This is an every day occurrence and problem in communities and building departments across the country.
TECHNICAL RESPONSE:
- The model codes do not describe features that define a bedroom. The term "sleeping room" is used, as a way to imply the name doesn't matter, but rather what is a probable use of the room. i.e. "sleeping"
- It sounds like your jurisdiction addressed this problem locally with an amendment. You are aware of this per your comment: "I have read the 2015 revision that states that a closet in a room makes that room a bedroom."
- The jurisdiction has the authority of interpretation and because this is an amendment, I'm guessing they are pretty confident about it.
- They do not have the authority to require you to remove the closet. You have other options. You could put in the emergency escape and rescue opening window and the required alarms.
STRAIGHT UP TRUTH RESPONSE:
- This code question drives to the heart of liberties and freedoms this country was built on. It is political. It is emotional. It is as big as gun control and abortion. How much freedom are you willing to give up for the sake of social safety?
Camp One:
- Your house will outlast your occupancy of it in any statistics worth considering. Few will argue this.
- Average citizens have no idea of the required designs, features and devices that are serving and saving them everyday. They only know when something goes wrong. They will sleep where ever they are comfortable, whenever they are tired, and according to their own standards and preference. Few are thinking of waking up to smoke, flames and mere moments to make life or death decisions.
- In those moments, in panic, people do what is natural...muscle and response memory.
- Therefore, we must save lives by recognizing the commonplace decisions of how families will use houses and what their common habits are.
- The twin boys argue and fight every night and one can't get any sleep because the other snores. OR Gee...there might be a fire tonight. Which of the two do you think is the priority concern in the chaos of everyday life of everyday families?
- Remove all the labels from your house plans. Hand them to a stranger with a moderate family of say 2 or 3 kids. Ask them to label the rooms. This is when people find their office, playroom, sewing room, exercise room and craft rooms...labeled as bedrooms.
- This is why the building department takes the freedom of your temporary occupancy of the home away from you and decides what to label your rooms.
- You might loose everything next year and move. Or you might champion everything next year and move and rent this house to another occupant.
- The government can't let you kill those people. Children have been burned alive in rooms like your office while the firefighters outside hear the screams. This is real. Some people are okay with that for their freedom, some are not.
- The future buyers will never see the labels written on the house plans.
Camp Two:
- This house is my property and my castle.
- I will legally label the rooms as to their intended uses. I will do what I have to for those uses to be safe according to society's rules.
- When I move, it is the next owner's responsibility to research and study the legal use and intended design of the building. That is the same thing required of commercial business owners. We don't require fire sprinklers in every building just because of what it "could" be used for in the future. Buyer beware.
- If I sell someone a car and they try to use it as a boat, it's not on my conscience if they drown.
There is still so much more to this issue.
The standard regarding the temperature for proper concrete curing is ACI-318. From the American Concrete Institute. They've been writing that standard since long before I was born. It's a whole other big discussion about how this is interpreted as a reference from the IRC and to what extent. I've already vomited enough words for now. You would be wise to protect your concrete during curing.
I hope this was helpful.
