Legal Definition of a Bedroom

ncy10025,

I'm certain about the window bit - you need a direct means of egress in case of a fire, so basements/mezzanines/rec rooms don't count as legal bedrooms. I think the walls and door kind of go without saying, otherwise you're talking about a loft space, which counts as legal sleeping space, but not necessarily a "bedroom" in real estate terms. I'm not sure about the closet requirement though. I also believe a legal bedroom must be at least 8'x8' (which means that some of those small "bedrooms" that are 6'10" by 10' aren't quite legal, though I could be wrong on this).

Thanks - I was told by one broker that it doesn't require a closet only a window and seperate heating unit??

I think it is:

- must be reasonably close to 100 sf in size
- must have a closet
- must have a window
- must have it's own hvac unit

I doubt you'd need a separate HVAC unit for each bedroom - that doesn't really make sense. What you probably need is reasonable access to heating for the bedroom.

you'll know it when you see it..

bjw...you are partially correct. a 'habitable room' must have 8' minimum dimension, and 80sf minimum area. So, 8' x 10' is really the bare minimum to achieve 80sf and the minimum 8' dimension.

9' x 9' also works(81sf, >8' dims), and even though 7' x 12' is of sufficient area(84), it does not have the minimum 8' dimension.

The window also needs to be 6sf minimum...

bjw - that was probably a more eloquent way of putting it...yes, I will go with what you said. Do I get 1/2 credit?