Building Requirements - Heights

Building Requirements

• These relate to construction work as per the third section of the Unified Building Law No. 19 of 2008, clarified by its executive regulations No. 144 of 2009.
• They apply to all construction work in local administrative units, tourist and industrial areas, new urban communities, residential buildings, and complexes as designated by ministerial decision.
• The entities responsible for enforcing this law and its regulations must prepare and implement relevant models, forms, records and certificates.
• Building permits require compliance with planning and construction requirements for land use in different areas, as issued by the relevant authority.

Minimum Internal Heights

• Minimum net interior height for each floor is 2.70 meters, measured from the final floor surface to the bottom of the visible ceiling on all floors.
• The height can be reduced to 2.3 meters for entrances, corridors, bathrooms, laundry rooms, guard rooms, and similar areas, as well as sloping sections of ceilings up to 25% of the room's area.

Minimum Areas and Dimensions

• Minimum internal surface area or dimension for any room or service facility must meet the following criteria:
  • Residential rooms: 7.50 square meters and 2.5 meters minimum dimension
  • Bathrooms: 0.80 square meters and 0.80 meters minimum dimension.
  • Kitchens: 3.00 square meters and 1.5 meters minimum dimension
  • Toilets: 1.50 square meters and 1.20 meters minimum dimension

Guard Rooms

• Buildings with more than six units require building guard rooms equipped with a toilet including a lavatory and washbasin, with a minimum area of 6 square meters and 2.25 meters minimum dimensions.
• Must comply with laws and regulations governing commercial establishments; shopping center must provide washrooms for use by shopkeepers, workers, and visitors.

Openings: General Requirements

• Each room or facility in residential buildings must have one or more openings for natural ventilation and lighting, facing a street or yard.

• Total surface of the opening must be:

  • 8 % of the floor area of residential rooms
  • 10% of the area of any building facilities (bathroom, kitchen, toilet, staircase etc)

• For multiple openings, the required opening area calculates based on the total area of all openings.

• No single opening should be less than 0.5 square meters for rooms and offices, and 0.25 square meters for other building facilities.

• Spaces for living (salon, dining, reception, living) are treated as residential rooms.

• These rules do not apply to corridors, entrances, mezzanines, elevator shafts, machine rooms, equipment, pumps, tanks, boilers, panels and switchboards rooms.

Ventilation and Lighting Openings

• Ventilation and lighting through the ceiling is allowed with openings meeting the mentioned ratios and directly connected to outside air, equipped with closing mechanisms.
• Offices and building facilities can be illuminated and ventilated industrially, except for residential kitchens.
• In hotels, hospitals and public buildings where industrial ventilation is unavailable, yards for ventilating and lighting bathrooms and connected toilets must be at least 1.50 square meters, with each dimension minimum of 1 meter.

Openings: Exceptions and Conditions

• Openings on administrative building facades are exempt from these ratios.
• Kitchens in residential units can be part of the living room space, provided that the required ventilation is supplied to the living room from the area in front of the kitchen.
• Suitable mechanical ventilation should be present in the kitchen if needed.

Conditions for Openings

• If a door opens directly onto a staircase, a distance of at least one meter must separate them.
• Window sills must be at least 0.9 meters high, unless balconies or terraces are present outside these windows, or safety barriers (railings) are in place at a height of at least 0.90 meters.
• The opening must be connected to the outside air over its entire area; any opening connected to an air conditioning unit, for example is not ventilation.

Doors Minimum Widths

• Residential rooms and offices: 80 cm
• Kitchens, bathrooms, and toilets: 70 cm
• Commercial shops: 100 cm
• Garages and warehouses: 280 cm.

Courtyards for Lighting and Ventilation

• When constructing, adding to, or modifying buildings, courtyards must provide lighting and ventilation.
• The following table include the specific requirements for these courtyards:
  • For residential rooms and offices
    • Outer courtyards: 0.25c or 3m (whichever is greater)
    • Inner courtyards: 0.25c or 3m (whichever is greater)
    • Minimum courtyard surface area: 4 square meters or 1/4 of courtyard height, whichever is greater.
  • For bathrooms, kitchen, and toilets
    • Inner courtyards: 2.5m
    • Minimum courtyard surface area
      • 7.5m2 if 'c' is less than or equal to 10m
      • 10m2 if 'c' is less than or equal to 20m
      • 12.5m2 if 'c' is less than or equal to 30m
      • Plus 2.5m2 for every 10m greater than 30m.
• c = The height of the highest building facade overlooking the courtyard, measured from the level of the first opening requiring light and ventilation from this yard to the surface of the reinforced concrete.
• Open area must not reduce the specified minimum area.
• Every uncovered skylight or courtyard must be equipped with the necessary equipment for rainwater drainage.

Courtyards for Properties Under Construction

• Applies to properties where the buildable area is no more than 100 square meters and the permitted height does not exceed 19 meters when constructing buildings.
• And when making alterations that require courtyards for lighting and ventilating rooms and building facilities
• For plots that don't allow for facade windows facing a street or open space, setbacks may be made to buildings along public or private roads or courtyards, provided they serve to provide lighting and ventilation.
• In this instance, the depth of the setback must not exceed twice its minimum width, and the window must directly face the road.

Part of Building Requiring

• Illumination and Ventilation
  • Residential rooms and offices
    • Outer courtyards: 2.5 meters
    • Inner courtyards: 2.5 meters
• Bathrooms, kitchen & toilettes, laundering and storage: 2 meters, and at least 6 square meters

Staircases

• Staircases must meet specific requirements as shown in the table.
• Minimum clear height above any step: 2.10 meters.
• Exemptions from these requirements are for minaret staircases and houses of worship towers.
• For circular staircases, the above-mentioned requirements must be met, but the tread width is measured at 45 cm from the edge of the step at the inner curve.

Table of Specifications

• Visible Stair Length: 130 cm for the main staircase and 110 cm for the secondary staircase if the number of units on the floor exceeds 4 units and units is 110cm.
• Transverse section: The tread must not be less than 27 cm, and the riser must not exceed 17 cm.
• Maximum Number of Steps in Succession: 14 steps, followed by a landing with a width that is not less than four steps.
• Minimum Height for a Handrail: 90 cm

Balconies and Projections

• Projections can be made on buildings bordering any public or private road according to the following terms:
  • Cornices or window projections in the ground floor when made at a height of minimal 2.5 meters and does not exceed the front of the facade to 10 or 20 cm.
  • For buildings bordering a road, the height between lowest area of the balconies or towers and the highest surface of the sidewalk shouldn't be less than 4 meters.
  • The height of the barricade should not exceed 0.90 meters for the first 5 levels from the surface, the barricade should be designed to prevent objects with diameters greater than 10 cms from faling.
  • The highest projection of exposed walls and towers shouldn't exceed 10 % of the road width , leaving 1.50 cm without projections. If the angle is 180 degrees 1.5 meter length should be left without building.