Broken Stairs and Handrail Failures

A staircase is one of the few places where a single missed step can send you falling six, eight, or ten feet onto hard edges. When a stair collapses, a tread is loose, or you reach for a handrail that gives way, the injuries are often severe — and in Michigan, a broken stairway usually means someone failed to maintain it.

We're Big League Injury Lawyers, and stairway cases are among the more provable premises claims we handle, because stairs are heavily governed by building codes. When a step or railing doesn't meet code — or has obviously deteriorated — that's concrete evidence of a dangerous condition. Here's how these cases work in Michigan.

Why Stairway Falls Are So Serious

Unlike a flat-surface slip, a stairway fall adds height and momentum. Victims frequently suffer:

• Traumatic brain injuries and concussions from striking the edges or landing
• Spinal cord and back injuries
• Broken hips, wrists, ankles, and ribs
• Torn ligaments and rotator-cuff injuries from grabbing for a rail
• Facial injuries and dental damage

For older adults, a stairway fall can be life-altering — a broken hip can lead to a permanent loss of independence.

Common Causes of Stairway Failures

• Loose, cracked, or rotted treads that give way underfoot
• Missing or wobbly handrails, or rails at the wrong height
• Uneven riser heights that break a walker's rhythm and cause a trip
• Worn or missing anti-slip nosing on the step edges
• Inadequate lighting in stairwells
• Accumulated snow, ice, or water on exterior stairs
• Clutter or debris left on the steps

Building Codes Are Your Best Evidence

This is what sets stairway cases apart. Stairs are precisely regulated — Michigan's adopted building codes set standards for riser height, tread depth, handrail height and graspability, guardrails, and stairway lighting. When a staircase violates those standards, that violation is powerful proof that the property owner allowed a dangerous condition to exist.

Typical code issues our investigations uncover include:

• Risers that are too tall or inconsistent from step to step
• Handrails missing entirely, or below the required height
• Rails that aren't continuous or graspable
• Missing guardrails on open sides and landings
• Stairwells without required lighting

Documenting these violations often requires photographs, measurements, and sometimes a safety or engineering expert — another reason to involve a lawyer while the staircase is still in its original condition.

Proving the Owner Is Liable

A stairway fall is a premises liability claim. As a lawful visitor — a tenant, customer, or guest — you're owed reasonable care. To recover, you generally must show the property owner or manager knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and failed to fix it or warn about it. A code violation, a rotted tread, or a long-loose railing all help establish that the danger existed long enough that a reasonable owner should have caught and corrected it.

The Open-and-Obvious Defense — and Why It's Weaker Now

Property owners often argue a hazard was open and obvious — that you could see the broken step and should have avoided it. Michigan law on this defense has changed meaningfully. The obviousness of a hazard is now generally treated as part of the comparative-fault analysis rather than an automatic, complete bar to your claim. So even a visible defect no longer necessarily ends a case the way it once did, though it may reduce recovery. With stairs, there's also the reality that a defect like an under-height rail or an inconsistent riser often isn't obvious until you're already falling.

Comparative Fault and Deadlines

Michigan's modified comparative negligence applies: if you were partly at fault — rushing, carrying a load that blocked your view, wearing unsafe footwear — your recovery is reduced by your share, and being more than 50% at fault can bar non-economic damages. And the general three-year statute of limitations for injury claims runs from the date of the fall. Acting promptly also protects the physical evidence, since owners tend to repair a broken staircase quickly once someone gets hurt.

What to Do After a Stairway Fall

1. Get medical care immediately — head, neck, and spine injuries can worsen if untreated.
2. Photograph the staircase before it's repaired — the broken tread, the loose or missing rail, the lighting, and a wide shot showing the whole flight.
3. Measure or capture scale if you safely can — place a ruler or a common object in the photo.
4. Report the fall to the owner, landlord, or manager in writing and keep a copy.
5. Find witnesses and gather any prior complaints about the stairs.
6. Preserve your footwear and the clothing you were wearing.
7. Don't accept a quick settlement or give a recorded statement before consulting a lawyer.

Damages in Stairway Cases

• Past and future medical expenses, including surgery and rehabilitation
• Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
• Pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life
• In-home care and long-term assistance for serious injuries

The Bottom Line

Stairs are supposed to be the safe, predictable part of a building — and codes exist precisely so they stay that way. When an owner lets a step rot, a rail loosen, or a stairwell go dark, a fall isn't bad luck; it's a failure to maintain a known danger. Because building-code violations make these cases so provable, and because owners repair the evidence fast, moving quickly matters. We handle stairway falls on contingency — no fee unless we win — so let us document that staircase before it's fixed and gone.

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