Loft Stair Gradiants to pass Inspection?

[gasbusters]

Looking to get the stairs done on our loft project, we've decided to make a slight change to the layout that affects the rooms below far less. However the stair design from the stair company that is ideal for the layout i want has a gradient of 44°.

The regs state they must be 42°.

How flexible are building inspectors on this issue? The guy we are thinking of using is a private buildings compliance inspector so hoping he may show some leniency but just want to get others views before raising this with him.

Whats the narrowest width that will be accepted? 600mm may not get signed off so thinking of going to 650mm.

 

[tony1851]

If your loft is a single room (or a single room with ensuite or a separate bathroom), you can have stairs up to a maximum pitch of 50.7 degrees, with minimum tread 180mm and maximum rise of 220 mm - you are not constrained by the 42 degrees commonly quoted.
The staircase should have a handrail each side with a minimum of 600 mm between the handrails.

Most inspectors are not aware of this concession for loft stairs but it's all here:

BS 5395 Code of Practice for design of Stairs for Limited Access.

 

[Leofric]

You can have very steep alternating tread stairs to a loft room but I wouldn't recommend them.