A steel stair needs a landing at the top and bottom of every flight, wherever a doorway opens onto the stair, and partway up any stair taller than 3.7 m, because the 2024 Ontario Building Code limits a single flight to 3.7 m of rise. The landing must be at least as wide and as long as the stair is wide, though a landing that doesn't turn (or turns less than 90°) need not be longer than the lesser of the stair width or 1,100 mm. In steel, a landing is a small framed platform: a channel or angle frame, a deck of checker plate, grating, concrete-filled pan or wood, and posts, hangers or wall ledgers to hold it up.
When a steel stair needs a landing
Section 9.8. of the 2024 Ontario Building Code (Part 9, houses and small buildings) sets the landing rules. The dimensional rules are the same for steel, wood and concrete stairs.
A landing is required:
- At the top and bottom of each flight of interior and exterior stairs, including stairs in garages.
- Where a doorway opens onto a stair.
- Between flights where the total rise is more than 3.7 m, since no single flight may rise more than that.
Finished floors, and ground surfaces sloping no more than 1 in 50, at the top and bottom of a stair count as landings. That is why a basement stair doesn't need a separate platform at the bottom: the basement floor is the landing.
There are limited exceptions:
- Door at the top of a stair within a dwelling unit that swings away from the stair: no landing is needed between the door and the stair.
- Top of an exterior stair to a secondary entrance of a single house with no more than three risers, where the main door slides or swings away from the stair and only a storm or screen door (with a hold-open) swings over it. This exception doesn't apply where that entrance is also the main entrance to a unit in a house with a secondary suite.
- Bottom of an exterior stair where there is no gate, door or other obstruction within the lesser of the stair width or 900 mm (single dwelling unit) or 1,100 mm (other buildings).
Larger buildings under Part 3 have their own stair and landing provisions, which the architect applies.
Minimum landing sizes
| Requirement | 2024 OBC rule (Part 9) |
|---|---|
| Landing width and length, general | At least the width of the stair |
| Length of a landing that doesn't turn or turns less than 90° | Need not exceed the lesser of the required stair width or 1,100 mm |
| Flights of different widths meeting at one landing | Width based on the stair widths, per Sentence 9.8.6.3.(4) |
| Door swinging toward the stair | Full arc of the swing over the landing |
| Slope of the landing | Not more than 1 in 50 |
| Clear height over landings, general | 2,050 mm |
| Clear height over landings serving a single dwelling unit or house with a secondary suite | 1,950 mm |
Source: 2024 Ontario Building Code, Division B, Articles 9.8.6.2. to 9.8.6.4.
In practice, this means:
- Straight-run mid landing: as wide as the stair, and long enough in the direction of travel to meet the rule above.
- Quarter-turn (L) landing: usually square, with each side at least the stair width.
- Half-turn (U or switchback) landing: as long as the stair is wide in the direction of travel, and wide enough to take both flights side by side plus any gap or guard between them.
Measure from finished surfaces, and remember the door swing rule. A door at the top of a stair that swings toward the stair often makes a landing longer than the stair width alone would.
For stair layout, including a worked example of a stair with a landing, see the steel stair calculator guide. The rest of the stair rules (rise, run, width, headroom and handrails) are in Ontario Building Code rules for steel stairs.
How a steel landing is built
A steel landing is a small floor. It has a frame, a deck and supports, and the stair flights connect to its edges.
The frame
Most landing frames are built from:
- Channel around the perimeter, often matching the stair's channel stringers so the flights bolt to them cleanly.
- Angle or smaller channel as intermediate members under the deck, spaced to suit the decking.
- HSS for exposed or modern landings, or where the landing frame also carries a post or guard.
Member sizes come from the landing's span, the stair loads and the deck type. Part 9 sets specified stair loads of 1.9 kPa for stairs serving one dwelling unit or a house with a secondary suite and 4.8 kPa for other stairs, and the landing is designed together with the flights. For stringer sizing, see steel stair stringer sizes.
The deck
| Deck type | Suits |
|---|---|
| Checker plate | Utility, industrial and some exterior stairs; slip resistance needs care when wet |
| Steel bar grating | Exterior and industrial stairs; lets snow and water through |
| Concrete-filled steel pan | Commercial and exit stairs; quiet and solid, matches pan treads |
| Wood or plywood on steel frame | Homes, where the landing gets the same flooring as the treads |
Treads and landings need a wear-resistant, slip-resistant finish. Outside dwelling units, landings also need a slip-resistant finish or strips, and the leading edge of the landing must be marked with a colour contrast or distinctive pattern. Where a doorway opens onto a stair outside a dwelling unit, a tactile attention indicator is also required at the landing. These are easier to detail on the shop drawings than to add later. Our guide to types of steel stair treads covers the same deck materials as treads.
Supports
How a landing is held up depends on what is around it:
- Posts to the floor or footings. The most common arrangement. HSS posts with base plates carry the landing corners down to a slab or footing.
- Wall ledgers. A channel or angle anchored to a concrete or masonry wall, or bolted to adequate wood framing, supports one or two sides. The wall has to be checked for the load.
- Hangers. Rods or straps from the structure above, used where posts would block the space below.
- Cantilever. Possible from a strong wall or frame, but it puts large forces into the connection and needs engineering.
On renovations, check what the landing really bears on. A ledger lagged to a single stud or a post on a thin basement slab may not carry a loaded landing.
Steel stairs with a concrete landing
Steel and concrete are often combined:
- Exterior stairs frequently have a concrete pad or landing at the bottom, with the steel stringers set on base plates anchored to it. The concrete needs its own foundation; for exterior steps, the code points to its foundation rules for the depth below ground. Keeping steel off the ground and out of standing water is the best thing you can do for its life.
- Upper exterior landings at a door may be concrete on a foundation, with the steel flight running down from it.
- Interior commercial stairs often use steel pan landings filled with concrete on site, matching pan treads. See what are steel pan stairs.
Where steel meets concrete, plan the connection early: embed plates cast into the concrete, or anchors drilled in afterward, with enough edge distance so the anchors don't break out the edge of the pad.
Guards, handrails and headroom at landings
- Guards are needed on the open sides of a landing where the drop is more than 600 mm within 1.2 m. On a landing, guard height is measured from the landing surface.
- Handrails on stairs outside a single dwelling unit must have at least one handrail continuous through the landing, except where interrupted by doorways. Inside a single house, the handrail can stop and restart at the landing.
- Headroom over the landing must meet the clear height in the table above. On U-shaped stairs, check headroom where the upper flight passes over the landing below.
Plan the guard posts with the landing frame so they weld or bolt to steel rather than to the deck. See Ontario guard and handrail rules for steel railings for the details.
Getting a steel stair with a landing made
To quote and detail a stair with a landing, a fabricator needs:
- Floor-to-floor height and the plan opening, measured to finished surfaces
- Stair type (within a house, or public/commercial) and required width
- Landing location and shape (straight, L or U), and any doors at or near the stair
- What can support the landing: floor, footings, walls or structure above
- Tread and landing deck type and finish (primed, painted or galvanized)
- Guard and handrail style
We fabricate custom steel stairs, landings and railings with shop drawings prepared in-house and CWB certified welding, and we can prime or galvanize to suit. Engineering services are available where the stair needs design. We fabricate and deliver across the GTA and Ontario; installation is by your installer or contractor.
Request a steel stair quote, or see our services for miscellaneous steel fabrication.
Frequently asked questions
When does a stair need a landing in Ontario?
Under the 2024 Ontario Building Code, a landing is needed at the top and bottom of each flight and where a doorway opens onto a stair, with a few exceptions. No single flight may rise more than 3.7 m, so a taller stair needs an intermediate landing.
How big does a stair landing have to be?
A landing must be at least as wide and as long as the width of the stair. Where the landing doesn't turn, or turns less than 90°, its length need not be more than the lesser of the required stair width or 1,100 mm. Where a door swings toward the stair, the full swing must be over the landing.
Can a steel stair land on a concrete landing?
Yes. Exterior steel stairs commonly bear on a concrete pad or landing at the bottom, set on a proper foundation, and interior steel stairs often have concrete-filled steel pan landings. The connection is usually a base plate anchored to the concrete.
How is a steel stair landing supported?
By steel posts down to the floor or footings, by hangers from the structure above, by ledgers anchored to walls, or by a combination. The landing frame and its supports are designed with the stair and shown on the shop drawings.
