The health and well-being of those who live in a home depends largely on the hygienic and structural conditions of the building itself. Hygienic and sanitary requirements were introduced precisely to ensure that every home meets minimum criteria that guarantee a dignified and safe life.
These requirements establish fundamental rules that concern aspects such as the minimum height of the rooms, the habitable surface area per person, the presence of adequate sanitary facilities and correct ventilation of the rooms.
Over the years, building regulations have evolved to meet new housing needs, culminating recently in the approval of the Save Home Decree 2024. This provision introduced significant changes to the health and hygiene requirements, updating what was established by the Ministerial Decree of 5 July 1975.
How will these new regulations affect the way homes are designed and renovated?
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The birth of health and hygiene requirements: the Ministerial Decree of 5 July 1975
In the 1970s, Italy was faced with a pressing need: to update the hygiene and health standards of homes to adapt them to modern needs of public health and well-being. Until that time, the regulations in force dated back to 1896, a period in which living conditions, building structures and knowledge in the field of hygiene were very different from those of the 1970s.
In response to this situation, the Ministerial Decree of 5 July 1975which represented an epochal turning point in the construction sector.
This decree established a series of minimum requirements to be respected, such as the minimum height of the rooms (2.70 meters), the habitable surface area per person and the need to provide the rooms with toilets and adequate natural ventilation. The introduction of these standards was fundamental to combat often precarious housing conditions and to guarantee that every citizen could live in a house that respected minimum criteria of healthiness and dignity.
Furthermore, the decree contributed to standardizing the rules on a national scale, putting a stop to the heterogeneity between the various Italian municipalities, where building regulations often varied significantly. This first regulatory step represented the starting point of a long regulatory path, which evolved over time until arriving at the recent changes introduced by the Salva Casa 2024 Decree.
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Hygienic-sanitary requirements of homes: the criteria of the Ministerial Decree of 5 July 1975
The Ministerial Decree of 1975 established the minimum requirements that every home had to meet to be considered healthy and habitable. These criteria were the result of a deep reflection on housing needs and the quality of life inside buildings, and influenced the design of residential spaces for decades. The main requirements established included:
- Minimum height of rooms: 2.70 meters for main rooms such as living rooms and bedrooms. For rooms such as hallways, bathrooms and storage rooms, the height could be reduced to 2.40 meters.
- Minimum surface area per inhabitant: each dwelling had to guarantee at least 14 m² for the first four inhabitants and 10 m² for each subsequent inhabitant.
- Minimum room size: for example, the bedroom had to have a minimum surface area of 9 m² for one person and 14 m² for two people. The living room had to measure at least 14 m².
- Natural ventilation: the main rooms (bedrooms, living room and kitchen) had to be equipped with opening windows to ensure adequate air exchange and sufficient natural lighting.
- Toilets: the presence of at least one complete bathroom, equipped with a toilet, bidet, sink and shower or bathtub was mandatory.
These requirements were conceived not only to improve the quality of life in homes, but also to prevent diseases related to poor hygiene, humidity and poor ventilation, very common problems in Italy until the mid-twentieth century.
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The changes introduced by the Salva Casa 2024 Decree
Over the years, housing needs and urban planning challenges have changed. Increasing urban density, scarcity of space and the need to redevelop existing building stock have led to a review of health and hygiene regulations.
The Save Home Decree 2024recently approved, introduced significant changes to the requirements established by the Ministerial Decree of 1975, adapting the rules to current needs and socio-economic conditions.
Among the main changes we find:
- Reduced minimum height: while the DM 1975 provided for a minimum height of 2.70 meters for the main rooms, the Salva Casa Decree allows a reduction of up to 2.40 meters in particular situations, such as in the case of building recovery interventions or renovations in existing buildings. This flexibility aims to facilitate the recovery of historic buildings and improve the energy efficiency of buildings.
- Reduction of the minimum habitable surface area: for small accommodations, such as studio flats, it is now possible to derogate from the minimum surface area limits set by Ministerial Decree 1975 (20 m² for one person and 28 m² for two people). This change is designed to meet the needs of high-density urban areas, where living spaces are often limited.
These exemptions represent a response to the growing demand for accessible living spaces, especially in large cities, while maintaining an acceptable level of comfort and well-being for the occupants.
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Certification and adaptability: a new approach to health and hygiene requirements
One of the most important innovations introduced by the Salva Casa 2024 Decree concerns the figure of the design engineerwhich now plays a key role in the building certification process. The law allows the technician to certify the project’s compliance with health and hygiene requirements, even in the presence of derogations from traditional regulations, provided that certain adaptability criteria are met.
THE’adaptability is a central concept in the Decree, recalled by Ministerial Decree 236/1989, and refers to the ability of buildings to be accessible and usable by people with disabilities. This attention to accessibility is fundamental to ensure that homes are usable by everyone, regardless of the physical conditions of the occupants. Certification can be granted only if:
- The interventions concern buildings subjected to recoveryimproving the hygienic-sanitary characteristics of the spaces.
- A project is presented by renovation which includes improving ventilation and air quality in rooms.
Furthermore, it is important to underline that the construction tolerances provided for by the Decree (2% deviations) also apply to health and hygiene requirements, allowing for a certain flexibility in measurements and ensuring a more realistic approach to specific situations during construction or renovation.
