Our split-level has a short flight of five steps (about 850 mm total rise). The certifier wants a handrail on the main stairs but not there. Is that right?

The certifier is right on both counts. A stairway with a change in elevation of less than 1 m is exempt from the handrail requirement, so a five-step flight rising about 850 mm needs no handrail. Landings, and winders where a newel post provides the handhold, are exempt on the same basis. [1]

One caution before signing off on it: at 850 mm the flight has only 150 mm of margin. The exemption turns on the measured rise being under 1 m, so confirm the as-built vertical rise between the two floor levels. If it reaches 1 m, a handrail becomes mandatory.

The main stairs must have a handrail that: [1]

• runs along at least one side of the flight;
• extends the full length of the flight, though where it forms part of a barrier it may stop where the barrier stops;
• has its top surface not less than 865 mm above the nosings of the stair treads, which is a minimum with no stated maximum for a house;
• is continuous, with nothing that breaks a handhold except newel posts, ball-type stanchions or the like.

The requirement reads the same under NCC 2022, which matters in WA because a permit applicant may elect either edition until 30 April 2027. The one difference is that NCC 2025 adds an exemption for AS 1657 handrails on non-habitable access stairways, which only applies if the project elects NCC 2025. [1] [2]