How the new building code will tame rogue developers

Affordable housing project in Mukuru, Nairobi. [File, standard]

Provision for adequate ventilation, a sink, and a cooking slab or fireplace are mandatory requirements in the new National Building Code, which seeks to streamline the built environment.

According to the new code, tiles are the materials specified to wall a larger portion of the kitchen. Mortar can also be used but it has to be water-proof.

Such specifications are an added cost to developers who are fond of taking shortcuts when putting up units for rent, especially in areas such as Eastlands where demand for housing surpasses supply.

The code published by the National Construction Authority (NCA) also specifies how the foundation should be done in relation to the soil structure.

It also specifies the dwelling size detailing that a habitable room should have a superficial area of 7.0m2 for a single room occupancy and a minimal internal dimension of 2.1 metres.

Such a room is meant to accommodate people in a ratio of 3.5m2 per person.

Developers should also ensure their structures are put up to withstand several disasters among them floods.

The recently launched code replaces the 1968 one, which players in the built environment had for long lamented that it was obsolete, and not relevant to the current state of the industry that is morphing as a result of new technologies.

Implementation of the code will likely rattle rogue developers as the document comes with  detailed specifications on flooring, walling, the mixture of materials, and professionalism.

For example, it is a common practice for developers to squeeze the size of units and buildings so close to another structure that a window from either unit cannot open.

This document insists that a window should interact directly with air which means the specified spaces between structures should be adhered to.

“A window, vent or any other part of a building shall be constructed so as to face or ventilate, directly or otherwise, into the external air, open air, an aperture, airshaft, or communicate with the open air,” the code says.

It further specifies that a habitable room shall have at least one window or opening directly into the external air, which shall have, for the purpose of daylight, a total area inclusive of frames, equal to at least one-tenth of the floor area of the room.

In the case of a window abutting onto an open veranda, or immediately beneath a balcony or canopy, the minimum area required increased by five per cent for each 300mm that the veranda, balcony, or canopy, projects from the wall.

The code emphasizes finishes that are usually ignored by developers or landlords such as fireplaces or cooking slabs and sanitary facilities especially if the unit is a single room.

However, henceforth, a residential building or a part of a residential building that is intended to be separately let for dwelling purposes shall have a kitchen and sanitary facility.

“The internal surface of every kitchen, to a height of at least 1.2m from the floor level shall be faced with tiles and, or rendered in cement mortar, of at least 12.5mm in thickness, or other approved non-absorbent material,” the code says.

Extraction flu

The kitchen is specified to have a properly constructed fireplace, or cooking slab with an extraction flue.

This is a duct or pipe that directs heat, and smoke produced during cooking outside.

It should also have a sink and fittings for the supply of water.

The floor of the kitchen should also be non-slippery as the code further provides specifications for floor planning.

“The floor of a laundry, kitchen, shower room, bathroom or room containing a water closet pan or urinal shall be water resistant and non-slippery,” it says.

It says the floor of a building should be strong enough to support its weight and any load to which it is likely to be subjected. It should have a fire-resistance property and where required, it should be non-combustible.

“Where a floor is to be constructed on a construction site consisting of black cotton soil, the black cotton soil shall be entirely removed down to rock level or removed to such other level as may be approved by an engineer,” the code specifies.

NCA says in the code that where there is reason to believe that where a building is set to be raised has unstable soil or slope, the approving authority shall make this information available.

The owner will then be required to submit to the authority a statement prepared by an engineer specifying the measures necessary to provide for any differential movements or other effects on the construction site which may be detrimental to the building.

“Where a construction site upon which a building is to be erected is waterlogged or saturated, or water naturally drains into the space intended to be occupied by a building, a drainage shall be provided to direct the water away from the construction site, space or building, to a stormwater drain or to dispose of it in another safe approved manner,” the code says.

The code states that the design of a building shall provide adequate structural resistance, serviceability, durability, and reliability.

“A building shall be designed – to withstand wind, seismic, and accidental loading; to withstand flood action for a defined flood event; to resist floatation, collapse of significant movement from hydrostatic or hydrodynamic scour, caused by a defined flood event; to comply with elevation requirements; to comply with material requirements and utilities; and to enable occupant egress,” the code states.

The detailed document also has specifications for staircases, which state that a building that exceeds one storey in height shall have at least one staircase to access the upper floors.

The main staircase of a building should have a clear height of at least two metres, a width of at least 900mm in the case of a residential building, or 1200mm if it is not.

“The main staircase of a building which exceeds one story in height shall have not more than 16 stairs in a flight without landing,” the code says. Handrails should also be provided as well. 

If the owner of the building installs an escalator, they shall also ensure that a staircase is constructed as per the specifications.

Escape routes

According to the code, a building will be required to be provided with at least one escape route that can be used in case of a fire or another emergency, which shall not be obstructed in any way.

It adds that a building of two storeys in height shall not be required to include any emergency.

“Where the population of the upper storey of a two-storey building exceeds 25 persons, the building shall have at least two escape routes,” it says.

Whereas, a building of a height that exceeds three storeys shall have at least two escape routes.

In a mixed-use building, separate means of escape shall be provided from a storey, or parts of a storey, used for residential or assembly and recreation purposes.

“Where, in a building, the travel distance measured to the nearest escape door exceeds 30 metres, at least two escape routes shall be provided and an emergency route shall form part of each of the escape routes,” the code states.