basement access (insurance, crawl space, living)

[mscriven]

Is outside walk in access legally sufficient for an unfinished basement?

[bugelrex]

Window egress in rooms needed

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by mscriven

Is outside walk in access legally sufficient for an unfinished basement?

Are you asking if you need to provide alternate egress from the basement? Or are you asking if you need to provide access to the basement from the interior?

The fire code says you need to have exterior egress in the basement if you have 80 inch ceiling height. Less than that and it's a crawl space. If it's finished space, you also need exterior egress in every bedroom. It says nothing about access to the basement from the interior of the house.

I think the answer to either question is "yes", it meets fire code.

[Amanda333]

Talk to your town building dept. You have to get a permit to make your basement legal living space. (If you choose not to, one downside is your insurance policy will not cover liability. E.g., if someone is asleep and the boiler catches fire.)

[johngolf]

As Amanda said, check local codes. In many places the rules vary if the basement has/is a bedroom versus other usage. Also the outside access size can vary. If a door or bulkhead outside access, then I believe the basement can contain bedrooms.