Are there any differences between the procedures for an apartment and an ordinary residence?
1． Differences in definitions
Residential buildings are clearly defined in the "Residential Design Code" and the "Residential Building Code": a building used for family living.
Apartments are not clearly defined in current design codes. To understand the meaning of apartments, we first need to understand another concept in the real estate industry, called multi-family buildings. The meaning of this concept is that there is more than one living unit, or a building with multiple living units. Multifamily buildings can be divided into two categories. The first category is buildings with two to four living units, which are often referred to as two- to four-family homes. The second category is buildings with five or more living units, which are commonly referred to as apartments. Apartments are a common form of real estate investment in commercial real estate.
By definition, a house is for one family, while an apartment is usually for multiple families or individuals.
2. The difference between the nature of land and property rights
First of all, we should clarify the nature of land use for apartments and residential development plots. Houses can only be built on residential land or commercial and residential land, while apartments can be built on residential land. It can also be built on land of other nature such as comprehensive land (commercial and residential), commercial land or educational land. Secondly, the nature of use of the building, whether the development company handles property rights procedures for the owners on a residential basis or an apartment basis, the property rights period of residential buildings is 70 years, the property rights period of residential apartments is also 70 years, and the property rights of business apartments are based on the nature of the land. 40 years or 50 years. The property rights of serviced apartments are 40 years depending on the nature of the land. In this way, the characterization of houses and apartments is basically clear. For example, the Chengdu Municipal Planning Bureau has specially published "Several Regulations on the Construction and Management of "Apartments"" regarding the property rights of apartments, clearly defining "apartments" as referring to a category that meets other mandatory contents of the "Residential Building Design Code" except for sunshine requirements. Special living unit. The "Several Provisions on the Construction and Management of "Apartments"" that came into effect on November 1, 2005 also requires that when the housing management department registers the property rights of an "apartment", it must be clearly identified as an "apartment" and must be clearly stated on the property ownership certificate. The purpose column of the house is labeled "apartment".
3． Differences in types
According to the "General Principles of Civil Building Design" and "Residential Design Code", the types of residences are divided into low-rise residences, multi-storey residences, mid-rise residences and high-rise residences. High-rise residences are further divided into unitized high-rise residences. Residential buildings, tower-type high-rise residential buildings and corridor-type high-rise residential buildings.
Apartments are mainly divided into residential apartments (ordinary apartments), business apartments and hotel-style apartments based on several common types on the market. According to the nature of property rights, apartments can be roughly divided into three categories. First, rental type. It is for the purpose of renting out to tenants, so this type of apartment can be called a rental apartment. Second, owner-occupied type. If it is a self-occupied apartment, we call it a Condo or Co-Op. Each unit in a condominium belongs to a different owner and has independent property rights. The unit users of a Co-Op are equivalent to the company’s share holders. Obviously, when defining what an apartment is from a broad commercial real estate perspective, we only refer to buildings with five or more rental units, not Condos or Co-Ops, although some people buy Condos or Co-Ops for rent. , it’s like buying a two-family home to rent out, but it’s not a commercial building. There is another type, the hybrid type. The mixed type usually has one part for commercial offices, shops, doctor's offices, etc., and the other part for condo or Co-Op apartment units. In addition, we can also divide the apartments into small apartments, garden apartments and high-rise apartments based on their structure and type.
4. Differences in functions and uses
The functions and uses of apartments and houses also have the following differences:
4.1 The number of residents in the residence is small, only 3 to 4 people per household, and the standard is 3.5 people; Apartments usually have a larger number of residents, 4 to 8 people per room, sometimes more.
4.2 People living in houses are mainly family members and live for a long time, several years, decades or even a lifetime; people living in apartments are mainly members of society and live for a short time, a few days , months or years.
4.3 The people living in the house are familiar with the environment, so it is convenient to escape in the event of a fire and the time is short; the people living in the apartment are not familiar with the environment, so the escape in the event of a fire is inconvenient and takes a long time.
4.4 In the "Residential Design Code", the functional space of each part of the house, such as bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms, and kitchens, has minimum usage area requirements. Double bedrooms are 10 square meters, and single bedrooms are 6 The area of the bedroom and living room is 12 square meters, the area of the first and second category kitchen is 4 square meters, and the area of the third and fourth category kitchen is 5 square meters. However, there are no strict requirements for apartments, and they may even not have a kitchen.
4.5 Indoor environment requirements are different. Residences require that at least one living space in each unit should be able to receive winter sunlight. External windows should be installed in the bedroom, living room, and kitchen, and the window-to-ground area ratio should not be less than 1/7. However, there are no sunlight and ventilation area requirements for apartments.
5. Differences in fire protection design
For multi-story buildings, the "Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings" GB50016-2006 proposes the concepts of residential buildings and non-residential residential buildings. Apartments and houses are both residential buildings, but apartments are also non-residential residential buildings.
The management group of the national standard "Building Design Fire Protection Code" clarified the following issues in its reply to the Jiangxi Provincial Public Security Fire Corps' "Letter on Consulting on Issues Related to the Implementation of Fire Protection Technical Standards for Non-Residential Residential Buildings":
1. Except for student or employee apartments, other apartments should consider their fire protection design according to hotel buildings.
2. Independently built student or employee dormitories (apartments) should be designed according to residential buildings. The design of the type and width of the evacuation stairs should comply with the provisions of Articles 5.3.11 and 5.3.14 of the "Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings"; the design of the fire water supply should comply with Article 8.3.1, Paragraph 4 and other provisions of Chapter 8. relevant regulations. 3. For student and employee dormitories (apartments) built in combination with other functional spaces, the fire separation between the residential part and other non-residential parts shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 5.4.6 of this code. The fire water supply design of the building shall be based on the requirements of the entire building. material considerations. In this reply letter, it is clarified that student or employee apartments are designed according to residential buildings, which are actually residential apartments (ordinary apartments), and other apartments are designed according to public buildings, but the clear width of evacuation corridors and evacuation stairs in student or employee apartments should not be less than 1.1 m, and for residences with six floors or below, the clear width of the stairs with railings on one side should not be less than 1.0m. In addition, the apartments must be equipped with indoor fire hydrants in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 8.3.1. In the explanation of paragraph 4 of Article 8.3.1 of the "Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings", it is clear that the design of indoor fire water supply for non-residential residences such as dormitories and apartments must be carried out in accordance with the requirements of public buildings. In addition, regarding the combustion performance and fire resistance limit of building components, the "Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings" clarifies that when prestressed reinforced concrete floor slabs are used for the floor slabs of secondary fire-resistant residential buildings, the fire resistance limit of the floor slabs should not be less than 0.75h, meaning that pre-stressed concrete floors can be used. Stressed reinforced concrete floor slabs, which cannot be used in apartments. Therefore, the "Building Design Fire Protection Code" has higher fire protection design requirements for residences and apartments in some places than for buildings, while in other places the requirements for apartments are higher than those for residences.
For high-rise buildings, the "Fire Protection Code for Design of High-Rise Civil Buildings" GB50045-95 (2005 Edition) does not clarify the difference between residences and apartments, although high-rise buildings are classified as residential buildings in Article 3.0.1 Building Classification and public buildings, but residential buildings only include residential buildings. Therefore, for high-rise apartments, no matter what type of apartment they are, the author believes that the fire protection design should be based on public buildings. The safety exits of each fire protection zone should not be less than 2, and the distance between the two safety exits should not be less than 5m. As for the number of room doors, the "Fire Protection Code for Design of High-Rise Civil Buildings" stipulates that a room located between two safety exits in a public building can be equipped with a door when its construction area does not exceed 60 square meters. Door, the net width of the door should not be less than 0.9m; for a room located at the end of the corridor in a public building, when its construction area does not exceed 75 square meters, a door can be set up, and the net width of the door should not be less than 1.40m. Of course, it is difficult to install two doors in a residential apartment. It is worth exploring whether one door can be installed in a residential apartment. As for the installation of fire protection facilities, can residential apartments refer to Article 7.6.1 of the "Fire Protection Design Code for High-Rise Civil Buildings". Internal rooms without central air conditioning and with Class A fire doors do not need to have automatic sprinkler systems. After all, residents There are generally not many people in a small apartment, and there are independent sanitary equipment and auxiliary facilities in the unit, so the actual area will be reduced.