According to building regulations stairs, ladders and ramps have to be designed, constructed and installed in a way that is safe for people moving between different levels in or about the building. Gooding Aluminium therefore takes a deeper look at regulations to help ensure specifiers are compliant when installing aluminium stair nosings.
Size
According to Building Regulations (K&M), BS8300 and BS9266, the recommended dimension of a stair nosing should measure between 50-65mm and the riser 30-55mm. This ensures there is a large enough ‘band’ on the nose of the step.
Colour
Building Regs (K&M), BS8300 and BS9266 explain that the colour of the Stair Nosing is required to differ from that of the floor covering.
Every colour has a Light Reflectance Value (LRV) of between 0 (Black) and 100 (White). The documents indicate that there should be at least 30 points difference between the Stair Nosing LRV and that of the floor covering, e.g. If the floor covering has a LRV of 50, then the Stair Nosing should have a LRV of between 0-20 or 80-100. This helps create the ‘ladder effect’.
Slip resistance
The tread material used in a Stair Nosing is important for the safety and performance of a stairway. There are two recommended tests that can be carried out to determine the slip resistance of a flooring material.
The pendulum test (PTV) and a surface micro roughness measurement (Rz). Either of these can be used to give an indication of the slip resistance of a material, although the Pendulum method is limited in so far as it cannot be used to test material on site.