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Stairs, landings and handrails
When does a deck stair need a handrail, and how high?
A guard stops you falling off the side. A handrail is what your hand actually holds. They are different things, they are measured from different places, and a deck stair can easily need both. Set the deck height below and find out which ones this stair needs.
A handrail is required on at least one side of an exterior stair with more than three risers, and on both sides if the stair is wider than 1.1 m (43 5/16 in).
It sits 865 mm (34 in) to 1.07 m (42 in) above the stair, measured vertically through the nosing of the step. It has to be smooth and graspable, and material up to about 3 1/2 in across is treated as graspable.
The top of the guard can be the handrail, so long as it lands in that height band and your hand can actually close around it.
The drawing is a scale sketch. The numbers beside it come from the handrail rules, not from the picture.Turn JavaScript on for the controls. The drawing above is the opening state.
Guard and handrail are not the same thing
| Guard | Handrail | |
|---|---|---|
| Job | Stops a fall over the edge | Gives the hand something to hold |
| Trigger | More than 600 mm (23 9/16 in) above the surface beside it | More than three risers on an exterior stair |
| Height on a stair | 900 mm (35 7/16 in) from the nosing | 865 mm (34 in) to 1.07 m (42 in) from the nosing |
| Shape | Whatever stops a 100 mm (3 15/16 in) sphere | Smooth and graspable, up to about 3 1/2 in |
The overlapping height bands are why one member can sometimes do both jobs.
What graspable means in practice
The code asks for smooth and graspable, and material up to about 3 1/2 in across is considered graspable. The practical test is whether a hand can close around it and hold on while the rest of the body is going the other way. A 2x6 laid flat as a cap rail fails that test no matter what its height is, which is why a lot of otherwise handsome deck stairs do not comply.
Two ways out, and both are allowed:
- Make the guard top itself graspable: a round or ovoid profile, or a proper handrail section fixed on top of the guard, sitting inside the 865 mm (34 in) to 1.07 m (42 in) band.
- Run a separate handrail on brackets below the cap rail, at the right height, and leave the guard to be a guard.
You may also add extra handrails lower down for children, so long as the required one is there as well.
Mounting it
- Keep the handrail at least 50 mm (2 in) clear of a wall behind it, or 60 mm (2 5/16 in) where that wall surface is rough or abrasive, so knuckles do not catch.
- Brackets no more than 1.2 m (47 3/16 in) apart, and within 300 mm (12 in) of each end of the rail.
- A purpose made manufactured handrail follows its own installation instructions instead, and those instructions are what the inspector will ask for.
- Run the handrail the full length of the flight. A handrail that stops one tread short is the one you reach for and miss.
The end of the rail
The code language about continuity and returns is one of the parts that differs between editions and between provinces, so this page does not put a number on it. The principle is stable: a handrail that ends in open air catches sleeves and bags, and a return back to the post or the wall is both safer and easy to build. Confirm the requirement with your authority having jurisdiction before you cut the rail.
- National Building Code of Canada, Part 9, Section 9.8.7, Handrails, and Section 9.8.8 for guards on stairs.
- City of Edmonton, Uncovered Deck Design Guide, Section 4, Handrails, which gives the more than three risers trigger, the 1.1 m (43 5/16 in) both sides rule, the 50 mm (2 in) and 60 mm (2 5/16 in) wall clearances, the 1.2 m (47 3/16 in) bracket spacing and the 3 1/2 in graspable figure.
Nothing on this page is an approval or a design. Code editions change and every authority having jurisdiction has the final word. Check your numbers with yours before you build.