stair handrail/banister query

toadhall

my husband needs to have a stairlift fitted and we have been told that the banister needs to be moved to the other side (left) as we cant leave it there; this will be of no use to use as the rest of the family are all right handed and the other side of the stairs are vertical posts not a solid wall. I dont beleive they are strong enough to support one.

So i need to know is it a legal requirement to have a handrail at all and is there an alternative to a normal three point banister if it is.

hopefully someone may know the answer or point me in the right direction

woodbutcher_2

As far as i can remember,stairs need to have at least one handrail if they are less than 1mt wide and two if they are wider than 1mt.If they have spindles beneath then a sphere of 100mm cannot pass between them.It doesn't matter which side of the stairs they are on because if they are right going up then they are left coming down and vice versa.Whether you are right or left handed is not a consideration.Been a while since i fitted any stairs and the regs could have changed by now.

craigfer

Try posting your question on www.stairlift-forum.co.uk