What Constitutes A Legal Bedroom?
The threshold for a legal bedroom in the state of Washington is deceptively simple. A legal bedroom must have an egress (or exit) window, minimum room dimension of 7’x10′, and a height of 7′ to the top of the window header. A closet is usually required. However, a closet requirement is not universally applied in Washington state. There are many jurisdictions that do not require a closet.
Size standard: A legal bedroom must have a minimum room dimension of 7’x10′ and a minimum ceiling height of 7′ to the top of the window header. If lofts are present in the room, then the loft headroom must be no less than 6′. The loft must have a total area of 30 square feet or less, and cannot cover more than 1/3 of the floor area below. Lofts must also meet a minimum headroom of no less than 6′ above the loft and stair opening. Washington State Amendments to the International Building Code Section 2901.1.
When calculating the room size, there is no discount allowed for uninhabitable spaces such as mechanical or electrical equipment. If the room is 70 square feet, it counts as 70 square feet no matter the actual size of the bed area.
Egress: Washington State now requires a legal bedroom to include a second means of egress. Some counties like King allow you to have one egress window that is X number of feet away from an exit door, but a bedroom must now have a second point of egress such as another window or door. Washington State has Appendix 1027 which defines where emergency escape and rescue openings can be located. The reasoning behind the new rule is, according to some counties , to prevent situations where a bedroom’s only means of egress was so far away, a person could not get out of it in the case of an emergency. A bedroom with two means of egress can still be set fairly far away from an exit so long as there is more than one option to escape.
For example, consider a bedroom located across the hall from the front door. With a window in the corner, a person would be able to escape from the room with two means of egress. However, if that person was on a ladder putting up curtains in the window and dropped a hammer, it could be as little as 7 feet to the floor. As a result, you have a window and a door for means of egress.
Unfortunately, other counties such as Snohomish will not allow a window that is less than 70 square feet of opening and within 60 feet, or 1-2 minutes, of the exit door. While there are some arguments to this requirement, the key here is to remember this when you are designing and building your legal bedrooms.
Lighting: Bedrooms must be equipped with at least 50 square feet of operable area of window area to allow for adequate emergency lighting. In addition, the window must be equipped with opaque window coverings so that sunlight does not reflect in adjacent homes. Washington State Code Section R303.1.
Bathrooms: Any living space that has access to a bathroom should not be considered a bedroom unless there are at least two means of egress. As with all housing code related issues, the decision as to what constitutes a legal bedroom may be highly subjective and very dependent on the specific jurisdiction’s rules and regulations.
Size Minimums
Minimum Size Standards for Bedrooms in Washington State
In Washington State, there are no state-mandated minimum square footage requirements for bedrooms. Yet each county in Washington can set its own guidelines. King County requires a minimum of 70 square feet of floor space and Snohomish County requires minimum of 50 square feet. In general under the International Code Council requirements a "habitable space" has at least 70 square feet of floor space based on a single exit. If a room has an exit door that leads directly outside to a normal means of egress or a deck on a stair at landings or ground level, then that room requires at least 50 square feet. Rooms serviced by a spa-like bath and no windows, such as a sauna, are not bedrooms and some areas of a room, such as closets, are not considered square footage. Furthermore, some apartment developments, like the Pearl Apartments in Seattle, have slightly smaller habitable spaces but still call them bedrooms. Minimum square footage guidelines are based on the size and type of exits, windows, doors, and other factors influencing fires and evacuations. Whether a spouse is going to scream if she sees yet another 10-foot wall painted in grey is not part of the legal bedroom requirement.
Egress And Escape
Any bedroom that is being built, or already exists but you are considering retaining as a legal bedroom, must have at least one opening, or "egress" window. The reason for an egress window is that in the case of a fire or other emergency it is thought that at least two of three available exits to a home (a staircase, a window, and a door) would be most likely blocked or exitless. Historically, owners and inhabitants have voiced concern that bedrooms are often left off or forgotten about, which puts them at risk in case of emergency or acts of violence/terrorism. For a legal bedroom there must be an egress window that is this size or bigger: A new or existent legal bedroom must also have minimum clearance height from the floor of 24 inches, to qualify as egress.
Light And Ventilation Requirements
The legal bedroom must also meet certain lighting and ventilation needs. To be legal, there must be at least 8% (20 square feet of window per 250 sq/ft of room area) natural light in the room. For example, if the room is 900 sq/ft, you would need 72 sq/ft of glass, either in the form of conventional windows or skylights.
Another important item that must be considered when creating a livable rental unit is the benchmarks for ventilation. In order to create a livable rental unit, the Washington state legislature has also set out minimum ventilation needs for bedroom apartments. The residence must have room for two forms of ventilation-natural and mechanical. Natural ventilation requires a space to be ventilated naturally. Commonly, a live window is used to fulfill this requirement. In addition, an apartment must have a mechanical ventilation that must be overseen by a registered engineer. The mechanical ventilation allows for air to be ventilated in and out of the home at certain timed intervals. As you can see, even for the basic human necessity of breathing, the law in Washington state is complex.
Ceiling And Height
Washington State building codes require that legal bedrooms have a minimum height of seven feet. However, the ceiling must be at least 70 square feet in area. In many circumstances, this will permit hip or pitch ceilings that rise above the seven foot requirement. Areas with headroom of less than five feet are not counted in the minimum square footage calculations . The area beneath stairways may be counted in the calculation, because the under-stairway area would fall within the required square footage, but it cannot be included if the space is headroom of less than five feet. This provision means that one can include areas of kitchen or living rooms, and perhaps even bathrooms, in the minimum square footage calculation for a bedroom. This provision means that areas of a living room or a kitchen – maybe even a bathroom – can potentially be counted towards the minimum square footage requirement for a legal bedroom.
Municipal Codes Implications
While the Washington State Residential Code sets the legal bedroom requirements for the entire state, local municipality codes can have varying impacts on whether a room in a single-family residence is a legal bedroom. For example, the City of Seattle requires an egress window or door that is at least 5.7 square feet in order for a room to be a legal bedroom, whereas the City of Tacoma only requires the same 5.7 square feet for a natural light source, i.e. a window or skylight, but not for an exit or emergency escape. The City of Bellevue requires a window area equal to 10 percent of the floor area of a single-family unit to be considered a legal bedroom; and Snohomish County has a window requirement of 8 percent.
Other examples of variations in local jurisdiction requirements are below:
City of Renton
The City of Renton defines "bedroom" in the International Reference Code to mean: "a room intended or used for sleeping purposes and is required to have a minimum floor area of 70 square (7 x 10) feet, where the window must have a minimum dimension of 32 inches, the window must provide natural light and ventilation unless an artificial means of light and ventilation is provided; does not have a door leading to the exterior; and is in excess of 6 feet high."
City of Mercer Island
Single-family dwellings and townhomes on Mercer Island are required to have a minimum habitable room size of 120 square feet.
City of Issaquah
The City of Issaquah defines a habitable room as a room or enclosed floor space within a building used for living activities including sleeping, eating, cooking, recreation, and sanitation. All habitable rooms are required to have a minimum of one window.
City of Kirkland
The City of Kirkland requires a minimum room area of 70 square feet in a bedroom and a minimum height of 7 feet, whereas King County and the City of Seattle only require a minimum height of 6 feet.
Inspection And Compliance Process
Compliance with legal bedroom requirements is enforced by local jurisdictions and governed by the International Building Code (IBC). Through diligent public enforcement of local building codes, bedroom requirements are routinely made a matter of public record. For example, the City of Seattle, Washington, contracts with MicroPact, Inc., a private company that markets software products to facilitate compliance, to enforce its codes. This indicates that somewhere in the City’s Finance and Administrative Services Department is a person with a monochromatic office who is confronted daily with a scorecard showing (1) failures to comply, summed monthly , and (2) demands for reimbursement for the cost to babysit non-compliant homeowners. While we cannot speak to the reported effectiveness of the Seattle compliance program, it is easy to imagine how the cost of babysitting could be used to motivate compliance.
Non-compliant homeowners are inspected, fined, and may be required to obtain a license for continued residential use of the property. If the facts at any point suggest violation of an applicable work or licensing order, the inspector (or the inspector’s software) may order a criminal background check of the homeowner for the purposes of documenting ability to pay and/or propensity to re-offend by violating the order. An ongoing investigation is referred to the local police department.