The distance between houses in the city and the private sector according to SNiP and fire safety standards

Once upon a time, the minimum distances between houses were not observed in any way. And we know perfectly well that this often led to devastating fires, sometimes destroying the largest cities in the world.

Over time, people have developed certain construction principles to ensure the same security. The fire distance between houses allows you to localize a single fire, prevent it from spreading to several buildings. This is first.

Secondly, the SNiPs and GOSTs adopted in our country make it possible to observe sanitary gaps between buildings. All this is necessary so that neighbors do not block each other’s light, and special services can easily gain access to underground utilities and infections spread less.

Today, there are several norms for private and multi-apartment construction at once. The obligation to comply with them falls on the shoulders of the developer – a private or association of persons. The practice is such that in an urban environment the requirements are stricter and their implementation is checked more clearly. And in country and individual construction, some minor violations are allowed.

Multi-storey residential buildings

For the construction of high-rise buildings, strict construction standards apply. We can say that the larger the number of storeys of the house, the larger the territory should be allocated for house adjoining needs without the possibility of any construction on this territory.

The developer of an apartment building is obliged to comply with the requirements of the law. The main tasks of the existing norms are the safe and comfortable living of all residents.

When choosing the optimal distance between high-rise buildings, the developer must take into account:

• The existing seismic situation in the region.
• Fire hazard class of the house under construction.

Properly chosen distance will allow to secure other buildings in the urban environment and their residents in case of destruction of the building, fire.

According to existing standards, the sun should get at least 4 hours a day into living quarters. Especially the rule is checked on the lower floors.

Based on this, the minimum distance between the long sides of apartment buildings should be:

• 15 meters: between 2 and 3-storey buildings;
• 20 meters: 4-storey buildings;
• 25 meters: 5-storey buildings;
• 45 meters: 9-storey buildings.

Maintaining such distances allows, in most cases, to provide light access to the apartments of all residents and to ensure an adequate level of safety in case of emergency.

Private housing construction

Individual housing construction is the main field for the operation of most laws. Since such construction does not imply knowledge of the legal subtleties from the developer (unlike professional builders involved in the planning of apartment buildings). Therefore, anyone can make a mistake.

Today, individual projects can be divided into 2 large areas:

• Actually, the very individual construction on the plots allocated for individual housing construction.
• Plots of a non-commercial nature, on which it is also possible to build housing (partnerships, DNO, SNK, cooperatives, etc.).

The main difference in the first case is the presence of a police address near the housing, plots for individual housing construction are given specifically for the construction of capital buildings and year-round, rather than seasonal residence in them, and the availability of communications.

Housing on non-commercial territories is easier to build. Often the areas of their plots are quite small, so it is sometimes simply impossible to fulfill all existing norms. Based on this, the basic procedure is regulated in the charter of the company to which the site belongs.

But with IZHS it is more difficult. There are many requirements to be met here. The main ones are outlined:

• in the town planning code.
• SNiP 30-02-97 (as amended in 2018).
• SP 53.13330.2011.
• SNiP 2.07.01-89.

Of course, the fire safety standard is of paramount importance in all these acts. In a nutshell – between a wooden and a wooden structure, a distance from house to house of at least 15 meters must be maintained. If in both cases (meaning the neighbors) we are talking about brick buildings, then the minimum distance between the houses can be at least 6 meters.

Of great importance is the red line – marking the border with the public area and neighboring areas. Most regulations require at least maintaining a distance of 6 meters from the house to the red line. The fence can be taken out for its action, but not block access to communications (if any are laid on the common territory), do not interfere with pedestrians, do not obscure neighboring areas.

The norms of distances between outbuildings and a house on the territory of the IZHS site are also regulated. To comply with sanitary standards, it is recommended to leave at least 8 meters to street latrines, vegetable gardens, places for storing organic fertilizers, baths, wells. For outbuildings – sheds, garages – it is supposed to withstand 12 meters from a residential building. Again, for safety reasons.

Basic concepts while observing the norms of distance between houses

We draw your attention to several legal rights in the construction of all types of building objects on your own site. All of them operate in our country, have legal force.

• First of all, this is the so-called priority right of the first developer. It is used in cases where sanitary standards are not observed in the areas. For example, if one developer has approved a plan for the location of objects on its territory, then on neighboring sites (where such a plan has not been approved before) they should start from already built and decorated buildings, creating a plan on their territory. Namely: maintain the required distance not only from the fence, but also from neighboring objects – if, for example, they are located closer to the fence than 3 meters. And also between residential buildings must be maintained at least 6 meters. And again, during construction, you will have to start from the already built and documented objects on the neighbor’s site. If these measures are not observed, the one registered by the land committee earlier will be recognized as the correct project. This is the priority right that the first developer has.
• The second point is the construction of suburban areas. As practice shows, the norms are observed less in them. Because in such territories, as a rule, there are few underground utilities (or none at all), the area of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe plots is larger. In fact, often for such situations, it is not the existing SNiP that are taken into account, but the charter of a garden society and associations of owners, owners of plots. For example, it must necessarily indicate certain principles for the construction of residential buildings, adopted at the general meeting of owners. Usually these are: the maximum dimension of residential objects, 3-4 meters of distance to buildings between neighbors, 3-4 meters to non-residential objects, at least 4 meters to large trees, 1-2 meters to shrubs. By the way, the court will not consider cases of non-compliance with building standards on a non-commercial territory. Therefore, often all complaints should be sent to the owners’ society, which adopted the existing provisions.
• On legal rights, on land given over to individual housing construction, a maximum of a three-story building can be erected. At the same time, it is important to comply with such requirements: at least 10 meters to neighboring objects, the absence of division of the house into apartments, and the total area for all residents. According to the norms, such a moment as shading is also checked. So, it is not allowed that a multi-storey building neighboring areas are in fact shaded for more than half a day. Approximately the same rule applies to neighbors – their house should not cast a shadow in such a way as to cover your residential property from the sun completely for more than 2 hours a day.

It turns out that you can not take and build a house where you want. It is necessary to fulfill several norms and legal requirements at once in order not to interfere with the lives of neighbors, not to create problems for emergency services, and to make safe housing.

Because all these norms have been tested by time, by several generations of people and builders. All of them are designed to make our lives safer and more comfortable.