Hello everyone,
First of all – I couldn’t find a suitable subforum, so please excuse me and feel free to move this post if necessary.
We moved into our house a few weeks ago, which was built by a general contractor. There are still a few open issues, including one concerning the staircase – and I would like to ask for your advice on this.
We have an open staircase, designed as a two-stringer staircase according to DIN 18065. Since the final treads were not yet installed, temporary construction treads were removed and other transition treads were put in. I found the gap between the treads, or the opening between the steps, rather large (we have an 11-month-old daughter). With the final treads, this gap will generally be about 15.5 cm (6 inches) (in some places there are support strips, so the gap is smaller there). From a quick look at DIN 18065, I gathered that the gap should only be 12 cm (5 inches).
Our construction manager from the general contractor initially confirmed this and wanted to present various solutions, but it has been three weeks now and we haven’t heard anything further.
However, the stair builder contacted us directly and said that the 12 cm (5 inches) limit does not apply because it is only a “recommendation” (not mandatory). He said he has always built staircases this way, and that this rule apparently used to apply only in Baden-Württemberg — we built in Saxony.
When I read DIN 18065 more closely, I’m confused about the categorization of “buildings in general” and “residential buildings with up to two dwellings and within dwellings,” and where our single-family house fits in. I believe this determines whether or not the 12 cm (5 inches) gap requirement applies.
Could you please help us with the following?
Thank you very much,
Best regards
First of all – I couldn’t find a suitable subforum, so please excuse me and feel free to move this post if necessary.
We moved into our house a few weeks ago, which was built by a general contractor. There are still a few open issues, including one concerning the staircase – and I would like to ask for your advice on this.
We have an open staircase, designed as a two-stringer staircase according to DIN 18065. Since the final treads were not yet installed, temporary construction treads were removed and other transition treads were put in. I found the gap between the treads, or the opening between the steps, rather large (we have an 11-month-old daughter). With the final treads, this gap will generally be about 15.5 cm (6 inches) (in some places there are support strips, so the gap is smaller there). From a quick look at DIN 18065, I gathered that the gap should only be 12 cm (5 inches).
Our construction manager from the general contractor initially confirmed this and wanted to present various solutions, but it has been three weeks now and we haven’t heard anything further.
However, the stair builder contacted us directly and said that the 12 cm (5 inches) limit does not apply because it is only a “recommendation” (not mandatory). He said he has always built staircases this way, and that this rule apparently used to apply only in Baden-Württemberg — we built in Saxony.
When I read DIN 18065 more closely, I’m confused about the categorization of “buildings in general” and “residential buildings with up to two dwellings and within dwellings,” and where our single-family house fits in. I believe this determines whether or not the 12 cm (5 inches) gap requirement applies.
Could you please help us with the following?
- Is the staircase required to be built according to DIN or similar regulations so that the opening between the steps is limited to 12 cm (5 inches)?
- How would you handle this with children, or how do you view the 12 cm (5 inches) rule? Maybe I am just being too cautious right now? The stair builder told us the staircase should be protected from children anyway, and later on, protective measures would have to be removed again.
Thank you very much,
Best regards
M
MachsSelbst4 Sep 2024 22:07Nida35a schrieb:
The DIN standard won’t help you here; make it safe for your child.
From 8 months on, they start climbing up and down as soon as the path is clear. And precisely for this reason, the pathway should not be clear until the toddler can safely go up and down the stairs independently.
Anyone who lets their 8-month-old child play alone on the stairs, with all due respect, is really to blame themselves.
Stay_LE schrieb:
The spacing between the vertical bars on the railing is correct when measured precisely. But why don’t you see that as comparable?Because one is a quickly occurring and likely accidental event, while the other involves self-endangerment combined with an almost criminal level of recklessness that would intellectually overwhelm such a tiny person. And as I said, even if the cat did it and demonstrated it to the child, the child simply wouldn’t fit through here. They would have to be so flexible that, conversely, the child could demonstrate something to the cat, and even then, there wouldn’t be enough potential energy for a real danger. Falling acceleration and lateral acceleration are two entirely different matters. The accident you fear can only be simulated virtually. However, sliding through the bars with a leg or arm in such a way that even green wood breaks will already have happened and likely prompted the regulation.My concern about the kindergarten caregivers’ nerves due to hysterical parents is probably more realistic than I feared earlier.
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S
Schorsch_baut5 Sep 2024 14:23The spacing of the railing is based on head width. Children should not be able to fit their heads through the railing. My grandmother stuck her head through an iron railing as a child, and her father had to be called home from work to bend the railing apart. The dented railing bars were shown to every visitor.
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