|
|
|
What Defines a Room as a Bedroom?
The Number of Legal Bedrooms in a Home is
Important to Know from both Safety and Market Value Perspectives
By: Mark J. Donovan
|
|
When you look at a real estate
listing on a home for sale it always specifies the number of bedrooms in the
home. Not every spare room however constitutes a bedroom from a legal
perspective. A bedroom is defined by a number of unique features. The number of
bedrooms in a home is important to know for a variety of reasons. First, it
gives you a sense of the size of the home and if can support your family size.
Second, it gives you an idea of how big the septic system is on a home that has
a private septic system.
|
|
Third it tells you which rooms meet
safety code for bedrooms. And finally, it gives you a sense of market value for
the home and the expected property tax on the home.
Whether a home is being newly constructed or a home is being remodeled to
include a new bedroom, there are building codes in place that must be followed
to properly include a bedroom.
What Unique
Feature Define a Bedroom
When selling a home a seller often tries to inflate the number of bedrooms in
the home, as this can increase the value of the home.
|
 |
|
|
Fortunately due to the legal
definition of a bedroom, real estate listing agents are forced to list only the
number of legal bedrooms in a home.
Building code requirements for the definition of a bedroom varies from state to
state, however there are some fundamental features in a room that help to easily
classify a room as a bedroom or not. The building codes for bedrooms are written
to mainly protect the safety of the home’s occupants. As a result, fire and
egress safety are the main issues in defining a bedroom and code requirements.
|
The International Code Council (ICC)
is often the source for building code requirements followed by federal, state
and local municipalities for residential buildings. The ICC includes building
code recommendations for rooms being habitable as sleeping units.
Bedroom Egress
Specific features that the ICC requires for a bedroom include a door, and a
window of a specific size to allow two forms of egress from the room. If a
window of specific dimensions is not feasible then a second door is required.
|
The specific overall window dimension must have a minimum opening area of 5.7
square feet, a minimum opening width of 20 inches, and an opening height of 24
inches. In addition, the base of the window can be no higher off of the floor of
the room than 44 inches and no lower than 24 inches off of the floor. Finally
the window must have operable opening hardware that does not require keys or
tools to open.
Electrical
Each bedroom must be protected by an arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) to
prevent electrical fires associated with faulty electrical wiring.
|
|
Smoke Detectors
Each bedroom must have a smoke detector in it, as well as one external to it
that is nearby, e.g. a hallway adjacent to the bedroom.
Closet
Most local building codes and ethical real estate brokers require a room to have
a closet for it to be classified as a bedroom. Again, the concern is safety.
Without a formal closet there is a risk that the room could be cluttered such
that it could be difficult to egress the room in the event of an emergency.
Septic Design
If a home is on a private septic system the septic design is based upon the
number of bedrooms in the home. To legally add an additional bedroom to a home
requires the modification of the septic design and septic system. If the septic
system is not legally modified then even if all the other building code
requirements for the bedroom were met the room could not be legally classified
as a bedroom. Consequently a real estate agent will only list the number of
bedrooms in the home based upon what’s stated in the septic design. |
Photo by Mark Donovan |
So when buying a home make sure that the number of bedrooms listed in it are
both legal and safe. By doing so, you’ll protect both your family and your
home’s market value down the road.
Want to Build Your Own Home, see HomeAdditionPlus.com's
Home
Addition Bid Sheets.
Our
Home
Addition Bid Sheets
provide you with the knowledge and information on how to plan a home building
project, and what to look for when hiring contractors. They also include
detailed cost breakdown tables and spreadsheets for estimating your own new home
construction building costs.
How to Finance your Home Building Project -
can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
Related Information on Home Building
Design Software for Developing your own Home
Building Plans from Amazon.com
Free Master Bedroom Addition
Price Quotes with No Obligation!
Fill out our 3-5 minute quick and easy form, and receive a free price quote
on a room addition from one of our prescreened and licensed home addition
contractors. This process is free and there is no obligation to continue once
you receive your master bedroom addition estimate.
|
|
|
