What Is The Legal Height For Your Ceiling?

Hi guys, it’s Naomi Findlay here, your rapid renovation expert.  

Did you know I have a renovation course? You can check it out here! 

There can be few things more devastating than when you’ve taken your property to market, or you’ve had an agent or valuer come in to give you a valuation, and post-renovation they turn around to you and say… “This is not a habitable space.”

There is more to a habitable space than ensuring four walls and a ceiling. There is legislation in place surrounding legal ceiling heights for a property to be deemed habitable.

In fact, I have experienced this first hand. A property I once renovated and sold had a ceiling height 2.5cm too short to be deemed habitable! And in this situation, this space I had transformed into a rumpus room could not be marketed as a second living space.

To break down everything regarding ceiling heights and habitable spaces, I sat down with The Reno Show’s resident chippy, Rowan Howard.

Don’t have time to watch? Listen to it on the go here!

Key points:

• The Building Code of Australia is the overarching documentation that we refer to as legislation.
• It is important to refer to a Building Certifier to confirm your ceilings are of legal heights to be deemed habitable spaces. This can often be completed over-the-phone.
• An example of a habitable room is a living room, bedroom, or rumpus room. The legal ceiling height in these spaces is 2.4 metres.
• Alternatively, the kitchen, laundry, and bathroom only require a ceiling height of 2.1 metres.
• Knowledge surrounding habitable spaces can be a powerful negotiating tool when buying property.

 

 

 

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