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basement storage room

I now have a review comment that goes out for them to put onto the floor plans that state something like " rooms in the basement are not intended nor designed to be bedrooms according to the 2006 IRC". My actual comment is a bit longer but so far i have not had any problems with it.
 
Papio Bldg Dept said:
We modified our definitions section of the IRC to include bedroom/sleeping room definitions (essentially, a room with an enclosed closet which is not open to more than one other room/space). It isn't perfect, but it gives us a fuzzy line, from which to try and apply common sense. IMO, a storage room typically won't have a closet within itself.
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So a kitchen with a pantry requires an EERO. Brilliant!

Do you make them put it over the sink?
 
brudgers said:
So a kitchen with a pantry requires an EERO. Brilliant!

Do you make them put it over the sink?
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2006 IRC Kitchen. Kitchen shall mean an area used, or designated to be used, for the preparation of food.

no, mr. smarty pants, we don't make them put an acronym for emergency escape and rescue opening above the sink, even if there is a closet in that room, because a kitchen is already defined. It works for us, and for the home-owners/builders we work with, even if it doesn't pass the semantics test. We have tried the previously suggested letter route, but have not been satisfied with the results when the new home-owners come in angry, wanting to know why an EERO was not required previously. Do you have any constructive criticism today brudgers?
 
As adopted for our ETJ: Sleeping Room. Any room in the house that is greater than 70 sq. ft., has built-in closet space and typically could be used as a bedroom. This does not include rooms used for cooking, eating, family living or gathering and excludes bathrooms, toilet rooms, halls, storage, utility and workshop space and all unconditioned space.
 
Papio Bldg Dept said:
As adopted for our ETJ: Sleeping Room. Any room in the house that is greater than 70 sq. ft., has built-in closet space and typically could be used as a bedroom. This does not include rooms used for cooking, eating, family living or gathering and excludes bathrooms, toilet rooms, halls, storage, utility and workshop space and all unconditioned space.
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That would work for us, but the code commission would never approve it, they want us to have room to fudge because many many homes have septic and the field is designed on the number of bedrooms... blah blah blah. We have made huge strides in bringing the department into the 21st century but we still need to strip out the flak a bit more.
 
Inspector 102...how could you have a new house with a basement that does not have an eero? Unless the basement is less than 200 sqft and houses only a mechanical room it must have an eero.
 
Papio Bldg Dept said:
2006 IRC Kitchen. Kitchen shall mean an area used, or designated to be used, for the preparation of food. no, mr. smarty pants, we don't make them put an acronym for emergency escape and rescue opening above the sink, even if there is a closet in that room, because a kitchen is already defined. It works for us, and for the home-owners/builders we work with, even if it doesn't pass the semantics test. We have tried the previously suggested letter route, but have not been satisfied with the results when the new home-owners come in angry, wanting to know why an EERO was not required previously. Do you have any constructive criticism today brudgers?
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Coat closet in living room?
 
We hammered this one last year pretty good (on this forum). The issue stemmed from, generally, the labeled use of the rooms. I like the fact you have created a definition to attempt to address the issue. It would be impossible to create a perfect definition, but if you have one that fixes 95%, the rest of the time, reasonable determinations can be made.
 
how about this . if someone wants to remodel the basement , new drywall , new can lights , a bathroom & its just used for laundry & mechanical room , with no intention of using it as a bedroom or habitial space , can you deny the permit ?
 
inspectorgadget said:
how about this . if someone wants to remodel the basement , new drywall , new can lights , a bathroom & its just used for laundry & mechanical room , with no intention of using it as a bedroom or habitial space , can you deny the permit ?
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Short answer is no you can not deny it. You can request they label the use of each room. Storage is a perfectly legit use. We allow bathrooms in garages, so a basement would be similar. We have included a new line on our C of O's for "restrictions". This could include items such as this "basement not approved for habitable space or sleeping", or similar.

One other approach we take is a notice to title (NTT). This gets recorded with the deed and would definately show up during any sort of real estate transaction. I use this for stuff that I feel really pushes the envelope. (a "residential", personal use distillery that is 8000 square feet, for instance.)

Just my $0.02
 
i'd issue them a permit and charge the same fees that would apply for a finished habitable space. they can call it the dogs room for all i care but the fees are based on the work being done and label the rooms on the plans.
 
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