Anyone know if there is a legal requirement with bannisters on a staircase?

[Yorkiegirl]

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There must be, my housing association has to provide hand rails on stairs in all properties for health and safety, so a bannister must be an absolute necessety (sp)

I dont think their is a legal requirment, unless it's a council house, or housing authority place. Not in private homes

You could ring your local council building regs office - a loft conversion would need building regs approval so they would know the current rules.

There are buildings regs about a handrail, are theye coming back to put one on ?

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Yes there is (according to the building regs officer I spoke to when renovating our last house), I can't remember exactly what the measurement is but it was brought in to prevent babies/toddlers falling through - will see if I can find something for you.

Dh says yes too YG. Sorry they are messing you about, it's bloody awful having ongoing building work which I know all about, I have been having ongoing bleeding building work for 5 years now thanks to my lovely builder husband.

check out the pdf file on staircase regulations do down to document K

See bottom of this page - 10cm (100mm)

hth

ya beat me too it maisym!

I think there is - my parents have open stairs (no banister) and were told if they wanted to sell the house they would have to put one up.

"Approved Document K of the Building Regulations 1992 states that:

Private stairs the maximum rise should be 220mm, with a maximum pitch of 42 degrees

Flights of stairs should at least have a banister on one side if they are less than a metre wide, and a banister on both sides if they are wider than a metre. The bottom two steps of the stairs do not require a banister

The minimum height of the banister is 900mm for stairs and landings

Balustrades and spindles should have a gap between them narrower than 100mm

In the UK, staircases commonly comprise 13 rises."

from here

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I have had no bannisters on 2 houses. We have bought and sold with no legal problems. They had hand rails on the wall side.

Dh took our bannister off 10 years ago (only to paint it) but it has never been put back on, come to think of it I don't know where it is anyway.

Are they registered to a code of practice or similar?

Have you tried going to your local govt website as they may contain information on what you can do if you have a problem with builders. Most the info I can find seems to be local sites (so may be different depending on where you are).

There is some information here CAB site if they really are messing you around. Might be worth talking to them.

I did hear that if someone fell down my stairs we could be sued for mega bucks and that house insurance won't pay out on certain things if you don't have one.

Sorry YG, have just asked DH who was dozing admittedly, and he said that until it's been inspected by the official bloke, the work area should be 'made safe'. Not sure if this is any help. Is it just the bannisters/rail you are missing and has the rest of the work been carried out, because if it doesn't meet standards etc, you can sue the builder or at least threaten him with legal action. HTHs.

I suspect as long as the intention is there to put them up eventually , when the work gets signed off, you have little actual recourse, although a temporary barrier would be appropriate with young children, if not the final bannisters. Do you have a written schedule of works , should they have completed the stairs by now ?