Hercegovacka Pivovara recently became the first commercial brewery in Bosnia and Herzegovina to implement an international quality standard program known as HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points). This standard is valuable in any country to ensure safe production, storage, and distribution. In America, the equivalent additional requirements are known as GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) and SOP (Standard Operating Procedures). These procedures, though voluminous and burdensome, help us as consumers know that our beer is brewed under the strictest standards in the world. Take a lesson from this local brewery about the value of standards. Though the requirements for bedrooms in Washington state are not regulated by any central quality control board like the HACCP oversees the beer industry, the legal bedroom requirements for new dwellings in Washington state do share some similarities.
Prior to doing the work required to bring a new dwelling up to the legal bedroom requirements Washington state has, one must evaluate whether or not that is even feasible. Just like a brewer must evaluate the availability and cost of the quality ingredients they need to meet their production demands, a homeowner must determine whether or not the legal bedroom requirements for their particular location and property can be met economically. Legal bedroom requirements in Washington state for new dwellings are that a bedroom must have at least a hundred square feet of floor area. The one exception to this requirement is if the dwelling already has a bedroom that meets this requirement, then Washington state’s legal bedroom guideline only requires fifty square feet. In addition to this size requirement, the bedroom must be separated from other sleeping areas and that it have outside access, and that the window be of a minimum size of 20 inches, 22 inches at its narrowest point.
To put it simply, a new dwelling must have a separate bedroom of at least one-hundred square feet, with a window and door, that is not separated from other sleeping areas by interior walls, and which has an exit directly to the outside.
The analogy between the quality control measures and formalities of beer-brewing and the legal bedroom requirements Washington state has for new dwellings ends here. While the careful evaluation of ingredients and materials that are used in building a new dwelling and the diligence required to meet legal bedroom requirements Washington state has may be similar in some respects to the regulations over the brewing of beer, there is no doubt that in both situations, compliance with those requirements will yield a better product. In the beer industry, that product is a delicious beverage. In the real estate industry, that product is a safe and usable home.
So how does the saying go? Don’t try this at home! Wherever you are located, that is not necessarily a good idea. It is always a good idea to check the legal requirements for the dwelling you are constructing or working on. In Washington state, check out our article on legal bedroom requirements Washington state has for new dwellings that may be helpful to you.