View report page

49
17 (7) of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909. Closing Orders prohibiting the use of these
50 underground rqoms as sleeping places were accordingly made by the Council. At the end of
the year 8 of the rooms closed had been altered by the raising or enlargement of the windows, or
the execution of other works so as to comply with the Regulations, and in these cases the Council's
Closing Orders were determined.
Regulations for Underground Rooms.—Section 17 (7) of the Housing, Town Planning,
etc., Act, 1909, prohibits the use as a sleeping place of any underground room which does not
comply with such regulations as may be made by the Local Authority with the consent of the Local
Government Board for secimng proper ventilation and lighting and protection "against dampness,
effluvia, or exhalation." The Regulations made by the Council for the purposes mentioned were
sanctioned by the Local Government Board in February, 1913. For securing adequate light and
ventilation they provide that the superficial area of the window or windows of an underground room
shall be not less than one-tenth of the floor space, and further that a portion of the window or
windows not less in extent than one-twelfth of the area of the floor shall be so situated as to admit
unobstructed light at an angle of 30 degrees. Obstructions to light to be within the scope of the
Regulations must, however, be within a distance of 10 feet from the window of the underground
room. The obstruction which requires consideration in 99 per cent, of cases is the area wall
adjoining the footway outside front basement rooms facing the street.
In such a room, having found the width of the window, and the area of the floor, the lowest
point on the window pane at which unobstructed light should be capable of entering at an angle of
30 degrees can be determined. This lowest point on the window pane may be conveniently
described as the point "X." The greater the distance of the point X below the surface of the
adjoining footway the greater must be the distance between the window and the area wall, or in
other words the wider must be the area required by the Regulations. When the position of the
point X on the window pane has been ascertained, the width of the adjoining area required by the
Regulations can be determined by multiplying the vertical distance of the point X below the footway
by 1-73205 or the square root of 3, which is the co-tangent of an angle of 30 degrees. The results
to be obtained by this method are shown in the following Table, in which the figures in Column I.
represent the distance of X below the top of the area coping on the footway, and in Column II.
the width of the area required:—
Col. I.
Inches.
Col. II.
Ft. In.
Col. I.
Inches.
Col. II.
Ft. In.
14 2 0 44 6 4
15 2 2 45 6 6
16 2 4 46 6 8
17 2 5 47 6 9
18 2 7 48 6 11
19 2 9 49 7 1
20 2 11 50 7 3
21 3 0 51 7 4
22 3 2 52 7 6
23 3 4 53 7 8
24 3 6 54 7 10
25 3 7 55 7 11
26 3 9 56 8 1
27 3 11 57 8 3
28 4 0 58 8 4
29 4 2 59 8 6
30 4 4 60 8 8
31 4 6 61 8 10
32 4 7 62 8 11
33 4 9 63 9 1
34 4 11 64 9 3
35 5 1 65 9 5
36 5 2 66 9 6
37 5 4 67 9 8
38 5 6 68 9 10
39 5 8 69 10 0
40 5 9 70 10 1
41 5 11 71 10 3
42 6 1 72 10 5
43 6 2