What are the code requirements for pool entry steps in a residential pool in Arizona?
Verified against the primary source on .
Tread run not less than 10 inches with not less than 240 square inches of unobstructed walking surface, and risers not more than 12 inches including the top and bottom riser, which need not match each other. Steps stop once the water reaches 48 inches. No handrail is required on a residential shallow-end entry.
These are the residential figures from ISPSC Chapter 8, which is the chapter that governs a private pool. Most of the numbers people quote at homeowners come from Chapter 4 or Chapter 6, which govern public pools and aquatic recreation facilities, and the residential numbers are different. Verified 2026-09-10.
Entry steps, treads, risers and recessed treads, residential:
- Entry step tread: unobstructed horizontal depth (the run) is not less than 10 in, measured at centerline of walking surface (T-01, ISPSC 809.5.1).
- Entry step tread: unobstructed walking surface area is not less than 240 sq in, measured at walking surface (T-02, ISPSC 809.5.1).
- All tread surfaces: slip resistant surface, required, measured at finished surface (T-03, ISPSC 322.3, 322.4).
- Intermediate risers: riser height is not more than 12 in, measured at centerline of walking surface (R-01, ISPSC 809.5.2).
- Top riser: coping or deck down to the first tread is not more than 12 in, measured at centerline, for the width of the walking surface (R-02, ISPSC 809.5.2).
- Bottom riser: last tread down to the pool floor is not more than 12 in, measured at centerline (R-03, ISPSC 809.5.2).
- Step run-out: water depth past which no more steps are required is not more than 48 in of water, measured at design water depth at the tread (R-04, ISPSC 809.5.3).
- Recessed tread: minimum depth is not less than 5 in, measured at pocket (RT-01, ISPSC 809.4).
- Recessed tread: minimum width is not less than 12 in, measured at pocket (RT-02, ISPSC 809.4).
- Recessed tread: coping, deck or step surface to the uppermost tread is not more than 12 in, measured at vertical (RT-03, ISPSC 809.4).
- Ladder handrails: clear distance between handrails is not less than 17 in and not more than 24 in, measured at inside faces (L-01, ISPSC Ch. 8).
- Residential shallow-end entry stairs: not required (H-01, ISPSC Ch. 8).
The three that get argued about most:
RISER HEIGHT. Residential intermediate risers may reach 12 inches. The 7-1/2 inch figure people cite is ISPSC 306.3, which is the DECK stair at a public pool, not the in-pool step. The 9 inch figure is 610.5.1, which is an aquatic recreation facility. Neither governs here.
TOP AND BOTTOM RISER. ISPSC Chapter 8 allows the top and bottom riser to be any dimension up to 12 inches, and they need not match. The plus or minus 2 inch bottom-riser tolerance that circulates in Arizona comes from Louisiana and North Carolina public-pool codes. Do not cite it here.
HANDRAIL. ISPSC Chapter 8 does not require a handrail on a residential shallow-end entry stair. The requirement people quote is A.A.C. R18-5-214(A), which is the public and semipublic pool rule. A handrail is still worth having and Omni provides one on request; it is not a code requirement and should not be sold as one.
WHAT OMNI BUILDS TO, where it differs from the minimum. A 12 inch tread run rather than the 10 inch minimum, because a 10 inch run is genuinely uncomfortable underfoot and is the most common source of a step that feels wrong after the pool is full. 300 or more square inches of walking surface rather than 240. Intermediate risers at 9 to 10 inches rather than the 12 inch maximum, with the bottom riser used to balance the flight so no single step is an outlier. These are Omni standards, not code, and they are published here so a homeowner can compare any builder’s step detail against both numbers.
Correction. Public-pool and aquatic-facility step figures quoted as residential requirements: the 7-1/2 inch riser, the 9 inch riser, the 11 inch tread, the 24 inch tread width and the mandatory handrail.
Authority: ISPSC 809.5.1, 809.5.2, 809.5.3, 809.4, 322.3, 322.4, Ch. 8. Verified 2026-09-10. Evidence grade: MEASURED. Read directly from an authoritative geographic or recorded source.