Standards
Where interior requirements come from.
Regulation, statutory guidance, model code, published standard and best-practice review are five different things with five different kinds of authority. Most confusion about interior requirements comes from treating them as one.
On this page
ROMURE does not reproduce code text, and it does not print authority or standards-body logos. Requirements appear as neutral statements with the source, edition and applicability recorded alongside them, exactly as the review framework describes.
Vocabulary
Five kinds of instrument
Knowing which one you are looking at decides who can answer a question about it.
- Regulation Law made by a legislature or by a government under powers the legislature gave it. Binding where it applies, and enforced by an authority.
- Statutory guidance Published by government to explain a practical way of meeting a requirement. Often the route everyone uses, and usually not the only route that is legally acceptable.
- Model code Written centrally, then adopted — or not — by each state, region or city, usually with local amendments. It has no force until a jurisdiction adopts it.
- Published standard A technical document from a standards body. Frequently referenced by a regulation or a contract, which is what gives it authority on a project.
- Best-practice review What experienced designers and manufacturers find works in use, and what a review can say about it. It binds nobody, and it is often the difference between a layout that is acceptable and one that is pleasant.
- Project requirement The client brief, the employer's requirements, a specification clause or a funding condition. Nothing to do with law, and binding all the same.
Places
By country and nation
One page per jurisdiction, rather than a separate copy of the service pages for every country. Each page names the instrument and states plainly what it covers.
United States
The ADA, the Fair Housing Act for covered multifamily housing, and why the IBC and IRC are not nationwide mandatory.
- Where the ADA applies — and where it does not
- When Fair Housing applies
- Model codes and local adoption
England
The Building Regulations, the Approved Documents, and who does what on an England project.
- Approved Document M — access and use
- Approved Document K — stairs, ramps, guarding
- Approved Document F — ventilation
India
The Harmonised Guidelines, the National Building Code as a model code, and how state rules change the answer.
- What binds a project, and what merely guides it
- State by-law variation
- Accessibility in the built environment
Dubai
Dubai's requirements where ROMURE has current verified coverage, and nothing beyond it.
- The Dubai Building Code
- Actively verified scopes
- What is deliberately not claimed
England is not the United Kingdom
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own building regulations and guidance. ROMURE treats them as separate jurisdictions and does not apply England's documents to them. Their pages are planned, not published, and are not presented here as covered.
How to read these pages
What every standards page states
Each page answers the same six questions, in the same order, so two countries can be compared without guessing.
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Which instrument it is
Regulation, statutory guidance, model code, published standard or practice — named as one of the five above.
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Whose it is
The body that publishes it and the authority that administers or enforces it locally.
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Who and what it applies to
Building type, tenure, occupancy and the trigger that brings the requirement into play.
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What it does not cover
The exclusions matter as much as the provisions, especially where a requirement is commonly applied to the wrong kind of building.
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What a drawing review can see
The geometry, dimension and reference evidence that exists on a sheet, and the checks that only make sense on site.
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ROMURE's verified coverage
The honest state of the rule pack for that jurisdiction: currently verified, partial, in validation, or planned.
Coverage
Where coverage stands today
A review only applies a requirement where a verified rule pack exists for the project's location and space type. Where there is none, the review says so instead of guessing.
Keep going
What to read next.
Start with one sheet
Send a drawing and see what a review says.
Upload one page. Where a verified requirement pack applies, the finding says so — and where none does, the report says that too.
No payment is taken when you start a review, and no card details are collected on this page.