Article 117Supplement v1, p. 117

COMMERCIAL LAWS SUPPLEMENT

(b) All inner courts shall be connected to a street or yard,

either by a passageway with a minimum width of 1.20

meters or by a door through a room or rooms.

SECTION 805. Ceiling Heights . — (a) Habitable rooms

provided with artificial ventilation have ceiling heights

not less than 2.40 meters measured from the floor to the

ceiling;

Provided,

that

for

buildings

of

more

than

one-storey, the minimum ceiling height of the first storey

shall be 2.70 meters and that for the second storey 2.40

meters

and

succeeding

storeys

shall

have

an

unobstructed typical head-room clearance of not less

than 2.10 meters above the finished floor. Above stated

rooms with a natural ventilation shall have ceiling height

not less than 2.70 meters.

(b) Mezzanine floors shall have a clear ceiling height not

less than 1.80 meters above and below it.

SECTION 806. Size and Dimensions of Rooms .— (a)

Minimum

sizes

of

rooms

and

their

least horizontal

dimensions shall be as follows:

1. Rooms for Human Habitations — 6.00 square meters

with at least dimensions of 2.00

2. Kitchens — 3.00 square meters with at least dimension

of 1.50 meters;

3. Bath and toilet — 1.20 square meters with at least

dimension of 0.90 meters.

SECTION 807. Air Space Requirements in Determining

the Size of Rooms . — (a) Minimum air space shall be

provided as follows:

1. School Rooms — 3.00 cubic meters with 1.00 square

meter of floor area per person;

2. Workshops, Factories, and Offices — 12.00 cubic meters

of air space per person;

3. Habitable rooms — 14.00 cubic meters of air space per

person.

SECTION 808. Window Openings . — (a) Every room

intended

for

any

use,

not

provided

with

artificial

ventilation system as herein specified in this Code, shall

be provided with a window or windows with a total free

area of openings equal to at least ten percent of the floor

area of room, and such window shall open directly to a

court, yard, public street or alley, or open water courses.

SECTION 809. Vent Shafts . — (a) Ventilation or vent shafts

shall have a horizontal cross-sectional area of not less

than 0.10 square meter for every meter of height of shaft

but in no case shall the area be less than 1.00 square

meter. No vent shaft shall have its least dimension less

than 600 millimeters.

(b) Skylights — Unless open to the outer air at the top for

its full area, vent shaft shall be covered by a skylight

having a net free area or fixed louver openings equal to

the maximum required shaft area.

(c) Air ducts shall open to a street or court by a horizontal

duct or intake at a point below the lowest window

opening. Such duct or intake shall have a minimum

unobstructed cross-sectional area of not less than 0.30

square

meter

with

a

minimum

dimension

of

300

millimeters. The openings to the duct or intake shall not

be less than 300 millimeters above the bottom of the

shaft and the street surface or level of court at the

respective ends of the duct or intake.

SECTION 810. Ventilation Skylights . — (a) Skylights shall

have glass area not less than that required for the

windows that are replaced. They shall be equipped with

movable sashes or louvers with an aggregate net free

area not less than that required for openable parts in the

window that are replaced or provided with approved

artificial ventilation of equivalent effectiveness.

SECTION 811. Artificial Ventilation . — (a) Rooms or spaces

housing

industrial

or

heating

equipment

shall

be

provided with artificial means of ventilation to prevent

excessive accumulation of hot and/or polluted air;

(b)

Whenever

artificial

ventilation

is

required,

the

equipment shall be designed and constructed to meet

the following minimum requirements in air changes:

1. For rooms entirely above grade and used for office,

clerical, or administrative purposes, or as stores, sales

rooms,

restaurants,

markets,

factories,

workshops, or

machinery rooms, not less than three changes of air per

hour shall be provided.

2. For rooms entirely above grade and used as bakeries,

hotel

or

restaurant

kitchens,

laundries

other

than

accessory to dwellings, and boiler rooms — not less than

ten changes of air per hour shall be provided.

3. For auditorium and other rooms used for assembly

purposes, with seats or other accommodations — not less

than 0.03 cubic meter of air per minute shall be supplied

for each person.

4. For wards and dormitories of institutional buildings —

not less than 0.45 cubic meter of air per minute shall be

supplied for each person accommodated.

5. For other rooms or spaces not specifically covered

under this Section of the Code, applicable provisions of

the Philippine Mechanical Engineering Code, shall be

followed.

CHAPTER 9 Sanitation

SECTION 901. General . — Subject to the provisions of

Book II of the Civil Code of the Philippines on Property,

Ownership, and its Modification, all buildings hereafter

erected, altered, remodeled, relocated or repaired for

human habitation shall be provided with adequate and

potable water supply, plumbing installation, and suitable

wastewater treatment or disposal system, storm water

drainage, pest and vermin control, noise abatement

device,

and

such

other

measures

required

for

the

protection and promotion of health of persons occupying

the premises and other living nearby.

SECTION 902. Water Supply System . — (a) Whenever

available, the potable water requirements for a building

used

for

human

habitation

shall

be

supplied

from

existing municipal or city waterworks system.

(b) The quality of drinking water from meteoric, surface or

underground sources shall conform to the criteria set in

the

latest approved National Standards for Drinking

Water.

(c) The design, construction and operation of deepwells

for the abstraction of groundwater shall be subject to the

provisions of the Water Code of the Philippines .

(d)

The

design,

construction

and

operation

of

independent waterworks, systems of private housing

subdivisions or industrial estates shall be governed by

existing laws relating to local waterworks system.

(e) The water piping installations inside buildings and

premises shall conform to the provisions of the National

Plumbing Code of the Philippines.

SECTION

903.

Wastewater

Disposal

System .

—

(a)

Sanitary

sewage

from

buildings

and

neutralized

or

pre-treated industrial wastewater shall be discharged

directly into the nearest street sanitary sewer main of

existing municipal or city sanitary sewerage system in

accordance with the criteria set by the Code on Sanitation

and the National Pollution Control Commission.

(b) All buildings located in areas where there are no

available sanitary sewerage system shall dispose their

sewage "Imhoff" or septic tank and subsurface absorption

filled.

(c) Sanitary and industrial plumbing installations inside

buildings and premises shall conform to the provisions of

the National Plumbing Code.

SECTION 904. Storm Drainage System . — (a) Rain water

drainage shall not discharge to the sanitary sewer system.

© Compiled by RGL

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