South Carolina Residential Code: Stairs & Guards

South Carolina builds to the South Carolina Residential Code (SCRC), based on the 2018 IRC, statewide since 1 January 2020. A newer edition (drawing on the 2024 IRC) has been moving through the state’s adoption and comment process, so the code in force here may change during the life of this page.

For a house stair, the figures follow the IRC baseline — 7¾ in max riser, 10 in min tread, 6 ft 8 in headroom, 36 in min width, 34–38 in handrails, 36 in guards, the 30 in guard trigger and the 4 in sphere. No South Carolina-specific stair or guard amendment is confirmed here. See the US stair & guard rules for the shared figures — but confirm the current edition with your local building department before you rely on it; South Carolina’s next edition may have landed by the time you’re reading this.