Kitchen island in practice

Of course, a glass wall will be installed immediately in front of it. We don't want anyone to fall down. However, it has been working surprisingly well so far without fall protection and a handrail.

Good evening,

Of course, a glass wall will be installed immediately in front of it. [B]

I can well imagine that; it matches the beautiful staircase and the labor-intensive wall

Best regards from the Rhineland

In NRW, no railing is required in a single-family house - such a staircase would be approved

Hello,

In NRW you don’t need a railing in a single-family house - such a staircase would be approved

I like such answers ....

Fourth section - Stairs, escape routes, elevators and openings
Building regulations for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia - State Building Regulations (Building Regulations NRW), announcement of the new version

§ 36 Stairs

(1) Every floor above ground level and the usable attic space of a building must be accessible via at least one staircase (necessary staircase); further staircases can be required if the rescue of people in case of fire is not possible by other means. Instead of necessary staircases, ramps with a gentle slope may be permitted.

(2) Retractable stairs and escalators are not allowed as necessary staircases. Retractable stairs and ladders are permitted in low-rise buildings as access to an attic without habitable rooms; they may be allowed as access to other rooms that are not habitable if there are no fire protection concerns.

(3) The load-bearing parts of necessary staircases must be made of fire resistance class F 90 and from non-combustible materials. In low-rise buildings, they must be made of non-combustible materials; this does not apply to low-rise residential buildings with no more than two apartments.

(4) In buildings with more than two floors above ground level, the necessary staircases must run continuously to all other connected floors; they must be directly connected to the stairs leading to the attic.

(5) The usable width of staircases and staircase landings of necessary staircases must be at least 1 m; in residential buildings with no more than two apartments, a width of 0.8 m is sufficient.

(6) Staircases must have at least one fixed and secure handrail. For staircases with large usable width, handrails on both sides and intermediate handrails can be required.

(7) The open sides of stairs, stair landings and stair openings must be secured by railings. Windows directly adjacent to stairs whose sills are below the necessary railing height must be secured.

(8) Handrails and railings can be omitted, especially for stairs up to five steps, if there are no concerns for traffic safety taking into account the interests of disabled or elderly people.

(9) Stair railings must be at least 0.90 m high, for stairs with a fall height of more than 12 m at least 1.10 m high.

(10) A staircase must not begin immediately behind a door that opens in the direction of the staircase; a staircase landing must be arranged between the staircase and the door, which must be at least as deep as the door is wide.

(11) Paragraphs 3 to 7 do not apply to staircases inside apartments.

Rhenish greetings

You may like it or not - just read Section 11 of your own quote. I couldn't believe it either, but it's true and my architect confirmed it when I asked (he once worked at the building authority and had to approve such things).

Hello,

You can like it or not – just read section 11 of your own quote
I couldn’t believe it either, but it’s true and my architect confirmed it when I asked (he once worked at the building authority and had to approve such things).

I have already had countless conversations with building authority employees. They tend to differentiate more according to residential units – whether this is nitpicking or not is up to everyone; it gets especially tricky with agricultural old buildings, where the authorities even dictate how large your bathroom can be.

In my opinion, your architect’s answer refers more to a rare individual case decision – or stairs up to 5 steps. If sections 3-7 did not apply, for example, we wouldn’t need to install laminated safety glass (VSG) in the windows within the staircase area (section 7) … but on the other hand, we wouldn’t get approval if we didn’t do it.

By the way, the private liability insurance – if built without a railing anyway – will also want to have a significant say regarding the height of the insurance premium concerning accident risk.

Rhenish greetings