Code Approved Stairs

[Chinook]

I was recently chatting to our building inspector in Nova Scotia about how much room code approved stairs took up in small buildings, 3 foot wide and running 10 ft with an 8 foot ceiling.
Apparently he is having the same problem as he is building a cabin 16 ft x 24 ft with 10 ft side walls and a loft. His solution is to build a small deck and external stairs, as long as the is code approved access you can put up any kind of non approved means of access inside such as a ladder.
   A small raised deck or balcony may be a good place to enjoy the view. Or one might be tempted to build a temporary set of stairs and remove them when finished with the officials after all with a few years non use and less than perfect maintenance they might become a safety hazard.
 Usually the building inspectors here will do there best to help you, apparently in some codes the is provision for calling spaces under 200-250 sq feet storage space and they don't require code approved stairs,  does anyone now if this applies in Canada ? My building inspector says not although I think he would be delighted  to find another loop hole.

[John Raabe]

My experience (from visitors to the earlier board and comments from plan buyers) is that Canada is generally less flexible than U.S. code jurisdictions about stairs in smaller houses.

In many areas down here, a loft of somewhere around 200 to 250 sf is considered a storage area and has no requirement for a stair. Thus you can do a ships ladder, alternative tread stairs or whatever you want. A loft of 250 to 400 sf can have a smaller than code stair such as a 5' diameter spiral for access. This is what was code approved in the Victoria Cottage Plan. Above 400 sf a full code stair is required.

The full code stair option that was added to the Victoria plan set was devised for Canadian buyers.
(http://www.jshow.com/y2k/listings/44.html).

It is interesting that an external stair option is being considered by your inspector.

Codes can make us do some strange things.

PS - Here is the latest changes in stairs per the IRC (earlier stairs could be steeper, IE: 8" rise & 9" tread). See if these will apply to you. http://www.iccswwc.org/documents/R311.5.3.1stairsection.pdf

[Bart_Cubbins]

Thank you for this great idea, Chinook.  I've checked the BC Building Code for stair exceptions for lofts but didn't see anything. It certainly is difficult to fit code-compliant stairs into a small cabin.

[Neil]

John, what about using external stairs do you think is interesting?

This sounds like a pretty good idea to me.  I would like to build just off a ridge going through my 40-acres to take advantage of the nice view and to get a walk-out basement cheap.  I use my current walkout basement as a workshop.  Occasionally, going outside even in the rainy Pacific Northwest winters to do something in the basement isn't much pain.