Outside staircase - replacing - building control involved?

[alan131]

Should Building Control be involved in the new building of a new outside staircase to my flat?


I have a 1st floor flat. Main access is via internal staircase to downstairs external door. There is a flat area to the back on top of downstairs bathroom, with a wall round it. From this area a staircase used to go to my garden - I dropped it a while back as it was very rotten and dangerous.

Builders have built a new staircase to replace the old. It is not quite the same - it hits the ground slightly sooner than the old, instead of the sides resting on a concrete block with the final step being to the concrete surface the bottom tread rests on the block, and at the top the top tread is about 2 inches below the main level of the flat area.

Should I expect to see something from building control about this? Builder hasn't mentioned it and I feel it could be important.

The stair treads are butted against the stringers and fixed with screws/nails.
Previous design used rebates in the stringers. I feel there must be regs about design but not sure what they are.

Very grateful for any advice, thanks in advance.

 

[tony1851]

Should Building Control be involved in the new building of a new outside staircase to my flat?

Strictly, yes, as it's not a repair but a new staircase, which from your description seems to be a slightly steeper pitch?

But how are Building Control to know what the original was like?

Chances are it won't be an issue.

 

[Nakajo]

It sounds like a non-issue, but the regs for staircases aren't some archaic secret. They're public knowledge and, even if you had never heard of the government's planning portal, EASILY googlable!

That said, the guidance for a private staircase basically suggests a max. rise of 220mm, and a min. going also of 220mm, but with the caveat of a maximum pitch of 42 degrees.

Actually, this guidance looks set to be very, very fractionally amended and expanded in the not too distant future, but that's where we're at right now.

 

[alan131]

Thanks very much for the advice. I'm not trying to avoid building control visiting if they should, I'd welcome confirmation things were correctly built. I have read some of the rules,spent many hours trying to pin down what was acceptable but I'm not very clear about some other points mentioned less frequently; for example, I thought I'd read that all steps should have the same rise, and that there should be a maximum size test 100mm ball for all guarding, and the handrails should be at a certain height, extend a specified distance, be strong enough to take particular loads and designed to make it difficult to climb.

I'm sure there must be some guidance on size of stringers and acceptable attachment methods, but I've only seen stuff published in I think it was Australia.

I'm particularly concerned because I'm planning to let this flat, so I'm liable for any shortfalls, and can't just warn people or keep an eye on the structure for developing issues. The builder is a professional and seems very competent but I'm just trying to work out if I should have a building control visit. I've seen a roof where building control were bypassed... not good.