NEC interior vs exterior?

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68Malibu383

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Raleigh, NC
Question is in regards to the requirement for stairway illumination switches. I understand from code, "(c) Where one or more lighting outlet(s) are installed for interior stairways, there shall be a wall switch at each floor level, and landing level that includes an entryway, to control the lighting outlet(s) where the stairway between floor levels has six risers or more."

I presume a garage is still considered "interior". Is that correct? Reason I ask is because I regularly see houses, including new construction, that have six or more risers in the garage without a switch at the bottom of the stairs (house built in 2007 today had 10 risers). So, just questioning what I thought I already knew.
 
It may not be explicitly considered in the code, but those open flights of steps normally do not have a door at the garage end. So any lighting you would need to have on to be in the main space of the garage will safely illuminate the steps.
It would still require that there be a 3-way switch somewhere in the garage, usually at an outside personnel door, that works with the switch at the top of the stairs.
 
Thanks. In both most recent cases, there were no additional switches in the garage. The garage light switch was inside of the home. So, if one came into the garage in the dark from outdoors, there would be no way to illuminate the garage until one made it up the steps and into the home.
 
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