BWF launches Design Guide for Timber Stairs

The British Woodworking Federation has launched a Design Guide for timber stairs to provide industry guidance for the manufacture of timber stairs for the UK market.

The ‘Design Guide: Timber stairs – A Guide to Designing and Manufacturing Safe and Compliant Staircases’ is aimed at stair designers, manufacturers and building professionals and draws information from a plethora of standards and regulations impacting upon staircases. The Guide covers stair specifications for basic flights, handrails, balusters and other guarding by providing advice on suitable sections, by reference to historical data, design tables, calculation or suitable test methods.

In 2004 the British Standards Institution (BSI) declared the standard ‘BS 585 Wood Stairs’ Obsolescent, and since this point there has been increased pressure on the staircase market related to a mismatch between UK and EU standards, regulations and codes that have arisen to deal with specific domestic situations.

From this environment the BWF Stair Scheme emerged with a focus on effective design and manufacturing principles to support the sector in defining effective design amidst the mêlée of often times conflicting standards and regulations.

It is important to note that design and manufacture is only part of the delivery of effective staircases, and installation practices must also be adhered to. Whilst the BWF Stair Scheme does not accredit installation, a separate guide focusing on the installation of staircases will be available from the BWF Stair Scheme to support the installers.

The Guide was launched at the Stair Scheme Seminar: Timber Stairs: Fundamental designs, fabulous results on 22nd October and BWF members can now download a pdf version of the guide by logging in below.