TL;DR
A handrail is the graspable rail running alongside stairs or ramps that gives users continuous support, required by the IRC on stair flights with four or more risers and set 34 to 38 inches above the tread nosings. Code limits the grip to profiles a hand can wrap, such as a round 1-1/4 to 2 inches in diameter, and requires returns into the wall or a newel so clothing and bags cannot snag.
What it means
A handrail is the graspable rail running alongside stairs or ramps that gives users continuous support, required by the IRC on stair flights with four or more risers and set 34 to 38 inches above the tread nosings. Code limits the grip to profiles a hand can wrap, such as a round 1-1/4 to 2 inches in diameter, and requires returns into the wall or a newel so clothing and bags cannot snag. It is distinct from a guardrail, which protects open edges; on open stairs one rail often must do both jobs.
Where it sits in the glossary
Handrail is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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