Does A Room Require A Closet To Be Classified As A Bedroom?

[residentialguy]

Does the bathroom have a door on it ? If not maybe it's not a bathroom LOL

Not a bad idea. I wouldn't have to hear my wife shout "Shut the door!"

 

[Mark K]

The house is was built in 1950, and it is a basement room. It is one of two rooms in the basement. The room has a window but no closet.

I've never let the lack of or presence of a closet determine whether a room is a BR.

In the lower level, if it has legal window egress (does it meet the requirements?) you could call it a BR if you want. I'm more concerned about emergency egress in below grade rooms than whether or not it has a closet. But if its below grade I don't count it as a BR in the room count.

I also don't think a basement BR generally has the same appeal/value as the above grade BRs.

 

[timd354]

Received the following message from a homeowner I am completing an appraisal for. Looking for my colleagues opinions.

"Maryland follows the IRC regulations for bedrooms, which means that it must have a private entrance, meaning you can't have to go through one bedroom to get to another one. It has to be a minimum of 70 square feet, it has to have a minimum of 7 feet of wall on at least one side, it has to have at least 2 electrical outlets protected by circuit breakers, and it has to have egress. Your bedrooms we built meet all of these requirements

There is no requirement for closets

http://www.ericstewartgroup.com/blog/what-makes-a-bedroom-a-legal-bedroom"

I did search Fannie Mae and of course theres no guidance, so where did a closet requirement come from for a room to be classified as a bedroom. Apparently a window is required and other configurations but I can not locate any information regarding a closet requirement. Please comment.

There is no closet requirement in order for a room to be counted as a bedroom. Thus, if you did not count a room as a bedroom solely because it lacks a closet and that is why the homeowner sent you the message, the homeowner is absolutely correct.

Additionally, the current IRC building code only applies to new construction and homes built before the adoption of the building code may or may not meet the requirements of the IRC code. For example, it is very typical for many older homes built prior to 1960 to only have one outlet in a room....that does not mean that these rooms are not bedrooms. Please remember that appraisers are not code enforcers, but are appraisers.

 

[jay trotta]

There is no closet requirement in order for a room to be counted as a bedroom. Thus, if you did not count a room as a bedroom solely because it lacks a closet and that is why the homeowner sent you the message, the homeowner is absolutely correct.

Additionally, the current IRC building code only applies to new construction and homes built before the adoption of the building code may or may not meet the requirements of the IRC code. For example, it is very typical for many older homes built prior to 1960 to only have one outlet in a room....that does not mean that these rooms are not bedrooms. Please remember that appraisers are not code enforcers, but are appraisers.

Additionally, we are Not Inspectors either, we are however, "Observers" and therefore, recommend Licensed Experts in their respective Fields of Work to provide their wisdom on Code Compliant issues, in writing. Each municipality has various building/zoning requirements and therefore, It Depends.

 

[The Warrior Monk]

The house is was built in 1950, and it is a basement room. It is one of two rooms in the basement. The room has a window but no closet. The owner received the comment I quoted from the builder completing the renovation. The builder quoted the IRC regarding the matter. Not sure why Fannie Mae never gave guidance on this issue.

FWIW, basement bedrooms often have additional requirements. Many building codes require two points of ingress/egress. Windows can help satisfy that requirement, but it typically has to be of a certain size/configuration so that a person can exit. If it doesn't open to the above-grade area, there may be additional requirements pertaining the size of the window well, possible stair requirements depending upon how far below grade it is, etc.

 

[Phil McDonald]

In my opinion the question is one of functional utility. A property does not need to be old to have functional obsolescence as this can be built in to something new or newly renovated. In regards to the building code, that is irrelevant as to the determination of the room as a bedroom. Market expectations are the determining factor. Does the current market expect a bedroom to have a closet? From what I encounter the answer is yes. I do not see a trend of builders building new homes without closets and I have not read anything indicating that there is a trend away from closets being part of a bedroom. Therefore, the market expects a bedroom to have a closet and if a room does not have a closet then it is not meeting the market expectations.

In regards to the comment supplied by the homeowner I would probably respond by telling them that when a property is constructed to minimum building code standards it is common for that property to fail to meet the expectations of the market as the minimum building code does not typically consider market expectations.