Staircase:

DESIGN OF STAIRCASES A structure to Provide access to different floor levels within the
building
Types of Stair Cases:
• Stair Case with waist slab (Flight Slab)
• Steps rest on waist slab
• Stair Case without Waist Slab Stair Case with
• Isolated Step Stair-case waist slab
• Steps are supported at wall
• or on a beam (cantilever)

Stair Case without

waist slab

Stair Case with

steps only (isolated
tread slab)

Classification of Staircases Straight two-flight stair with Quarter-turn stair with landing
(A) Classification of Staircases based on Geometrical Configuration half-landing
Straight Flight Staircase Straight Flight Staircase
without Landing with Landing

Going 

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Dogleg stair with half-landing Quarter-turn stair with winders Spiral stair with central Circular stair with central
column well

Classification of Waist Slabs type staircases based on Support Type (A) Staircases spanning in Longitudinal Direction or in direction of
Based on the Support Type, Staircases are classified in two types going may have different support conditions:
• Staircase spanning in Longitudinal direction or flight direction or (i) Staircase waist slab is supported on landing slab and Landing
(in the direction of going) slab spanning longitudinally and Simply supported
• Staircase spanning in Transverse direction (in the direction of
Simply
steps) supported
Staircase spanning in Longitudinal direction or flight direction (in the
direction of going)
Simply
supported
(ii) Staircase waist slab is supported on landing slab and landing
slab is spanning longitudinally and Fixed on both ends
Fixed

Fixed
Stair case Supported Longitudinally beam/Landing slab

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(iii) Staircase waist slab supported on landing slab and landing (B) Staircase spanning in Transverse direction or in direction of steps
spans transversely (a) Waist Slab type where waist slab is supported Transversely
(b) Containing steps only either fixed in wall or supported on beam

Simply Simply (a) Stair cases Supported Transversely on wall/beam

supported supported

(iv) Staircase waist slab supported on Riser Beams on both sides

Stair cases Supported Stair cases Supported Stair cases Supported

Transversely on walls Transversely on Beams Transversely on wall & Beam

beam

(i) Stair case with steps simply supported both side on walls (b) Stair case with steps cantilevered
• Steps are supported one side on wall and on other side over wall • Consists of only steps no slab
or on beam • Steps are Fixed in wall or on Spandrel Beam
Simply
supported • Pre-cast steps may be used
• Steps are fixed at one end and free on other end
Wall
• Design simple- each step behaves as cantilever slab

(ii) Stair case with steps fixed on beams both side of staircase
• Steps are fixed on beams on both side

Fixed

Beam

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(c) Staircase with steps cantilevered both sides of spine beam Components of Waist Slab Type Staircase
• Consists of steps and a spine (Central) beam
• Pre-cast steps are used
• Steps are fixed at spine beam centrally
• Design simple- each step behaves as cantilever slab on (generally called waist slab)

both side

Landing
Wall

Components of Staircase Flight:

• A length of staircase between two consecutive landings measured
Note: No projection, other than inclined
handrails, is allowed in a Going:
staircase within a height of 2.0
m from the landing or pitch line.
• Horiz. Plan projection of inclined flight. Measured between first
Headroom
and last riser
• Tread: forms the horizontal portion of step, ranges between 250 –
Landing 300 mm
Rise:
• vetical distance between the adjacent treads, ranges between 150
Handrail – 200 mm depending type of building
• Risers and treads within each flight of stairs shall be of uniform
height and size.
• No. of Risers in a flight generally not more than 12, if more steps are
Landing Going Tread required for connecting a straight flifht, a landing is provided.
Rise Stair width:
• Ranges between 1 m to 2 m, with minimum value 850 mm
Head Room
• Height above the top of a tread to the ceiling (Mini. 2 m)

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 Effective Span of Stair Case: Codal Guidelines
The effective span of stairs without stringer beams shall be taken
as the following horizontal distances:
a) Where supported at top and bottom risers by beams spanning
Determination of Effective parallel with the risers, the distance center to center of beams
b) Where spanning on to the edge of a landing slab, which spans
Span of the Staircases parallel, with the risers, a distance equal to the going of the
stairs plus at each end either half the width of the landing or
one meter, whichever is smaller; and
c) Where the landing slab spans in the same direction as the
stairs, they shall be considered as acting together to form a
single slab and the span determined as the distance center to
center of the supporting beams or walls, the going being
measured horizontally.

(A) EFFECTIVE SPAN STAIR SLAB SPANNING (b) Stair slab spanning
LONGITUDINALLY longitudinally and supported
(a) Effective Span for Stair slab
spanning longitudinally and on beams or on Landing slabs
supported on beams or on which are spanning
Landing slabs which are Longitudinally
spanning Longitudinally III. Supported on edges BF
I. Landing Slab simply and CG [Fig. d]
Supported on edges AE Eff. Span = G
and DH [Fig. b] III. Supported on edges AE,
Eff. Span = 2x + G + 2y CG and DH [Fig. e]
II. Clamped along edges AE Eff. Span = 2x + G
and DH [Fig. c] V. Supported on edges AE,
Eff. Span = 2x + G + 2y BF, CG and DH [Fig. f]
Eff. Span = G

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(C) Effective Span for Staircases Spanning Longitudinally and (d) Effective Span of Waist Slab when spanning
supported on Landings which are Spanning Transversely perpendicular to the flight (i.e. Transversely)
The waist slab is supported by inclined edge beams/walls along both of
its edges

Beam at two ends of landings

Beam at three ends of landings

Effective Span = c/c distance between supports (walls/beams)

(e) Effective Span when steps are cantilevered from the Distribution of Landing Slab Load in staircases having common
wall/beam Landing (with no steps) in a Quarter Turn Stair Case
• Let, Loads on Flight slab is W1 0.5W2
and Load on Landing Slab is W2,
W2
generally, W1 > W2 (due to steps
on flight but not on landing slab)
• When the Landing slab is
common to both flights (i.e. W1
along longitudinal and transverse
W1
flights), the load on common
area (Landing slab) is taken half
in each direction. W1
W2
• The loads considered for
Effective Span = Length of step measured from the face of designing the flights are shown 0.5W2
W1 0.5W2
wall/beam (as shown in Figure) in Figure.

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Design Load on a Flight in a Quarter Turn Stair Case Determination of LL on Stair slab when flight is built into side
• If steps are provided in the walls
coroners also, Loads on Flight W/2
• When the flight or landing is built into side walls, some of the
load of the stair slab is transferred to wall.
slab and in landing (corners
W W • To account for this effect, IS code recommends following:
portions) may be assumed
• When the flight or landing is built into side walls not < 110mm
same and flight is supported longitudinally :
• Since the corner portion is – Width of the slab may be reduced by 150mm while
W
common to both flights (i.e. calculating the LL on flight i.e. if width of slab is B mm, (B-
along longitudinal and W 150) mm will be used to calculate the LL
transverse flights), half of the – While designing slab, width may be increased by 75 mm
load on the landing slabs is W 110 mm 150 mm
considered for the design of W Loading
each flight. W/2
W1 W/2
75 mm
B
Effective Breadth = B + 75 mm

Guidelines for fixing the dimensions tf T

LOADS ON STAIRCASES
Tread (T) : Horizontal portion of the step where foot rests 
(1) Dead Load, and (2) Live Load R T
– Tread (T) = 250 mm- 270 mm for residential buildings. Determination of Dead Load =
– Tread (T) = 250 mm to 300 mm for public buildings from If Rise = R; Tread = T; Finish = tf , ts
Rise (R) : Vertical distance between two successive steps Density of concrete = c , and density of H
– Rise (R) = 120 to 190 mm for Residential Buildings finish = f =
– Rise (R) = 120 to 150 mm for Public Buildings (i) when Waist Slab Spanning
Generally [T + 2R] may be kept: Between 500 mm to 650 mm Longitudinally
T
Width of the stair Total load acting on horizontal length T
• 0.8 m to 1 m for residential building and
= shaded area multiplied by density of
• 1.8 m to 2 m for public building. materials 1m
Number of steps in each flight: Not greater than 12
Pitch of the stair: not more than 38 degrees.
Total DL load acting over a length ‘T’ for 1 m wide strip
Head room (measured vertically above any step or below the mid = (tf T) f + [(1/2)RT + ts(R2+T2)] c
landing) : not less than 2.0 m. Load per unit length (horizontal projection),
Depth of section : Minimum thickness perpendicular to the soffit of w = {(tf T) f + [(1/2) RT + ts(R2+T2)] c}/ T
the staircase.

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(ii) When Spanning Transversely Live Load on Stair Cases
DL for a step of width ‘T’ per meter span (transversely) • For Waist slab type staircase (spanning Longitudinally or
wDL = [tf T1] f + [(1/2) RT + ts(R2+T2)] c Transversely)
Total Load on slab in vertical direction, w = wDL +wLL • Take uniformly distributed load over horizontally projected
Note that in case of transverse bending, the slab (having area of the flight i.e. going as follows
width equal to a tread width) is inclined, however, the total w
– For Public Building :
load (=w) is calculated in the vertical direction, therefore, the
• 5 kN/m2 on going as well as on landing slab
component of the load causing the (transverse bending) in
slab will be equal to (w cos) as shown in Figure – For Residential Building
1m tf T • 3 kN/m2 (when LL on floor not > 2kN/m2)

T R T Live Load For the Cantilever Type stair case
ts =
• Consider a concentrated LL of 1.3 kN on free w
1.3 kN
R  end in addition to above mentioned UDL.
 H wcos
= w


Determination of Design Moment in Stair Case Landing slab-2

Steps to Determine Maximum moment
Wl1 = (DL+LL) on landing slab 1
Wl2 = (DL+LL) on landing slab 2
• Treat ABCD as a beam of unit width
Ww = (DL +LL) on waist slab Beam • Determine the reactions RA and RD
(on horizontal span)
• Write an equation for BM variation in the beam ABCD
Landing slab-1 • Equate dM/dx = 0 to determine location of maximum
moment
Beam
• Determine maximum moment at above determined
Ll1 Lw Ll2 location
ww ww
wl1 wl2 B C
A wl1 wl2 D

B ww
wl1 C wl2 Ll1 Lw Ll2
A D RA RD

RA Ll1 Lw Ll2
RD

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 Example: Design a ‘waist slab’ type staircase comprising a straight flight
Reinforcement Details in Stair Case of steps, supported between two stringer beams along the two sides.
Center to center spacing of stringer beams is 1.5 m. For step assume
riser of 150 and a tread of 270 mm. Assume Live Load of 3 kN/m2. Use
M20 concrete and Fe 250 steel. Assume mild exposure conditions.
Assume mild exposure condition. Take floor finish load as 0.6 kN/m2.
Not less than Ld
Given, R = 150 mm; T = 270 mm;
Not less than Ld For transversally spanning waist slab,
Main Steel Effective span = c/c distance between stringer beams
Temperature steel = 1.5 m
Assuming basic (l/d) ratio = 20
Thickness of waist slab
Depth of slab = 1500/20 = 75 mm 1.5 m
Let us assume thickness of waist slab ts = 80 mm
Assuming clear cover of 20 mm and diameter of steel
bars as 10 mm
Effective depth,
d = 80 -10/2-20 = 55 mm

Considering width equal to step width  T , 1m

Max. BM in waist slab in transverse direction,
and an Unit length (measured perpendicular to flight direction)
T wL2 8.89  1.52
Dead Load due to each step width (  T  0.27 m) Mu    2.5 kNm per m width

 (1 / 2) RT  t s R 2

 T 2    c  t f T  f R
8 8
Depth required for flexure  2.5 106 /(0.138  20  1000)
 
 (1 / 2)  0.15  0.27  0.08 0.152  0.27 2   25  0.27  0.6
 30.5 mm  55 mm OK
 1.286 kN / m span  per step width 
LL per step width  0.27  3  0.81 kN / m span  per step width  Mu 2.5  106
  0.826
Total Factored Load per step width bd 2 1000  552
 1.5  (1.286  0.81)  3.144 kN / m span  per step width  From, SP 16, for Fe  250 and f ck  20 MPa,
Load acting in direction normal to slab p  0.4% ( see tble next slide)
causing flexure (in transverse direction),
 Ast  (0.4 / 100)  1000  55  220 mm 2 per m width
wn = w cos = 3.144  (270/309)
= 2.747 kN (per step width) 1m
309 alternatively, A st may be determined using expression given in code
Hence, UDL causing bending in slab per Spacing of 10 mm  bars  1000  78.5 / 220  357 mm
m span (transverse to flight) per m width
(at top fiber of waist slab along flight) Maximum spacing  3d  3  55 or 300 whichever less  165 mm
= (2.747/0.309) = 8.89 kN/m per m width Pr ovide10 mm  bars @160 mm c / c

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Distributi on steel ( along flight direction )
Ast , min  0.15 % of total area  (0.15 / 100 )  1000  80  120 mm 2
spacing of 6 mm bars ,  (28 .3  1000 ) / 120  235 mm
Max. spacing of distribiti on bars  lesser of 5d or 450 mm
 Max. spacing  275 mm
 provide distributi on steel 6 mm @ 230 mm c / c
8@160 c/c
Main bars

8@160 c/c

Example 2: Design the staircase slab, shown in Fig. The stairs are simply Effective span = Center to center spacing of supports
supported on beams provided at the first riser and at the edge of the = 0.15+3+(1.5-0.15) = 4.5 m
upper landing as shown in Figure. Assume a finish load of 0.8 kN/m2 Assuming basic (l/d) ratio = 20
and a live load of 5.0 kN/m2. Use M 20 concrete and Fe 415 steel. Take Depth of slab = 4500/20 = 225 mm
clear cover as 20 mm. Let us assume thickness of waist slab ts = 230 mm
Assuming steel bar dia. 12 mm, effective depth for clear cover 20 mm
Effective depth, d = 230 -12/2-20 = 204 mm
DL Load per unit span (horizontal),
w = {[(RT/2) + ts(R2+T2)] c + (tf T) f}/ T
= {[(0.150.3/2) + 0.23 (0.152+0.32)] 25 + 0.8 0.3}/ 0.3
= 9.11 kN/m2
Live Load = 5 kN/m2
Total Factored UDL on Waist slab
ww = 1.5 (9.11 + 5) = 21.17 kN/m2
Total UDL on Landing Slab
wl = 1.5 (0.23  25 + 0.8 + 5.0) = 17.33 kN/m2

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 Depth required for flexure  52.53 106 /(0.138  20  1000)
137.95 mm  204 mm OK
Considering 1m wide strip
M u 52.53 106
Re action at left sup port  1.262
bd 2 1000  2042
 4.5  1.725 
R1   21.17  3.45  From, SP16, for Fe  415 and f ck  20 MPa, p  0.38%
 4.5 
Ast  (0.38 / 100)  1000  204  775 mm 2 per m width
 0. 525 
 17.33 1.05   alternatively, Ast may be det er min ed u sin g exp ression given in code
 4.5 
Spacing of 12 mm  bars 1000 113 / 775 146 mm
 47.16 kN
Maximum spacing  3d  3  204 or 300 whichever less  300 mm
Let zero SF occures at
Pr ovide12 mm  bars @ 140 mm c / c
dis tan ce x from left sup port
Distribution steel ( perp. to flight direction)
47.16  21.17  x  0  x  2.228 m
0.12
Max. Factored moment Ast , min  0.12%   1000  230  276 mm 2
100
(at x  2.228 m)
50.3  1000
M u  47.16  2.228  21.17  2.2282 / 2 spacing of 8 mm bars,   182 mm
276
 52.53 kNm Pr oviding 8 mm  bars @ of 180 mm c / c

Rise & Tread Type Stair Case

Spanning
Transversely

Spanning
Longitudinally

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 Analysis of Simply Supported Tread-Riser stair case
Load Effects in Tread-Riser Stairs
Spanning
For Longitudinally
the analysis of Rise-
• In the tread-riser type of arrangement slab is repeatedly folded Tread Stair case:
• UDL on Tread is
• Slab behaves essentially like a ‘folded plate’
assumed as concentrated
• A rigorous analysis is difficult and laborious load at mid of tread and
it is equally transferred P P P P P P
P
• simplified analysis generally used at both the supports
• Load at each of end
supports = P/2
• Load at intermediate
supports = (P/2+P/2)= P
• SFD and BMD are
drawn for these
concentrated loads.
• FBD are drawn for
each Tread and
reactions/SF/BM are
calculated

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Reinforcement Details for Tread-Riser Stair Case

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