Building Code: Rules to build safe structures

By Invictus “Tuts” Paradela
Cebu Daily News, Inquirer.net
January 15, 2008

CEBU CITY, Philippines - The Building Code of the Philippines is a voluminous law, filling about 71 pages on a Microsoft Word document with a 12 font. While the architect or engineer you hired for your construction should be well versed with the code, it wouldn’t hurt to be familiar with it.

It’s handy if you want to check on the work of hired personnel or if you want to assess existing structures for possible investments such as buildings, apartments, commercial spaces or condominiums.

Overview

The Building Code states that the act incorporates the “policy of the State to safeguard life, health, property, and public welfare, consistent with the principles of environmental, management and control. The code provides for all buildings and structured, a framework of minimum standards and requirements by guiding, regulating, and controlling their location, siting, design, quality of materials, construction, use, occupancy, and maintenance, including their environment, utilities, fixtures, equipment, and mechanical electrical, and other systems and installations.”

It covers all types of constructions, including residential dwellings, residential hotels and apartments, those for purposes of education and recreation, institutional, business and mercantile, industrial, and storage, including those of hazardous substances.

The Building Code also mandates the requirement of a permit to build buildings or homes to be able to check whether any construction meets the set minimum standards.

The Building Code was enacted in 1972. Since then there have been many developments in terms of technology, needs, and capacities. However, many of its provisions remain relevant even for tall buildings.

Space and Size

The code provides for maximum requirements for ones-and-two story structures. A dwelling should generally occupy not more than 90 percent of a corner lot and 80 percent of an inside lot and shall be at least 2 meters (6 feet, inches) from the property line.

The code specifies that habitable rooms, bathrooms, toilet rooms and utility rooms should have a height of not less than 2.4 meters or 8 feet. Rooms should not be smaller than six square meters (65 square feet) with at least a horizontal dimension of 2 meters (6 feet, 7 inches) if it is meant to be occupied by a person.

The kitchen should not be less than three square meters (32 feet) with a least horizontal dimension of 1.5 meters (5 feet).

Window size should be at least 1/10th of the floor area of the room. There should be at least a window for every room where no air conditioning or mechanical ventilation system is provided and should open directly to a court, yard, public way or alley, or water course.

Habitable rooms are expected to have at least 14 cubic meters (494 cubic feet) of air space per adult person and 7 cubic meters (247 cubic feet) of air space per child under 10 years of age.

Strengths and capacities of floors are also specified, so with the roofs on a kilogram per square meter basis. Even stairs are required to be 75 centimeters (30 inches) wide, with a rise of 20 centimeters (8 inches) and a run of 23 centimeters (9 inches). There should also be at least one electrical outlet per 6 meters (20 feet) of wall measured along the floor and one light outlet for every room.

For buildings of more than one story, the minimum ceiling height of the first story shall be 2.7 meters (9 feet) and 2.4 meters (8 feet) for the second story and succeeding floors. Garages shall have an unobstructed headroom clearance of not less than 2.10 meters (7 feet) above the finished floor.

Safety

Fire zones are areas where only certain types of buildings are permitted to be constructed based on their use, occupancy, type of construction, and resistance to fire.

Any room having an occupant load of more than 50 persons used for classrooms, assembly, or similar purpose, shall have the capacity of the room posted in a conspicuous place near the main exit from the room.

All buildings are required to have at least one exit. But for those that are to be occupied by at least 10 people, there should be not less than two exits. And every story or portion of a building, having an occupant load of 500 to 999 shall have not less than three exits. Those with a load of above 1,000 shall have four exits.

For crowded places, like discos and bars, exit swing doors are required to open towards the direction of “exit travel” keeping in mind emergency situations. We all know what happened to a Ozone Disco in Manila which didn’t follow this simple provision a decade ago.

Corridors and exterior exit balconies shall be not less than 1.12 meters (3 feet, 8 inches).

These should be unobstructed except for handrails and doors which are required to occupy a certain space even when these are open.

Stairways have minimum sizes based on load capacities of the floor. Buildings with five stories and above are required to have smoke proof enclosures consisting of a continuous stairway. Exit signs should be conspicuously placed and illuminated using a separate circuit source of power.

(Tuts Paradela is a licensed real estate broker, who helps a non-government organization in livelihood development. His website is www.ceburealestates.com.)