2.14 m.

Materials of a Stair

Construc on of a stair should be carried out with sound and fireproof materials. Further, it should be
adequately durable so as to have long life as that of the other materials used for the construc on of the
building.

Landing

The width of landing should not be less than the width of a stair.

Winder

As far as possible, the introduc on of a winder should be avoided. They are liable to be dangerous. If it is
inevitable, it may be provided near the lower end of a flight. Thus, instead of quarter-space landing, three
winders may be used. Similarly for half-space landing five

winders or four radia ng risers may be adopted.

Step Propor ons

All the risers and treads should be of uniform dimensions. The steps should neither be too wide or too short.
Further high rise may cause inconvenience and fa gue to the user.

TYPES OF STAIRS

Stairs are classified according to their geometrical form. These include;

a. Straight flight stairs

4
2. TURNING STAIRS

(i) Quarter Turn Stairs

A quarter turn stair is the one which changes its direc on either to the le or to the right, the turn being
affected either by introducing a quarter space landing or by providing winders.

Quarter turn stairs are of two types:

(a) Newel quarter turn stairs (b) Geometrical quarter turn stairs.

(a) Newel quarter turn stairs: These stairs have the conspicuous newel posts at the beginning and end of
each flight. At the quarter turn, there may either be quarter space landing or there may be winders.

5
 Newel quarter turn stairs

(b) Geometrical quarter turn stairs

In geometrical stairs, the stringer as well as the hand rail is con nuous, with no newel post at the landing.

Geometrical Quarter Turn Stairs

(ii) Half Turn Stairs

Half turn stair is the one which has its direc on reversed, or changed for 180°. They are quite common. These may be
of three types:

(a) Dog-legged or newel half turn stairs (b) Open newel half turn stairs

(c) Geometrical half turn stairs.

6
a. Dog-legged Stairs

This is the one in which the direc on of flight is changed through 180° by introduc on of landings

and or winders. A half-space landing may be used. It is also called as dog-legged stairs.

It is useful where the width of the stair-case is just sufficient to accommodate two widths of stair

b. Open well stair or Open newel half turn stair

Open well or open newel half turn stair has a space or well between the outer strings.

This is the only aspect in which it differs from the dog-legged stair. More space is required to accommodate
it.

7
c. Geometrical half turn

Bifurcated Stairs

In these stairs, the bo om flight is wide which is divided into narrow flights from either side of the landing.
This type of stair is provided in modern public buildings.

Plan

Bifurcated stair

8
Con nuous Stairs

Con nuous stairs are those which do neither have any landing nor any intermediate newel post. They are,
therefore, geometrical in shape. Con nuous stairs may be of the following types:

(i) Circular stairs

(ii) Spiral stair: Such a stair is usually made either of R.C.C. or metal, and is employed at a loca on here there
are space limita ons. These are also used as emergency stairs, and are provided at the back side of a building.
All the steps are winders. The stair is, therefore, not comfortable.

9
(iii)Helical stair

A helical stair: Looks very fine but its structural design and construc on is very complicated. It is made of
R.C.C. in which a large por on of steel is required to resist bending, shear and torsion.

Three Quarter Turn Stairs

It has its direc on changed three mes with its upper flight crossing the bo om one. It may either be
newel type or open newel type. Such type of stair is used when the length of the stair room is limited and
when the ver cal distance between the two floors is quite large.

Reinforced cement concrete (RCC) stairs are mostly used in all types of buildings. Reinforced concrete

stairs derive a lot of advantages compared to other types. They are as follows:

1. It can be easily moulded into any required geometrical shape.

2. It has high resistance to wear and fire be er than any other material.

3. It needs less bulky sec ons, thereby more headroom may be a ained.

4. It is less noisy.

5. It gives highly a rac ve appearance with appropriate finishes.

10
6. It can be kept clean.

7. It can be easily rendered non-slippery.

8. It can be designed to accommodate greater widths and longer spans.

FORMWORK FOR STAIRS

11