A house contains nothing potentially
more dramatic, playful, and beautiful
than a stairway. But a stairway is
also a structure, as is a stair railing,
and both must support surprisingly
heavy loads.
In previous columns I have hammered
away at the disparity between
the ordinary construction of railings
and code requirements. Here I want
to extend the discussion to the railings
at stairways.
Code Load a Heavy One
The BOCA code, in its Massachusetts
version, dictates that "railings
and barriers around stairways,
stairwells, balconies…and other floor
openings, both exterior and interior,
shall be designed to resist a concentrated
load of at least…300 pounds…
and…a uniformly distributed load
of…100 pounds per lineal foot applied
in any direction at the top of the railing.
The…loads