Checking stairs, railings and accessibility under OIB guideline 4
Whether a tread is deep enough or a railing high enough is quicker to see in a drawing than in a sentence. Piloti delivers both: the verdict with its citation and the dimension sketch next to it.
In short
Piloti checks stairs, railings, doors and ramps against OIB guideline 4 “Nutzungssicherheit und Barrierefreiheit” in the edition your state has declared binding: it sets your dimension against the cited requirement, draws it as a sketch and records every dimension missing from the drawing as an open point.
What Piloti delivers
- The verdict in a sentence
- Met, not met or open, with the clause. The sketch comes in addition, never instead.
- The sketch with the dimension
- Your dimension next to the limit, drawn, so a colleague does not have to redraw it in her head.
- A check table for several places
- All stairs or doors of a storey, one row per place, with source and result.
- Whether a lift is needed
- As a sentence with a citation; if a lift is planned, the car dimensions as a sketch too.
Why the dimensions are treacherous
Which dimension a provision means is in its wording. The structural opening and the finished clear passage width are different numbers, and so are storey height and fall height. Check one under the name of the other and you check the wrong thing very carefully.
For a railing, the fall height decides which limit applies; for a stair, the use and the position. With accessibility there is also the fact that the guideline often names a goal: reachable, usable. A dimension is then a common way to get there, not the requirement itself.
And as everywhere, the edition the state has declared binds. For which buildings and parts accessibility is required at all follows from the guideline and state law together, and that differs from state to state.
How Piloti works through the question
- 01
Fetch the provision
Piloti takes the clause from the edition of guideline 4 binding in the state and from state law, and cites the clause, not just the number from it.
- 02
Record where each dimension comes from
A dimension from your question counts as given, one calculated from given values as calculated, and the answer says which is which.
- 03
Draw
Rise, going and flight width go into a stair sketch; fall height, railing height and opening width into a railing sketch; clear width, ramp, turning circle, manoeuvring space or lift car into a dimension sketch.
- 04
Leave missing dimensions open
If a dimension is missing, the check stands as “input missing”, with what the drawing lacks. An estimated dimension goes into no sketch, because the sketch is exactly what gets passed on without the text.
What Piloti needs from you
- The state, the use and the type of building, such as housing, office or open to the public.
- The dimensions in question, from your question or from dimensioned plans and sections in the project.
- Whether they are structural or finished dimensions.
- Whether it is new build or existing.
Good to know
Piloti works with dimensioned values; if a dimension is missing, it asks for it rather than estimating. Responsibility for the dimensions stays with the design team. Where the guideline refers to an ÖNORM, Piloti names the standard, and where the requirement is a goal rather than a dimension, it says so.
Questions
Where are the requirements for stairs and railings in Austria?
In OIB guideline 4 “Nutzungssicherheit und Barrierefreiheit”, in the edition your state has declared binding, supplemented by state law. The values depend on use and position, for railings on the fall height. Piloti cites the clause and draws your dimension against it.
Does my building have to be accessible?
That depends on use, size and state. Which buildings and parts must be designed to be accessible follows from the state’s building code or building-technology rules together with OIB guideline 4. Piloti names your state’s provision with a citation.
Can Piloti read dimensions from a drawing?
It looks at drawings as images, reads dimensioned values where the drawing shows them, and says which drawing on the sheet it read. It does not estimate undimensioned lengths. If a dimension is missing, Piloti asks for it.
What is the difference between the structural opening and the clear passage width?
The structural opening is the opening in the carcass; the passage width is what remains clear once frame and door leaf are fitted. Which of the two a provision means is in its wording. Piloti does not deliver one under the name of the other.