Redirect an external fire escape staircase

[Guest Andy]

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a house which has a metal, external fire escape staircase down from an attic floor.

Currently this is a single, straight run of steps which terminates pretty close to another wall/door for the garage. (The space is perfectly sufficient for people to get away in real terms but I would be surprised if it would be acceptable for a commercial premises, for example). My irritation is that it prevents effective use of the garage door as you have to sort of slink past the staircase.

So, my question is - is there likely to be anything wrong with having a half way landing installed, enabling the staircase to reverse direction and exit in to free space while simultaneously making the garage door useful by creating a passageway underneath the mid height landing?

My second question would be - what trade would I need to get involved to do this? Is it a building job, a metalwork job or something else?

many thanks, and apologies for a lack of illustrative photos - I don’t actually own the property yet so I can’t take any.

 

[Tom Sutton]

It doesn't necessarily have to be a straight run you need to surf the web and contact a steel fire escape manufacturer who I am sure will be able to advise you.

[Guest Andy]

Thanks, Tom.