The rules on stairs, glass and handrails have not had a proper look in over 20 years
What happened
On 19 October 2026, the Building Safety Regulator opened a call for evidence on Part K of the building regulations. It runs for ten weeks. Part K is the part of the rules that deals with protection from falling, collision and impact in and around buildings. In practice that means stairs, ladders, ramps, handrails, guarding, windows, doors, gates, glazing and vehicle barriers. Its statutory guidance is a document called Approved Document K. The reason for the review is straightforward. More than twenty years have passed since Part K and Approved Document K were last substantially reviewed. The regulator is being clear about what this is and is not. It states that the call for evidence "is not proposing policy changes". Current requirements and guidance stay in place while the review happens. What it wants is evidence on whether the existing rules work, and where they need clarifying, strengthening, or more research. The areas flagged as of particular interest are stairs and ladders, ramps and handrails, guarding and falls protection, windows, doors and gates, glazing, and vehicle barriers. It is also asking about consistency between the different Approved Documents, and about fall protection across different types of building. Alongside the call for evidence, the regulator, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Health and Safety Executive have published three reports on stair safety, including HSE research report RR1228 on the safety of stairs for limited access in dwellings. Responses are invited from designers, builders, building managers, owners, occupants, visitors, researchers and members of the public, through an online survey.
Why this matters
Falls are not a minor category of accident. They are the leading cause of accidental injury at home in the UK, and stairs are where a great many of them happen. For older people in particular, a fall on the stairs is often the event that changes everything that follows: a hip fracture, a hospital stay, a loss of confidence, sometimes a move out of the house. Part K is the quiet reason stairs in newer homes are a reasonably predictable shape. It is why the steps are a consistent height, why there is a handrail, why the glass in a door at knee level is the kind that does not break into blades, and why a balcony has guarding at a height a child cannot easily climb. Twenty years is a long gap. In that time, the housing stock has changed. Loft conversions and narrow infill plots have become far more common, which pushes designers towards steeper and tighter stairs. More people are living in flats, and more are living in homes they expect to grow old in. Open-plan layouts have changed where glass sits. None of that was the normal case in the early 2000s. It is also worth saying what this is not. This is not a Grenfell-style fire safety question, and it is not about structural collapse. It is about the ordinary geometry of a building and whether the rules still match how people actually use it.
What the evidence actually says
The important thing to understand here is the stage of the process, because this is the point at which stories get ahead of themselves. A call for evidence is the earliest step. The regulator is gathering information. It has said explicitly that it is not proposing policy changes. Nothing about any building, new or existing, changes as a result of this announcement. The path from here is long. The regulator will analyse responses alongside other evidence and use them to set priorities. Any future proposal to change the regulations or the guidance would go through a further, separate consultation. Some issues may be handled as longer-term work rather than as rule changes at all. So claims that stair rules are "about to change" are premature. It is equally wrong to assume nothing will come of it: the three stair safety reports published alongside the call for evidence suggest the regulator has already been looking closely at domestic stairs, and commissioning research is not usually a sign of indifference. One genuine uncertainty: the regulator says ten weeks but the published page does not give a closing date. Ten weeks from 19 October would fall around late December 2026. Anyone intending to respond should check the consultation site for the actual deadline rather than rely on that arithmetic. And a point of scope. Building regulations apply to building work: new homes, extensions, conversions, material alterations. They do not retrospectively require changes to an existing staircase you are not touching.
Qurexa perspective
We support a lot of older people with their medicines, and falls come up constantly in that work, so this is a story we have a genuine stake in. The bit that gets missed in conversations about stairs is medication. Several very common medicines raise the risk of a fall: blood pressure tablets that can cause dizziness when you stand up, sleeping tablets and some antihistamines that leave people drowsy, strong painkillers, and water tablets that mean a trip to the bathroom in the night. Being on four or more medicines at once is itself associated with a higher falls risk. That is not a reason to stop anything. Stopping some of these suddenly is dangerous. It is a reason to ask. If you or someone you care for has had a fall, a near-miss, or a dizzy spell on standing, that is worth raising with a pharmacist or GP, and asking directly whether any of the medicines could be contributing. A structured medication review is a normal NHS thing to ask for, not a favour. The building regulations deal with the shape of the staircase. The medicines cabinet is the other half of the same problem, and it is the half a household can change this month.
Practical advice
If you want to influence the rules, respond. The regulator has asked for evidence from occupants and members of the public, not only from professionals, and calls for evidence of this kind usually attract far more responses from industry than from the people who live in the buildings. The online survey is at consultations.buildingsafety.gov.uk. If you have lived with a staircase that was genuinely dangerous, or had a fall on one, that is exactly the evidence being asked for. If you are planning building work, this is a reminder rather than a warning. Part K applies now, unchanged. Check that your designer or builder has addressed stair geometry, handrails, guarding heights and safety glazing, and that it is in the drawings rather than assumed. For an existing home, the things that reduce falls are unglamorous and effective: a second handrail on the stairs, a light switch at both top and bottom, no loose runner or rug at the head of the stairs, nothing stored on the steps, and glasses prescription kept up to date. If an older relative has had one fall, treat it as information, not bad luck. One fall is the strongest predictor of another. Ask the GP about a falls assessment, and ask the pharmacist about the medicines at the same time.
What to know
On 19 October 2026 the Building Safety Regulator launched a ten-week call for evidence on Part K of the building regulations and Approved Document K, which cover protection from falling, collision and impact: stairs, ladders, ramps, handrails, guarding, windows, doors, gates, glazing and vehicle barriers. It is the first substantial review in more than twenty years. The regulator states it is not proposing policy changes, and existing requirements remain in force; any future change would need a separate consultation. Three stair safety reports were published alongside it, including HSE research report RR1228. Responses are invited from the public as well as professionals, via consultations.buildingsafety.gov.uk, and the exact closing date should be checked there. In the meantime, the measures that reduce falls at home are practical ones, including a review of medicines that can cause dizziness or drowsiness. Sources: Building Safety Regulator / GOV.UK, "Have your say on the future of Part K of the building regulations", 19 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/have-your-say-on-the-future-of-part-k-of-the-building-regulations ; Health and Safety Executive, research report RR1228, "Safety of stairs for limited access in dwellings", https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr1228.pdf ; GOV.UK, "Approved Document K: Protection from falling, collision and impact", https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protection-from-falling-collision-and-impact-approved-document-k This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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