Structural Steel Stairs
Fabrication & Installation

IBC Section 1011 governs commercial stair geometry: maximum 7-inch riser height, minimum 11-inch tread depth, and maximum 3/8-inch riser variance within a single flight. Guardrails must resist a 50 lb/ft uniform lateral load per IBC 1607.8 or a 200 lb concentrated point load. Handrails must be continuous, graspable, and mounted 34 to 38 inches above the stair nosing. NC, SC, and VA each adopt the IBC with state-specific amendments — we build compliance into the shop drawing set, not as a field correction after inspection.

From approved shop drawings to delivery, commercial steel stair packages typically run 6 to 10 weeks depending on scope, number of flights, and current shop schedule. Multi-story prefabricated stair towers with integrated railing run toward the longer end. Submitting for a quote during preconstruction — before the general framing package is finalized — gives us time to coordinate stair anchor bolt locations and landing elevations against the structural drawings before fabrication begins, which consistently prevents the field coordination problems that add weeks to erection on projects where stair fabrication started late.

Our standard stair submittal package includes: Certified Mill Test Reports (CMTRs) for all structural shapes and plate material, Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) applicable to the stair scope, certified welder qualification records, AWS D1.1 visual and dimensional weld inspection records, high-strength anchor bolt torque verification logs, and as-built shop drawings marked with any field revisions. This package is assembled before steel leaves the shop — it ships with the steel, not in response to an inspector asking for it on-site.

Yes — and it's the approach we recommend. Stairs and guardrails that are fabricated separately by different shops routinely produce connection coordination problems: baseplate embedments that weren't coordinated with the stair landing, guardrail profiles that don't match the architectural spec, and documentation that covers one scope but not the other. We fabricate both under one contract, with a single submittal package covering stairs and railings — which simplifies the special inspection process and eliminates the coordination gap at the stair-to-guardrail connection.

Pan stairs (CSI 05 51 13) use formed steel pans as the tread support, which are then filled with concrete on-site — common in multifamily and office buildings where the finished floor and tread are integrated. Plate stairs use steel plate or bar grating as the finished tread surface, common in industrial, warehouse, mechanical room, and back-of-house applications where concrete fill is not part of the scope. The structural stringer and connection design differs between the two systems, and specifying the wrong system for the application typically creates coordination problems with the concrete subcontractor or the finish floor system. We clarify tread type during the detailing phase, before fabrication begins.

Yes — fabrication and installation under one contract. Our field crews handle stair erection, anchor bolt torquing, and final plumb and elevation verification. Working with a single accountable subcontractor for both fabrication and installation eliminates the scenario where an erector discovers fit-up problems with stairs they didn't detail — which typically results in field modifications, additional inspection hold points, and close-out delays that fall on the general contractor to manage.

Field-assembled stairs require welding at elevation — which means scaffolding or manlifts, field inspection at each weld, and weather-dependent work windows. Prefabricated stair assemblies arrive as complete units: stringer, landings, and connections pre-welded and inspected in the shop. The field crew sets the assembly with a crane, anchors it, and moves on — typically in a single crane day per stair tower floor. On a 6-story hotel stair tower, the difference between prefabricated and field-assembled erection can compress the stair schedule by 3 to 5 days per tower, which on a hotel with a franchise-imposed opening date has direct revenue implications.

Yes. Hospital and healthcare facilities are classified as Risk Category IV under IBC Table 1604.5, which requires higher seismic and wind design parameters, more conservative deflection limits, and more comprehensive special inspection documentation than standard commercial occupancies. Our AISC-certified quality system handles these requirements — our WPS and welder qualification records meet the documentation standards that hospital special inspectors request, and our stair package is designed against the project's structural engineer's drawings, not generic specifications.