RC STAIRCASE DESIGN

ECS358 – CIVIL ENGINEERING DESIGN PROJECT

WEEK 8
PREPARED BY: NADIAH SAARI
Course Outcomes
CO1: Design reinforced concrete elements and system to meet
requirements for public safety, societal and environmental
considerations.

CO2: Construct civil engineering design projects in accordance with

relevant code of practices.

CO3: Utilise appropriate techniques in civil engineering design

project within the scope and limitations.

CO4: Demonstrate effective communication skills in civil

engineering design project.

CO5: Integrate professional ethics and responsibilities in civil

engineering design project.

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Programme Outcomes
PO3/PLO3: Design solutions for well-defined technical problems
and assist with the design of systems, components or processes
to meet specified needs with appropriate consideration for public
health and safety, cultural, societal and environmental
considerations.

PO4/PLO2: Conduct investigations of well-defined problems;

locate and search relevant codes and catalogues, conduct
standard tests and measurements.

PO5/PLO2: Apply appropriate techniques, resources and modern

engineering and IT tools to well-defined engineering problems,
with an awareness of the limitations.
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Programme Outcomes
PO8/PLO6: Understand and commit to professional ethics and
responsibilities and norms of technician practice.

PO10/PLO4: Communicate effectively as an individual and as a

member in diverse technical teams.

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Learning Outcomes
At the end of this topic students should be able to:

1. Analyse and design RC staircase using appropriate design

code standards.

2. Illustrate the reinforcement details for the staircase.

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Introduction
• In multi-storey buildings, ramps, elevators, escalators, and
stairs are often employed to facilitate vertical circulation.

• Circulation refers to the movement of people and goods

between interior spaces in buildings and to entrances and
exits.

• Stairs are important building elements that are used to provide

vertical circulation and access across different floor levels in a
building.

• It is also recommended that when an access height exceeds

600 mm, a staircase should be provided.

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Types of Stairs
• Generally, stairs are usually of the following types:
➢ Straight
➢ Circular
➢ Curved or spiral
➢ A combination of the above mentioned types

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Straight Stairs
• Straight stairs are stairs along which there is no curvature or
change in direction on any flight between two successive floors
or levels.

• There are several possible arrangements of straight stairs. For

example, they may be arranged in a straight run with a single
flight between floors, or a series of flights without change in
direction.

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Straight Stairs

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Straight Stairs
• Also, straight stairs may permit a change in direction at an
immediate landing. When the stairs require a complete reversal
of direction, they are called parallel stairs or half landing stairs
(turning through 180).

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Straight Stairs
• When successive flights are at an angle to each other, (usually
90), they are called angle stairs or quarter turn stairs.

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Straight Stairs
In addition, straight stairs may be classified as scissors stairs
when they comprise a pair of straight runs in opposite directions
and are placed on opposite sides of a wall.

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Circular Stairs
• Circular stairs when viewed
from above appear to follow
a circle with a single centre
of curvature and large
radius.

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Curved or Spiral Stairs
• Curved staircase is almost always located
in the entry area where it makes the best
first impression. They tend to be on a
much larger radius and typically don’t
make a full circle.

• Spiral staircase can be made very

compactly, features treads that radiate
around a center pole. They continue to
gain popularity especially where space
is at a premium – on decks, or in lofts
or studios.

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Basic Terminology of Stairs

R = riser
G = going
h = waist
N = nosing
 = slope

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General Design Consideration
• Depending on the use of building, the dimensions of a stair
according to UBBL (1984) should be as follow:

1. Public buildings – R  180 mm and G  255 mm

2. Private buildings – R  200 mm and 250 mm  G  400 mm

• For comfort, the riser and going can be proportioned according

to this equation (BS 5395, Reynold et al., 2007),

(2  R) + G

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General Design Consideration
Loads
• Permanent action: Weight of steps & finishes. Also consider
increased loading on plan (inclination of the waist).

• Stairs with open well: Two intersecting landings at right-angles to

each other, loads on areas common to both spans may be
divided equally between spans.

Bending Moment & Shear Force

• Stair slab & landing to support unfavourable arrangements of
design load.

• Continuous stairs: Bending moment can be taken as FL/10 ,

where F is the total ultimate load.
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General Design Consideration
Effective Span
• Stairs between beam or wall: Centreline between the supporting
beam or wall.

• Stairs between landing slab: Centreline of the supporting landing

slab, or the distance between edges of supporting slab + 1.8 m
(whichever is the smaller).

Detailing
• Ensure that the tension bar may not break through at the kink.

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General Design Consideration

Correct detailing Incorrect detailing

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Design Procedure
1. Determine design life, exposure class & fire resistance.
2. Determine material strength.
3. Select the waist, h and average thickness, t of staircase.
4. Calculate min. cover for durability, fire and bond requirements.
5. Estimate actions on staircase.
6. Analyze structure to obtain maximum bending moments and
shear forces.
7. Design flexural reinforcements.
8. Design shear reinforcements.
9. Deflection check.
10. Cracking check.
11. Detailing of reinforcements.
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Design Example
• Click (or copy-paste) on the following links to watch videos
related to the design of RC staircase.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll5JUHwoiFo

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ_2xvOFKz4

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLQPP3hhTHY

CREDIT TO: NADIAH SAARI

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