Representing Stairs in a Floor Plan: History, Standards and Conventions

Over the course of history stairs have been represented in very different manners. The representation codes for stairs may not be the same, depending on the country we are in, the school we pertain to or the personal criterion of the designer or draftsman. Non-compulsory international representation standards establish criteria not generically complied with by architects in their graphic work. This accordingly hampers the task of instructors who in their teaching must show didactic examples with clear representation codes in 2D, without overlooking the new context of representation using BIM modelling software with broader and more complex options. This article analyzes chosen examples of stairs in plan over the course of history and attempts to clarify the existence or not of universal codification for drawing stairs in floor plans.