Moving or Adding a Staircase
Structure, Approval, Layout & Cost (2026)

Why people move or add a staircase

In many older terrace houses the staircase sits in the middle of the ground floor, cutting the living area in two, or rises straight from the front door. Owners renovating for an open-plan living and dining space often find the stair is the one thing in the way. Other common reasons:

• A rear or upper-floor extension that needs its own access, or would be easier to reach from a new stair.
• Converting the roof space into a room that needs a proper stair rather than a loft ladder.
• A stair that is too steep or narrow for elderly parents, or has no safe landing.
• Splitting a house so part of it can be let, with separate access to the upper floor.
• A shoplot or semi-commercial unit where the stair position blocks the frontage.

Before committing, check whether a smaller change would do. A stair that is only unsafe may be fixed in place; our staircase handrail and stair lift guide covers handrails and stair lifts for older users.

What the job actually involves

A staircase is part of the structure. It is tied into the floor slab and beams, and the opening it rises through is framed by beams designed around it. Moving it means:

1. An engineer designing the new opening, any new beams or trimmers around it, and the new stair.
2. Submitting the plans for approval before any hacking.
3. Propping the slab, then cutting the new opening and installing the new beams.
4. Building the new stair in reinforced concrete, steel or timber, with its landing and balustrade.
5. Closing the old opening with a new slab section tied into the existing structure.
6. Making good: floor finishes on both levels, ceilings, walls, electrical points and lighting.

Adding a stair without removing the old one skips the infill step, but the new opening still needs the same design, approval and structural work.

Engineer and council approval

Cutting a floor slab and building a new stair changes the structure, so plans are needed. ClickBina's staircase renovation guide notes that a structural engineer is needed for full staircase replacement, especially floating or cantilevered designs, and lists the Uniform Building By-Laws 1984, by-laws 133 to 140 on staircases, balustrades, handrails and escape, and the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 on alteration approval among its references.

In practice that means a professional engineer's calculations and drawings, submitted to the local council by a qualified person, and approval before work starts. In a strata property, the management body's consent is also needed. Unapproved structural work can cause trouble when you sell, insure or claim.

Design rules the new stair must meet

The by-laws set dimensions for risers, treads, width, headroom, landings and balustrades. The engineer or architect will size the stair to comply; the owner's job is to leave enough room on the plan. One figure worth knowing: ClickBina's staircase guide notes that the by-laws require a minimum balustrade height of 1.0 m for residential staircases with a rise above 600 mm, and that many older terrace houses have lower balustrades.

Planning the new layout

Start with the ground-floor layout you want, then find where a stair can go without spoiling it: often along a party wall, at the back of the living area, or beside the kitchen. Check what it lands on upstairs. A new stair that arrives in the middle of a bedroom forces a corridor, and the floor area gained downstairs is lost upstairs. Draw both floors together before deciding.

The space under a new stair can be used for storage, a small study or a powder room, if the headroom and ventilation work. Plan it from the start, not as an afterthought. If the stair is part of a wider renovation, our terrace house renovation guide shows how structural changes fit into the overall budget, and our attic conversion guide covers stairs for roof-space rooms.

Concrete, steel or timber

• Reinforced concrete: the usual choice in Malaysian houses; solid, quiet and fire-resistant, but slow because it needs formwork and curing, and heavy.
• Steel: faster to install, can be fabricated off site, suits open-riser and floating designs; needs good corrosion protection and an engineer's design.
• Timber: warm and light, usually on a steel or concrete structure in Malaysia's humid climate; treads need care against moisture and termites.

Finishes come after the structure. The same tread, riser and balustrade choices apply as for any stair; the staircase guide compares them.

Knock-on works people forget

• Floor tiles on both levels where the old opening is closed and around the new one; matching old tiles is often impossible.
• Ceiling repairs below the new opening and the old one.
• Moving light switches, two-way switching for the new stair, and lighting on the flight.
• Aircon piping, water pipes or drains running through the area.
• Doors that now open onto the stair, and furniture that no longer fits.
• Temporary protection and dust control, because slab cutting is noisy and dirty.

What it costs

These figures are quoted from ClickBina's staircase renovation guide (indicative 2026, Klang Valley) and cover the stair itself. Engineering design, submission, slab cutting, new beams, infilling the old opening and making good are priced per house after the design is done.

Ask for the structural works, the stair, and the making good to be priced as separate lines, so you can see where the money goes and compare quotes.

Timing and living in the house

While one stair is removed and the other is not yet usable, the upper floor may be cut off. Plan the sequence so the old stair stays in use until the new one is safe to climb, or arrange to stay elsewhere for that stage. Concrete stairs need curing time before loading; ask for the programme in writing.

How ClickBina can help

Moving or adding a staircase brings together an engineer, the approval, structural work and several finishing trades. ClickBina is an experienced KL & Selangor contractor for whole-house refurbishment and trade coordination. WhatsApp us your job details for a quote: the house type, the floor plan and where you want the stair. We reply within the hour, the price we agree is a flat price with no hidden charges, and a site visit is RM150, waived if you go ahead.

Sources & methodology

• ClickBina staircase renovation cost guide — full replacement and bespoke stair prices, engineer requirement, balustrade height, by-law references.
• Uniform Building By-Laws 1984, by-laws 133 to 140 — staircases, balustrades, handrails and escape (as cited in the staircase guide).
• Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 — approval of building alterations (as cited in the staircase guide).

How we estimated prices: every RM figure on this page is quoted unchanged from ClickBina's staircase renovation guide; they are indicative Klang Valley ranges for 2026 and cover the stair, not the structural works around it.