Don’t Get Stuck in the Stair­well: A Guide to IBC and Local ADA Stair­well Sig­nage Requirements

Before any­one ever opens a stair­well door, they need clear, tac­tile con­fir­ma­tion of what lies behind it.

• Where it goes: These signs are locat­ed on the hallway/​corridor side, installed imme­di­ate­ly adja­cent to the latch side of the door lead­ing to the stairway.
• The require­ments: Under the 2010 ADA Stan­dards for Acces­si­ble Design (SAD 216) and 2012 IBC E107.2, these signs must fea­ture raised char­ac­ters and Grade 2 Braille. They must iden­ti­fy the stair­way by name (e.g., ​“Stair­well A”) and explic­it­ly state if it serves as an offi­cial exit pathway.
• Design note: While using a stair­way pic­togram is com­mon prac­tice and your local munic­i­pal guide­lines might pre­fer one, it is not strict­ly required by fed­er­al code.

2. Com­pre­hen­sive Stair­way Iden­ti­fi­ca­tion Signs (Inte­ri­or Side)

Once inside the stair­well, pro­vid­ing key build­ing infor­ma­tion is vital to assist fire­fight­ers, first respon­ders, and occu­pants dur­ing an evac­u­a­tion (IBC 1022.9). Because of the amount of text required, this sign can often feel the most con­fus­ing to design.

• Where it goes: It must be post­ed on every sin­gle floor land­ing inside any inte­ri­or exit stair­way that con­nects more than three stories.
• What it must dis­play: The exact name/​identifier of the stairwell.
  • The top and bot­tom floors served by those stairs.
  • The spe­cif­ic floor lev­el you are cur­rent­ly stand­ing on.
  • The des­ig­nat­ed exit dis­charge floor (usu­al­ly the ground lev­el or lobby).
  • Clear text indi­cat­ing whether or not there is roof access avail­able from that stairwell.
• Size and mate­r­i­al rules: The IBC out­lines strict guide­lines for the lay­out, includ­ing exact text heights. If your facil­i­ty is clas­si­fied as a high-rise build­ing by your region­al juris­dic­tion, these inter­nal signs must be fab­ri­cat­ed from self-lumi­nous or pho­to­lu­mi­nes­cent (glow-in-the-dark) mate­ri­als (IBC 1024.4).

When a per­son is mov­ing down a stair­well dur­ing an emer­gency or rou­tine tran­si­tion, they must know exact­ly when they’ve reached their des­ti­na­tion floor.

• Where it goes: Locat­ed inside the stair­well enclo­sure, direct­ly adja­cent to the door that leads back out into the corridor.
• The require­ments: Accord­ing to IBC 1022.9, this sign must promi­nent­ly state the floor lev­el. If that spe­cif­ic door serves as the final path to exit the build­ing entire­ly, the sign must clear­ly label it as an exit. All text and floor num­bers on this sign must fea­ture raised tac­tile char­ac­ters accom­pa­nied by Braille.

Depend­ing on your state or city’s struc­tur­al acces­si­bil­i­ty reg­u­la­tions, if your emer­gency stair­well con­tains a des­ig­nat­ed Area of Refuge, you will need two addi­tion­al code-com­pli­ant signs (IBC 1007.9):

1. Iden­ti­fi­ca­tion sign: Installed right below your main cor­ri­dor stair sign, fea­tur­ing raised text, Braille, and the Inter­na­tion­al Sym­bol of Acces­si­bil­i­ty (ISA).
2. Instruc­tion­al sign: Placed inside the Area of Refuge, detail­ing the emer­gency pro­to­col. If a two-way emer­gency com­mu­ni­ca­tion sys­tem is present, clear instruc­tions on how to call for help must be included.

In recent years, many cities and local code author­i­ties have rewrit­ten region­al ordi­nances to expand on basic IBC guide­lines. To avoid project delays, failed occu­pan­cy inspec­tions, or the extra expense of remak­ing signs, always check with your local munic­i­pal code inspec­tor or a cer­ti­fied local sig­nage part­ner ear­ly in the design process. 

We do that for you as part of our Design-Build approach to signage!

Con­tact our com­pli­ance experts today to ensure your facil­i­ty’s inte­ri­or direc­tion­al sig­nage will be com­plete­ly legal, safe, and up to code for your local market.

More read­ing on ADA compliance:

• Evolv­ing Sign Codes

• ADA Through 5 Fre­quent­ly Asked Questions

• Inter­na­tion­al Code Coun­cil Website