Is It Illegal to have a Bedroom in the Basement?

  • By: Promise
  • Time to read: 5 min.
Promise
I'm a passionate writer, a blogger and a web designer. I spend most of my time surfing the internet and writing quality articles.

A bedroom is one of the most important places in a house. It is seen as the best room found in a house because most people spend all their time in there without moving into the other parts of the house.

But the question is, is it illegal to have a bedroom in the basement?

No, it is not illegal to have a bedroom in the basement as long as you follow the requirements as stipulated in the building code. The basement bedroom has to be suitable for people to live in, else, it will be an illegal bedroom.

However, you need to carefully go to your local authorities in charge of building and other constructions and get all the necessary information, guidelines, and steps, as well as do all the registrations that would legally allow you to have a bedroom in your basement to avoid it been illegal.

Can You Put a Bedroom in the Basement?

Yes, you can put a bedroom in your basement. However, it is very important to note that there are certain things you must do for it to be suitable for human living.

This is to avoid some challenges that may arise in the future if you fail to do them before, during, and after building.

Remember that every building must be up to code, so you must ensure that the bedroom you want to put in your basement is up to the standard code in your locality or country.

This would help you to avoid some unnecessary things like building collapse, structural damage, fire outbreak, and other emergencies that may arise and result in claiming people’s lives and destruction of properties that are of value.

Is It Illegal to have a Bedroom in the Basement?

Following and adhering to certain principles and guidelines like fire codes, building codes, having emergency exits, using good building materials that have passed the quality test, and employing building engineers that are qualified to handle the construction of a basement makes it legal to have a bedroom in the basement.

On the other hand, if you fail to adhere to some of the listed guides here, it becomes illegal when you have a bedroom in your basement.

This is important because failure to do them may cause some harm to lives and properties and this is something no one wants to see occur.

The money you would spend for damage control would be higher than what you would spend using the standard principles and guides approved by your local authorities in making it legal for you to have a bedroom in your basement.

Also, if you wish to sell the house, you might find it difficult to do so if the basement bedroom is not in line with the building code.

Even if you manage to sell the house, the fact that the bedroom in the basement is illegal (did not follow the building codes), may affect the appraisal value.

Can You Have a Bedroom in the Basement without a Window?

No. It is not advised to have a bedroom in your basement without a window. This would be running low standard and not using the approved codes for building a standard bedroom in your basement.

Every completed basement is supposed to incorporate an egress window if at all you intend to use any portion of the space for a bedroom, this is what makes it legal and standard.

It is important to note that if you basically want to have several rooms in the same basement, each of the rooms must have its own egress window, this is so important, and the windows must meet up to its standard.

Here you would need to contact the authorities or the building engineers would be able to direct you and let you know the revised standard code of a basement bedroom window size. This is very important for you and the occupants of the said basement.

What is an Illegal Bedroom?

An illegal bedroom is a bedroom that has failed to conform to the right standard and required principles of building. These rules and guidelines make it easy for the occupants of the room to have quick and easy escape routes in times of emergency that may occur in the house.

This is to say that a bedroom is considered to be illegal when the owner fails to use the required standard codes, go through the necessary registration process, use quality and tested building materials that have passed the standard test to be used for the construction and using certified building engineers to carry out such construction.

Failure to follow all these would put the building, the lives of the occupants of the building, other buildings around the environment, and the lives of people in that neighborhood in great danger.

Is it Safe to Have a Bedroom in the Basement?

Yes, it is safe to have a bedroom in the basement as long as the approved codes, and standards have been duly followed by both the owner of the house and the building engineers that took part in the construction.

Both parties have a lot to do in ensuring that the bedroom is safe for its inhabitants, and on the other hand they must work hand in hand in ensuring that all safety codes, fire codes, and every other thing that needs to be done for safety purpose are strictly adhered to without cutting corners.

Once these are done, then the bedroom in your basement is certified and approved to be safe for its inhabitants, the building as a whole, and the people in the environment.

This is of utmost importance because no one would like to start scampering for safety because of the mistakes of the owner of the house and the engineers that took part in the construction as well.

Final Thoughts

Safety is very important to everyone. No one would like to put his or herself and the lives of others into danger just because of some certain selfish gains. Therefore, it is good to follow all the standards and rules that are involved in having a bedroom in the basement.

For the basement bedroom to be legal and certified safe for you, the occupants, and the entire neighborhood, you have a huge part and role to play in ensuring that the right thing is done.

It is dangerous to cut corners and boycott certain principles and standards that should be followed to have a safe house and a safe environment. Remember the saying that “prevention is better than cure”. The ball is on your court and to do the right thing at the right time because “a stitch in time save nine”.

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