By FMZiggy - 29/11/2016 10:14 - Netherlands

Today, safety inspectors have deemed our basement unfit to serve as a bedroom due to a fire hazard. Our bed is now in the living room. FML
I agree, your life sucks 9 117
You deserved it 993

FMZiggy tells us more.

Hey people, just to clear some things up, as is tradition: my girlfriend and I live in an apartment for students, within a house that has been divided into multiple apartments and studios. The municipality has recently decided to check all student housing, and before then it wasn't a problem to have the basement as our bedroom. Seeing as we are renting the place, we can't really make adjustments to it. They have also said that they would come check soon to see if we did as we've been ordered, so moving the bed back downstairs, apart from being a major hassle, is not an option. I don't disagree with them, as the basement does only have one exit, so we'd be screwed if there was a fire at night, but having the bed in the living room really sucks. We're currently looking for another apartment, hopefully we'll find something decent soon. #6 that got a laugh out of me. Or friends did use to call our bedroom the Sex Dungeon.

Top comments

"How are things between you and your partner?" "So hot our room has been legally condemned as a fire hazard!"

I would be moving my bed back as soon as their report was done

Comments

I would be moving my bed back as soon as their report was done

Ah, you know it's funny, you'd be one of the people who go to sleep. They think everything's fine, everything's good. They wake up the next day and they're on fire.

As someone who lived in basements for years I find that highly unlikely. I was always under the impression that kind of thing only mattered for purposes of selling/renting laws and foster children. I wonder what situation they are in that people are telling them where to sleep.

And that's what freedom is. Being able to make that decision for yourself and not at the point of the government's gun

They're European. That could be a factor

Lostmongoose, I highly recommending searching YouTube for "GI Joe Fire Alarm" which should be about 27 seconds. And then "GI Joe Porkchop Sandwiches" depending on what you think of the first video.

There is a minimum size for egress windows for any basement bedroom window. This is so that there are 2 ways out in case the stairs are compromised.

Even if you own your home and don't have any of those restrictions, the logic is that since basements usually only have one exit which can be dangerous in a fire if it's blocked by flames. I personally don't understand why it's a big deal. If someone owns the home I think they should be able to live in it as they please and accept the risks as long as it's only a threat to the immediate household.

The government actually can't tell you where to sleep. Not in the Netherlands and not if you own a house. This is very likely a rental place, which has probably had complaints about the safety. If someone rents out an apartment, those apartments are required to be safe (you really wouldn't want to rent a place that isn't, would you). So, if someone complained about it, they inspect the entire building and present the report to the owner. He better be quick to fix the issues, quite hefty fines there. That is, if he doesn't want to lose that source of income.

Bingo, we rent it. A few years ago a student house burned down (no fatalities, but a couple of serious injuries), so the municipality decided to check all student housing to see if they conformed to safety regulations. It's logical in hindsight that sleeping there isn't the smartest thing to do, but it was presented to us as a bedroom when we first rented it three years ago, and the previous occupant had done the same.

Even though it's not a normal place for a bed, I would be happy because you're safer in the living room. It's better than being trapped down in the basement in case there ever is a fire.

ItsAnanya 25

Time to turn your basement into your living room and seriously creep new guests out.

Then, live it up, if you know what I mean ;)!

"How are things between you and your partner?" "So hot our room has been legally condemned as a fire hazard!"

in this case you need to add another means of egress(escape) buy a cellar door like a sliding glass door leading to stairs.

You should probably invest in a sprinkler system with fire rated drywalls and other good stuff. depending on where you live, an inspector would like to see certain things. For example, a separate entrance/exit for occupancy in a basement

I'm just assuming the OP +/- their partner are the sole occupant of the house, but why isn't OP's bed in the bedroom? Understandable though if they're sharing a house and there's only a certain number of bedrooms though.