Decks · Humboldt and Trinity County
Stairs and railings in Humboldt and Trinity County
Humboldt Bay Construction Co. builds deck stairs and railings across Humboldt and Trinity County. Below: what the 2025 California Residential Code asks of guards, with every exception, and where its stair rules are. California license #1137566.
Decks
Stairs
The rules for stair risers and treads, and their exceptions, are in section R318.7 of the 2025 California Residential Code.
Source: 2025 California Residential Code, Chapter 3 (UpCodes)
Guards
Guards are required on open-sided floors, stairs, ramps and landings that are more than 30 inches above the floor or grade below at any point within 36 inches of the open edge (R321.1.1).
Insect screening does not count as a guard.
Required guards have to be at least 42 inches high (R321.1.2).
On the open sides of stairs, guards have to be at least 34 inches high, measured from a line along the nosings.
Where the top of a guard on the open side of stairs also serves as the handrail, it has to be at least 34 and no more than 38 inches high, measured from a line along the nosings.
Required guards cannot have openings that a 4-inch sphere can pass through.
Guards on the open side of stairs cannot have openings that a 4-3/8-inch sphere can pass through.
The triangle at the open side of a stair, formed by the riser, the tread and the guard's bottom rail, cannot let a 6-inch sphere pass through.
Source: 2025 California Residential Code, Chapter 3 (UpCodes)
Which code applies
The 2025 California Residential Code took effect on January 1, 2026.
Last checked against the sources:
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