Indonesian Stair Rules: Rise, Going, Handrail Heights

The requirement

Each rise must be between 150 mm and 180 mm. Each going must be at least 300 mm deep. The handrail sits 650–800 mm above the stair. The pitch can be no steeper than 35°. The numbers come from Permen PUPR No. 14/PRT/M/2017, Lampiran II.

A stair has to fit the space. It also has to stay easy to climb. That is what these limits are for. Two words matter here:

Rise (optride): how tall each step is.
Going (antride): how deep each step is, the flat part you stand on.

The rise and going limits are Lampiran II, points 4 and 5. The 35° pitch cap is point 8. Keep every rise in a flight the same. Keep every going the same too. The stair then climbs evenly.

The rule comes from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. It covers “tangga umum” — general stairs. There is no separate stair rule just for houses. So these numbers are the national baseline for a house stair too.

Some other countries add a “2R+G” comfort check. We could not find that rule in the primary text. Two research passes looked for it. Just set out to the rise and going limits above.

Permen PUPR 14/2017 · Lamp. II §1 (Tangga)

Handrail & guarding

The handrail sits 650–800 mm above the pitch line (points 9 and 11). A stair that runs along a wall needs a double-layer handrail the whole way. The lower rail, in that range, is for children. The upper rail is for adults.

Width. There is no fixed minimum width for a plain stair. One width rule does exist. A stair wider than 220 cm needs an extra handrail down the middle (point 13). Public buildings have their own width tables for fire-exit stairs. Those tables key off how many people the building holds. They do not apply to a single house.

Guarding. Any open side of the stair needs a baluster or guard (points 19–20). The spacing must be “cukup rapat” — close enough, above all to keep children safe. The rule gives no number for guard height or gap size. That is a real gap in the national text, not a number we chose to leave out. Use sound judgement. Keep any gaps tight until a clearer figure lands.

Work it out on site

Say your floor-to-floor height is 2800 mm.

Pick the riser count. Divide 2800 by 180, the tallest rise allowed. That gives 15.6. You cannot have part of a step, so round up to 16 risers. 2800 ÷ 16 = 175 mm per rise. That sits inside the 150–180 mm band.
Set the going. Try 300 mm, the minimum. Sixteen risers means 15 goings. So the stair runs 15 × 300 = 4500 mm along the floor. Check that fits the space. A run this long is why many houses turn the stair with a landing, not one straight flight.
Check the pitch. A 175 mm rise on a 300 mm going comes out well under the 35° cap. That is an easy stair to climb.

The calculator does this rounding for you. It keeps every rise even.

Do it in 5 seconds

The Indonesia rules hub: how the one national framework and its instruments work.
Indonesian ramp gradients & landings: the same Permen PUPR 14/2017 sets the ramp numbers too.

Sources

Permen PUPR No. 14/PRT/M/2017 (Persyaratan Kemudahan Bangunan Gedung), Lampiran II, points 4–5 (rise and going), point 8 (pitch), points 9 and 11 (handrail height), point 13 (extra handrail past 220 cm width) and points 19–20 (guarding, qualitative). Read it at peraturan.bpk.go.id.

Read this first. The card that briefed this page cited “SNI 03-1728” as the source for stair figures — but that SNI number couldn’t be located or confirmed as covering stairs by two independent research passes. The figures above trace instead to Permen PUPR 14/2017, a Ministerial Regulation issued in 2017 under Indonesia’s pre-2017 Building Law framework. The current Building Law (UU 6/2017) and its 2021 implementing regulation may since have produced a newer regulation that restates these numbers — this couldn’t be confirmed either way during research. Always check the current instrument on pu.go.id or peraturan.bpk.go.id before you build to these figures.

Frequently asked questions

What is the maximum rise and minimum going for a stair in Indonesia?

Permen PUPR No. 14/PRT/M/2017, Lampiran II, point 4 sets the rise (optride): no more than 180 mm, no less than 150 mm. Point 5 sets the going (antride) at 300 mm minimum. Keep every rise and going in a flight the same. The stair then climbs evenly.

Is there a 2R+G comfort-check rule, like in some other countries?

Not that we could find. Two research passes checked the national text. It gives the rise and going limits on their own, with no combined walking-line formula. Just set out to the rise and going limits directly.

What handrail height applies?

650–800 mm, under Lampiran II points 9 and 11. A stair that runs along a wall needs a double-layer handrail the whole way. The lower rail, in that range, is for children. The upper rail is for adults.

Is there a minimum stair width?

No fixed minimum for an ordinary stair. One width rule exists: a stair wider than 220 cm needs an extra handrail down the middle (point 13). Public buildings have their own width tables for fire-exit stairs, based on how many people the building holds. Those do not apply to a single dwelling.

What about guarding on an open side of the stair?

Any open side needs a baluster or guard. The spacing must be 'cukup rapat' — close enough, above all to keep children safe. The rule gives no number for guard height or gap here. So there is no mm figure to print. Use your judgement and keep gaps tight.