French Stair and Guard Rules: Check the Housing Scope

Start with the building and use

French stair rules depend on the building and the work. CCH L161-1 gives an access-rule exemption for owners who build or improve housing for their own use. That does not remove other safety duties or design standards. Do not apply that exemption to all private houses.

For housing within the 24 December 2015 access order, Article 12 covers stairs inside a dwelling. It gives a clear width of at least 0.80 m, rises up to 18 cm and goings of at least 24 cm. Check its full handrail, lighting and layout provisions too. Common stairs have a different scope; public buildings use other texts.

Guards at balconies and terraces

CCH R134-59 sets guard height at balconies, terraces, galleries and loggias. The minimum is 1.00 m. It may reduce to 0.80 m where the guard is more than 50 cm thick. The article also deals with low windows. It is not a complete stair-guard design specification.

The current clause is R134-59. Older guides may cite R111-15, before the 2021 recodification. Check the present text and the building’s scope.

A calculation example, not a compliance check

For a floor-to-floor rise of 2700 mm, 15 equal risers give 180 mm each. If the chosen going is 260 mm, a straight flight with 14 goings needs 3640 mm of flat run. Twice the rise plus the going is 620 mm.

Those sums do not prove that the stair is safe or meets the rules. The designer still needs to check pitch, headroom, landings, rails, guards and the standards specified for the job.

Sources and limits

• CCH L161-1: access scope.
• Housing access order, Article 12.
• CCH R134-59: guards and windows.

These public clauses were checked on 6 September 2026. Full paid NF DTU 36.3 and NF P01-012 texts were not reviewed. We do not attribute a universal comfort range or pitch limit to those standards without checking the current text. Obtain the standards needed for the project before design.

French building-code hub.