Regulations last checked for updates: Nov 25, 2024

Title 20 - Employees' Benefits last revised: Sep 30, 2024
§ 654.407 - Housing.

(a) Housing must be structurally sound, in good repair, in a sanitary condition and must provide protection to the occupants against the elements.

(b) Housing must have flooring constructed of rigid materials, smooth finished, readily cleanable, and so located as to prevent the entrance of ground and surface water.

(c) The following space requirements must be provided:

(1) For sleeping purposes only in family units and in dormitory accommodations using single beds, not less than 50 square feet of floor space per occupant;

(2) For sleeping purposes in dormitory accommodations using double bunk beds only, not less than 40 square feet per occupant; and

(3) For combined cooking, eating, and sleeping purposes not less than 60 square feet of floor space per occupant.

(d) Housing used for families with one or more children over 6 years of age must have a room or partitioned sleeping area for the husband and wife. The partition must be of rigid materials and installed so as to provide reasonable privacy.

(e) Separate sleeping accommodations must be provided for each sex or each family.

(f) Adequate and separate arrangements for hanging clothing and storing personal effects for each person or family must be provided.

(g) At least one-half of the floor area in each living unit must have a minimum ceiling height of 7 feet. No floor space may be counted toward minimum requirements where the ceiling height is less than 5 feet.

(h) Each habitable room (not including partitioned areas) must have at least one window or skylight opening directly to the out-of-doors. The minimum total window or skylight area, including windows in doors, must equal at least 10 percent of the usable floor area. The total openable area must equal at least 45 percent of the minimum window or skylight area required, except where comparably adequate ventilation is supplied by mechanical or some other method.

authority: 29 U.S.C. 49k; 8 U.S.C. 1188(c)(4); 41 Op.A.G. 406 (1959)
source: 44 FR 1689, Jan. 5, 1979, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 20 CFR 654.407