Stair Nosings

AS 1428.1-2009 Part 1: General requirements for access—New building work Clause11.1 Stair Construction requires:

• Stair nosings shall not project beyond the face of the riser and the riser may be vertical or have a splay backwards up to a maximum 25 mm.

• Stair nosing profiles shall—

  • have a sharp intersection;

  • be rounded up to 5 mm radius; or

  • be chamfered up to 5 mm × 5 mm.

• At the nosing, each tread shall have a strip not less than 50 mm and not more than 75 mm deep across the full width of the path of travel. The strip may be set back a maximum of 15 mm from the front of the nosing. The strip shall have a minimum luminance contrast of 30% to the background. Where the luminous contrasting strip is affixed to the surface of the tread, any change in level shall be less than 3mm or 5mm if bevelled or rounded edge is provided.

• Where the luminance contrasting strip is not set back from the front of the nosing then any area of luminance contrast shall not extend down the riser more than 10 mm.

It is noted that striped style non-compliant stair nosings and ribbed style tile nosings do not achieve compliance with AS1428.1-2009. We highly recommend AS1428.1-2009 compliant stair nosings be installed to all stairways within common areas to prevent any possibility of future litigations that may arise from personal injury.

Refer to article below for court case relating to non-compliant stairs:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-01/hospital-fall-compensation-pay-out-charters-towers/8312092