Proposal to amend IRC Code Restricting House Size:

Analysis:

Environmental Costs: The International Residential Code dictating how small our homes can be has helped make our houses the biggest in the world—four times the international average. At well over 2000 square feet, the average American house now emits more than 18 tons of greenhouse gasses every year, consumes a quarter acre of forest in its production and dumps seven tons of construction waste into our landfills.

Economic Costs: Excess and economy are mutually exclusive. We can have exorbitance, or we can have the serenity that a sensibly sized home affords, but we cannot have both. Like anything else that is not essential to our happiness, extra space just gets in the way. It requires maintenance and heating, and ultimately demands that we exchange a portion of life for the money needed to pay for these extras. Mortgage payments can appropriate thirty to forty percent of a household’s income not counting taxes, insurance, or maintenance expenses.

Social Costs: In 2008, a used house in the U.S. averaged $244,000. That is far more than the average American can afford. By prohibiting all but the most extravagant housing, current size standards have effectively eliminated housing for everyone but the most affluent Americans. By demanding all or nothing from our homes, current restrictions ensure that the have-nots have nothing at all. The U.N. Declaration of Universal Human Rights (of which the United States is a signatory) holds shelter to be a fundamental human right. Yet, in the US, this right is guaranteed only to those with enough money to afford the opulence.

Double Taxation: Our economy can no longer sustain the burden of imposed excess. American citizens have subsidized banks and the housing and insurance industries for decades as we are often required to buy more house than we really need. We are then expected to bail the same banks out when this blatantly unviable system fails.  Allowing citizens to live beyond their means is one thing. Mandating that citizens live beyond their means then taxing them again at the back end to cover the inevitable damage caused by such unsustainable policy is clearly another.

Constitutionality: We should be allowed to determine the size of our own homes- large or small. Some of us prefer to devote time to our children, artistic endeavors, spiritual pursuits, charity, or relaxing. Others would rather spend their time generating and spending disposable income. Some enjoy living simply, while others like taking risks. Every American should be free to choose a simple or an extravagant lifestyle and a house, to accommodate it. Depriving citizens of this liberty is both un-American and unconstitutional.

Erosion of Standards: As long as codes ignore justice and reason, then just and reasonable people will ignore the codes. Countless thousands of Americans are living beneath the radar in structures commonly regarded as too small to meet code. This, of course, does nothing to ensure that other codes that actually do protect health, safety and general welfare are met.

Bad Design: So long as our houses are designed in accordance with relatively arbitrary regulations, rather than with what is truly necessary to their occupants, they will lack the utility and beauty of good design. Good design can produce small spaces that function and feel like large ones, while bad design can make any mansion confining and insufficient.

Issues:

Maintaining Safety: The amendments proposed here account for safe egress as defined by The American National Standards Institute. Smaller structures afford more fire safety and earthquake readiness, as exits tend to be closer at hand and structural integrity is increased as spans are decreased and the ratio of sheer to force is multiplied.

The Property Value Myth: Contrary to widespread rumor, little houses have not been shown to lower the values of neighboring large residences. In fact, the opposite holds true. When standard-sized housing of standard materials and design goes up next to smaller, less expensive dwellings, for which some of the budget saved on square footage has been invested in quality materials and design, the value of the smaller places invariably plummets while that of the relatively derelict mansions is raised.

Universal Accessibility: Just as a well-designed public space accommodates everyone, good home design puts the occupant’s needs first. No house has ever been built that will suit everyone perfectly. Those designs that try ultimately fit no one in particular. These amendments will not produce houses that are universally accommodating any more than current codes do, but the heights and widths proposed here are calculated to fit a person 6’6” tall and 200 pounds (maximum) comfortably and safely. Egress is calculated to offer safe passage to the same sized firefighter with an oxygen tank on his back and to a mid-sized wheelchair. The creators of our International Residential Code have spared no expense in serving those Americans who are in the 98.7 percentile in terms of height and girth, a portion of the estimated 8.2 percent of us with a condition limiting basic physical activities, the building and insurance industries, banks and countless Americans who do want bigger houses at any cost. Meanwhile, the rest of our needs have been sorely ignored and, ultimately, sacrificed.

Prohibition: As long as there are Americans who enjoy large houses, large houses will continue to be built. These amendments do nothing to prohibit the construction of large houses. They only loosen current prohibitions on small structures. They stand to serve all of us, particularly those who wish to live within modest means, those with physical disabilities better served by efficient design, those with environmental concerns, with respiratory ailments, with mental psychological disorders exacerbated by an unnecessarily complicated and taxing lifestyle, the homeless, folks opposed to more bank bail-outs, and those of us who wish to give more of ourselves to causes other than maintenance and mortgage payments.

Recommendations: Protecting public health, safety and general welfare is the stated purpose of The International Residential Code that shapes much of America’s built environment. By prohibiting the construction of small homes, these regulations clearly circumvent their own alleged goal. Amendments to the codes must be made so that our built environment can provide more safety and a higher quality of life. The proposed amendments listed here are based on safety standards and anthropometric data developed by The American National Standard Institute.

1. As it stands now, 2006 International Residential Code states that each single family home and duplex shall have at least one room of no less than 120 square feet (section 304.1). All other habitable rooms (that is, those rooms intended for living, sleeping, cooking or eating purposes) must contain at least 70 square feet with no vertical dimension within being less than 7 linear feet (section 304.2,3). Kitchens and non-habitable spaces, such as hallways, bathrooms, closets and utility areas are exempt from this rule.

Amendment 1: Delete Sections 304.1, 2 & 3. They serve no entity other than the banks and insurance industry and the building industry that is largely responsible for their creation. Public demand for functionality will ensure that our homes are of adequate size and design far better than regulation can.

The IRC requires that habitable spaces and corridors have a minimum ceiling height of 7'-6". Bathrooms, kitchens, storage and utility rooms (including laundry areas) must have ceilings of 7' or greater (section 305.1).

Amendment 2: Change Section 305.1 to read as, “The ceiling height of every habitable room and corridor shall be 6’ 8” or greater. Open-sided alcoves of 40 square feet or less, closets and lofts of 400 square feet or less are exempt.”

Beyond these so-called “general habitability” requirements there are a number of size standards pertaining directly to egress. An exterior door of no less than 3’ x 6’ 8” with at least 32” free and clear is needed in every unit (311.4.2). Hallways (311.3) and stairwells (311.5.1) must be 36” wide. Stairs must provide no less than 6’ 8” headroom (311.5.2, 311.5.8.1), treads no less than 10” deep with accompanying risers between 4 and 7 3/4 ” high (311.5.2, 311.5.1). A landing 3’ deep x the width of the stairs or adjacent doorway is generally required inside and outside egress doorways and at the top and bottom of interior stairways (and to break up any vertical run of stairs that is 12’ or more)(311.5.4). Spiral stairways are allowed as egress for an area of up to 400 square feet. Spiral stairways must be 26” wide with 6’ 6” headroom and 7-1/2” deep treads, measured 12” out from where stairs meet the center post (311.5.8.1).

Every bedroom requires an emergency escape and rescue opening of no less than 5.7 square feet (5.0 is ok if it’s on the first floor) (310.1.1, 310.1.1X). This opening (usually a window) must be of at least 20” in width x 24” in height (310.1.2,3), and it must be within 44” of the floor (310.1).

Amendment 3: Change the required door width in Section 311.4.2 to 32” free and clear.

Amendment 4: Change Section 311.3 to read as, “Hallways shall be at least 30” in clear width above baseboards.”

Amendment 5: Change Section 311.5.1 to read as, “Stairwells shall be at least 21” in clear width at the handrail and no less than 24” wide above and 22 1/2 ” wide below the handrail.”

Amendment 6: Consolidate 311.5.2 & 311.5.1 to read as, “Riser height shall be between 7” and 12”. Minimum tread depth to riser ratio (that is, the maximum pitch) shall be determined by use of the following formula:

Tread Depth = 20” minus 4/3 Riser Height

Or

Riser Height =15” minus 3/4 Tread Depth”

Add to this, “Ladders are permissible for access to a loft space of 400 square feet or less. Such ladders shall have 12” wide (minimum) rungs spaced at 10” to 14” o.c. apart. Ladders must support a minimum of 200 pounds. When in use, the angle of a ladder shall stand between 70 and 80 degrees. Lateral movement of the ladder shall be no more than 1” for every 5’ of rise.”