The Staircase in your building project will need to conform to Building Regulations. From a technical standpoint, there's nothing particularly difficult about building stairs for a deck, porch or shed. Anyone with basic carpentry skills can make the necessary cuts and assemble the parts. And yet, stair building is arguably the most challenging task do-it-yourselfers will ever attempt. Stairs must satisfy strict building codes meant to ensure safety and climbing comfort. We’re so used to uniform, professionally built staircases that the slightest discrepancy between steps creates a tripping hazard. Tall steps make climbing hard. Shallow steps are uncomfortable and dangerous. Since there’s so little room for error, building stairs requires careful layout and some potentially tricky calculations. Start by consulting your building codes office for local guidelines. Then, follow the procedure laid out on these pages—taking plenty of time to plan correctly. We used steps leading to a backyard deck as an example.