Basement v cellar
The Building Regulations Approved Document F, 'Ventilation' suggests that, in relation to dwellings, a basement:
'...is a dwelling or a usable part of a dwelling (i.e. a habitable room), that is situated partly or entirely below ground level.'
Whereas a cellar:
'... is part of a dwelling which is situated partly of entirely below ground level, and is distinct from a basement in that it is used only for storage, heating plant or purposes other than habitation.'
NB: Approved document B, Fire Safety, Volume 1 Dwelling houses, defines a ‘basement storey’ as ‘A storey with a floor which at some point is more than 1,200 mm below the highest level of ground adjacent to the outside walls.’
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Approved documents.
- Attic v loft.
- Basement.
- Basement excavation.
- Basement impact assessment.
- Basement waterproofing.
- Bathroom definition.
- Crawl space.
- Dwellinghouse.
- Flat definition.
- Household.
- Planning (Subterranean Development) Bill.
- Residential definition.
- Right of support.
- Safe room.
- Sanitary accommodation.
- Storey.
- Types of room.
- Utility room.
Featured articles and news
Types of building sensors on BD
From biometric to electrical current, chemical and more.
Government mandates detectors in rented homes
Changes are due to come into force on 1st October 2022.
80% of major government projects are rated red or amber
Heed advice and insight of this report IPA tells the government.
The end of the games but continued calls for action
From the Commonwealth Association of Architects.
CIOB respond to the government call for evidence
For the Levelling Up, Housing & Communities Committee.
How are buildings and their occupants responding to extreme heat?
BSRIA's Technical Director reflects on recent weather patterns.
Landownership in England in 1909
A national valuation to fund old-age pensions.
The world’s largest Commonwealth memorial to the missing.
Long after the end of the defects liability period.
BSRIA Occupant Wellbeing survey BOW
Occupant satisfaction and wellbeing in buildings.
Geometric form and buildings in brief
From the simple to the complex.
Understanding the changing nature of insulation
And the UK Government guidelines.
Three year action plan to improve equity, diversity and inclusion
Commitment agreed to by major built environment bodies.
The Construction Route – what needs to change?
Electrical skills, low carbon, high-tech and the building services revolution.
Deep geothermal power possibilities
Ultra-deep drilling with millimeter-wave beam technology.
BSRIA Briefing 2022- From the outside looking in
Looking at the built environment from space.
Competence requirements for principal contractors and designers
BSI standards 8671, 8672 and 8673.
Bringing life to burial grounds.
From failed modernism to twenty-minute neighbourhoods.
Design chill and design freeze
The gates process and change control.