Inter-tenancy Staircases – Is Permission Required?

Inter-tenancy staircases are internal staircases connecting multiple storeys of a building leased to a single tenant, such as within multi-storey office or retail spaces. Such staircases allow people to move more easily between floors, rather than having to use the building’s common staircases or lifts.

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URA’s planning permission is not required for the installation of inter-tenancy staircases where the entire floor plate is already included as gross floor area (GFA). The replacement of floor slabs with staircases does not involve additional GFA because the inserted staircases are already included in the GFA of the upper floor slabs. Planning permission is similarly not required for the removal of inter-tenancy staircases and reinstatement of floor slabs.

We would like to remind QPs to obtain the necessary clearances from the relevant technical agencies (e.g. BCA) and consent from the building owners before installing the inter-tenancy staircases.

Note: All Best Practice articles are only for general information. We strongly advise readers to read the relevant circulars we issue to professional institutes for full and accurate information on development control matters as these will continue to take precedence.