When is an Office a Bedroom?!

before you buy or sell, best to check what is being described as ‘a bedroom’

Did you know that there is a prescribed minimum standard for a bedroom in a house in New Zealand? That it must;

• Have a minimum width of 1.8 metres
• Have an area of not less than 6 square metres
• Have a height from finished floor to finished ceiling of at least 2.1 metres in an existing house (as at 1975), or 2.4 metres in a new house
• Have at least one window situated in an external wall to admit adequate light
• The aggregate area of glass in the windows must not be less than one-tenth of the floor area of the room
• Windows with an area of not less than one-twentieth of the floor area must be able to be opened to allow air circulation, or in accordance with local authority requirements.

In calculating the area of a bedroom, any part of the room with a finished floor to finished ceiling height of less than 1.5 metres must be excluded.*

*Housing Improvement Regulations 1947 – New Zealand Legislation