Basic Residential Building Planning

Basic Residential Building Planning

Please review these requirements prior to submitting your Permit Application to be sure that your plans include all of the following items

DESIGN CRITERIA:

Buildings and structures must be built to safely support all loads as provided by the International Residential Code. The minimum design loads required for structures are listed in the following table:

LIGHT, VENTILATION & HEATING

All habitable rooms must be provided with windows that are a minimum of 8% of the floor area, with an openable area of at least 4%.

Each bedroom must have at least one emergency/escape window with a minimum opening area of 5.7 sq. ft. with a minimum clear height of not less than 24 inches and a clear width of 20-inches. The window must be not more than 44-inches above the floor.

Note: All windows installed where the bottom of the window is more than 72-inches above the finished outside grade must be located and installed so that the inside bottom of the window is not less than 24-inches above the floor.

Like habitable rooms, bathrooms are also required to be provides with natural light and ventilation. When natural light & ventilation are not assessable, mechanical ventilation and artificial light can be used. When mechanical ventilation is used, air must be moved at a minimum of 50cfm to outside air. Air ventilated from a bathroom or kitchen cannot be discharged into an attic area.

At least one wall switched-controlled lighting outlet must be installed in the living, cooking, sleeping and bathroom areas.

At least one wall switched light outlet must also be installed in all hallways, stairway, and attached and detached garages when supplied by electric power.

A wall switched light, or an automatically controlled light, must be installed to provide illumination on the exterior side of each door opening (except garage doors).

An attic or storage area must be illuminated by as switched lighting outlet when the area contains equipment that may require servicing.

Electrical receptacles must be installed in every room of a dwelling unit. All outlet receptacles must be tamper-resistant.

Arc-fault circuit interrupters (AFCI) combination type breakers shall protect all branch circuits that supply power all habitable spaces (Includes family rooms, bed rooms, dining rooms, dens, hallways, & closets.).

Receptacles must be installed through the homes so that no point along any wall space greater than 2-feet in width is more than 6-feet from a receptacle outlet. (12’ apart)

There is no height requirement for placement of the outlets except that any receptacle installed over 5 ½ feet from the floor and outlets installed in a floor are not counted towards the minimum required.

All interior and exterior stairways must be illuminated, including the landings and treads.

Stairway tread/riser maximum riser height shall be 8 1/4 inches and the minimum tread depth shall be 9 inches +/- 3/8”. A 1 - 1 ½”-inch nosing shall be provided on stairways with solid risers. Stairways must be 36” wide.

Installing a light in the vicinity of each landing can illuminate the stairways. Stairs to a basement must have a light near the bottom of the stairs.

A light switch must be installed at the top AND bottom of each set of stairs. (This is only requirement for a 3-way switch installation.)

A stairway must have minimum headroom of 6’8” as measured from the tread nose.

Handrails: The Code requires that a 1 ¼” to 2” diameter handrail, not less than 34” and 38” in height, be provided on at least one side of any stairway that has four or more risers, including basement steps from the outside.

A handrail must be continuous from top to bottom. The ends of the handrail must not be more than 1 ½” from the wall edge.

Guard Rails: Stairways, porches, decks, and balconies located more than 30-inches above the floor shall have guards not less than 36” in height installed on the entire structure. (34” for stairs 30” or more above the floor)

These guards and stair rails must be constructed such that the spindles, rails, or other type of ornamental pattern will not allow a 4-inch sphere to pass through it. A 6-inch sphere cannot pass through the open area formed by the riser, tread, and bottom of the rail.

All habitable areas of a dwelling must have fixed means to maintain the dwelling at 68°F.

In all framed walls, floors, and roof/ceiling assemblies that form the outside of the structure, a vapor barrier shall be installed on the warm in winter side of the insulation.

SEALING OF THE BUILDING ENVELOPE: The buildings must be sealed (caulked) to limit outside air infiltration. The following areas must be caulked, weather stripped, or otherwise sealed: all joints between walls, floors and ceiling assemblies, knee walls, attic hatches, utility penetrations, openings between windows and door assemblies and their jambs and framing, and walls between a garage and dwelling.

Every dwelling unit shall have at least one room that has not less than 120 Sq. Ft of gross floor area. All other rooms must be at least 70 sq. ft. of gross floor area. There is no minimum floor area for a kitchen.

All habitable rooms, including basements, must not be less than 7-feet in height, as measured from the finished floor to the finished ceiling.

All basements must have at least one 36” emergency escape door. This door cannot open into an attached garage. A door may exit into a garage, but there then there must be a second door to provide for the emergency exit from the basement without traveling through the garage.

Each sleeping area (bedroom) located in a basement shall have at least one openable emergency escape and rescue opening. At a minimum, this opening must be 20” wide and 24” high. THESE DOORS OR WINDOWS MUST EXIT DIRECTLY TO AN OPEN AREA OUTSIDE THE BUILDING.

When this opening is located below-grade, an approved exit ladder must be installed.

Doors: At least one side-hinged door must be installed that is not less than three (3) feet in width and 6-feet 8-inches in height that exits to a clear and open area. Other doors that may be installed are not required to meet this requirement.

A 36” landing, not more than 1 ½” lower than the top of the threshold, shall exist on the exterior of each door.

Unless a dwelling is served by a vault privy (outhouse) and a portable water supply does not exist, every dwelling unit must be provided with at least one toilet, a bathroom sink, and a bathtub or shower.

Openings from an attached garage or carport directly into a room used for sleeping are strictly prohibited. Other openings between the garage and the residence shall be equipped with solid 1 3/8” wood doors or hollow steel doors rated at a 20-minute fire rating or better.

Windows are not permitted in a wall separating an attached garage from a residence.

An attached garage must be separated from the residence, and it’s attic area, by a firewall constructed of ½” gypsum board applied on the garage side.

Duct work is permitted to penetrate a wall between a garage and the residence when the ducts are # 26 gauge sheet metal and the openings are sealed with a fire-stopping material. Other penerations (wiring, piping) must be sealed with an approved material.

When the attached garage is located below a habitable room the ceiling of the garage must be 5/8” Type X gypsum board. The structures that supports a garage ceiling, the outside walls, must also be protected by ½” drywall.

Carports must be open on at least two (2) sides. A carport that is not open on at least two sides is considered a garage.

Any fuel burning appliances located in a garage must be located so that the source of ignition is not less than 18-inches from the floor of the garage. This includes wood & oil burners and gas furnaces.

All smoke alarms must be hard wired and interconnected in such a manner that when one alarm is activated, all alarms in the dwelling will also be activated.

Smoke alarms are required to be placed in each sleeping room, one just outside of the sleeping area in the vicinity of the bedrooms, and an additional alarm on each floor level of the dwelling, including the basement.

CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS are required to be installed on the outside of each sleeping area (not in each bedroom) and located in the immediate vicinity of the bedroom.

All footings must be at least 6-inches thick and shall extend to a depth below the frost line. For dwellings located in Elk or Cameron County, houses with a full basement or manufactured housing with approved skirting, the bottom of the foundation footer must be constructed at least 42 inches below the FINISHED grade.

Footings shall be continuously stepped where necessary to change the elevation of the footer. The use of lintels is not permitted. The use of rebar reinforcement is NOT required for single-family homes that are 3-stories or less in height.

Gravel or other crushed stone drains shall extend at least 12-inches beyond the outside edge of the footing and 6-inches above the top edge of the footing. A 4-inch perforated pipe shall be placed on a minimum of 2-inches of WASHED GRAVEL that is at least one sieve size larger than the perforations of the pipe. The pipe and surrounding gravel must be covered with an approved geo-textile filter membrane.

In areas identified as having a possible high ground water table, all exterior foundation walls that retain earth and enclose habitable or useable spaces located below grade shall be waterproofed with a physical membrane extending from the top of the footing to the finished grade.

A four-inch base of clean sand, gravel, crushed stone (passing through a 2-inch sieve) shall be placed on the prepared subgrade when the slab is located below grade.

A 6 mil. Polyethylene or approved vapor retarder with joints lapped not less than 6-inches shall be placed between the concrete floor slab and the base course or prepared subgrade.

Exterior framed walls shall be anchored to the foundation wall by using ½” X 7” anchor bolts spaced not less than 6 feet on center. There shall be a least two anchor bolts per plate section with one bolt located not more than 12-inches from the end of the plate and at each corner.

ADDRESS NUMBERS: 4-inch numbers in contrast with the background indicating the 911-building site address must be posted so as to be easily visible from the nearest public road.

DECK ATTACHMENT TO BUILDING: ½-inch diameter hot dipped galvanized or stainless steel lag screws or carriage bolts, with washers, shall secure the ledger board to the building and be placed in accordance with Table R502.2.2.1.

Snow Load (1)	Wind Speed (mph)	Seismic Design Cat.	Frost Line Depth	Winter Design Temp.
30” to 35”	60	“A”	42”	0°F

Maximum U-Factor:
Windows & Doors	Skylights
0.35	0.60

Roof / Ceiling	Framed Walls		Mass Walls		Basement Walls
R-49	R-20		R-15		R-15 /19

Crawl Spaces		Slab Perimeter		Floors
R-10 / 13		R-10 (4’)		R-21