What are the requirements for a room to be considered a bedroom?

The 4 requirements for a room to be considered a bedroom.

Is it a bedroom or not. Let's talk about what makes a bedroom a bedroom.
Four things a room MUST have to be considered a bedroom:

 1.  Entrance: A bedroom needs a least two methods of egress, so it should be accessible from the house (commonly through a door ), and then have one other exit (window or door)
2.  Ceiling Height: A bedroom ceiling needs to be at least 7 ft. tall. It's okay if some portions of the ceiling are below this level, but at least 50% of the ceiling needs to be a minimum of 7 ft. in height. Most ceilings tend to be at least 8 ft. tall, so ceiling height is not usually an issue. (R305.1)
3.   Escape: A bedroom must have one other method of egress behond the entrance point. A door to the exterior works as an exit point, and so does a window. According to the International Residence Code, a bedroom window can be between 24 and 44 inches from the floor, it needs at least 5.7 square feet for the opening, and it must measure no less than 24 inches high and 20 inches wide. (R310.1)
4.  Size: The room should be at least 70 sq. ft and specifically the room cannot be smaller than 7 feet in any horizontal direction (sorry the 1' x 70' room won't work) (R304.2/R304.4)

 As you can see, size access, light and ventilation all matter when it comes to defining a bedroom. There is one more issue that we should talk about though. The closet and I will get to that on my next post

Comments

  1. SoulrRunnerSeptember 9, 2019 at 5:16 PM

    Four requirements needed for a room to be called a bedroom:

    1. Entrance: A bedroom needs at least two methods of egress, so it should be accessible from the house (commonly through a door), and then have one other exit (window or door)
    2. Ceiling Height: A bedroom ceiling needs to be at lest 7 ft. tall. It's okay if some portions of the ceiling are below this level, but at least 50% of the ceiling needs to be a minimum of 7 ft. in height. Most ceilings tend to be at least 8 ft. tall, so ceiling height is not usually an issue (R305.1)
    3. Escape: A bedroom must have one other method of egress beyond the entrance point. A door to the exterior works as an exit point, and so does a window. According to the International Residential Code, a bedroom window can between 24 and 44 inches from the floor, it needs at least 5.7 square feet for the opening, and it must measure no less than 24 inches high and 20 inches wide (R310.1).
    4. Size: The room should be at least 70 sq. ft and more specifically, the room cannot be smaller than 7 feet in any horizontal direction (sorry the 1" x 70' room won't work)

    As you can see, size access, light and ventilation all matter when it comes to defining a bedroom (IRC). International Residential Code. There is one more thing to talk about though. The closet and that will be on the next blog.

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