Residential Stair Lifts Interior & Exterior

[jar546]

How do you handle the stair lifts when installed either inside or outside? For the most part they just plug in (it can't be an extension cord) but most infringe on the stairway egress width requirement. Under the circumstances we try to be as lenient as possible, however, we know they are sometimes there for decades.

 

[classicT]

I recently had a long and very intense series of discussions with a elderly care center, an R-3 occupancy, that wanted to install an inclined chairlift to serve an upper level unit. The stairway only served two apartments, but is still a common means of egress for multiple tenants. The chairlift proposed would reduce the stairway width to less than 36-inches (see 1011.2 Exception #1), and did not qualify for Exception #3, as the stairway was not within a private dwelling unit (i.e. it served two apartments).

1011.2 Width and Capacity
The required capacity of stairways shall be determined as specified in Section 1005.1, but the minimum width shall be not less than 44 inches (1118 mm). See Section 1009.3 for accessible means of egress stairways.
Exceptions:

1. Stairways serving an occupant load of less than 50 shall have a width of not less than 36 inches (914 mm).
2. Spiral stairways as provided for in Section 1011.10.
3. Where an incline platform lift or stairway chairlift is installed on stairways serving occupancies in Group R-3, or within dwelling units in occupancies in Group R-2, a clear passage width not less than 20 inches (508 mm) shall be provided. Where the seat and platform can be folded when not in use, the distance shall be measured from the folded position.