Sessional_Paper_1902 — Page 741

643

17

ROOFS.

125. Covering of roof to be of inrombustible material. 126. Space between roof timbers of contiguous buildings. 127. Platforms on roof prohibited.

128. Roofs to rest upon brickwork or stonework.

WOODWORK.

129. Bond timbers or wood plutes not to be built into walls. 130. Timber or woodwork near flue or chimney opening prohibited.

ARCHES.

131. Regulations governing construction of arches.

132. Material for coping, cornices, etc.

PROJECTIONS, ETC.

133. Eaves-gutters and rain water down-pipes to be provided.

134. Projections into public thoroughfares prohibited. Proviso in the case of public buildings.

VERANDAHS, BALCONIES AND AREAS.

135. Encroachments on Crown land prohibited. We are most emphatically of the opinion that all encroachments upon Crown land by means of verandahs, balconies etc., should he absolutely prohibited in future. Such structures very materially lessen the width of the public streets and are thus an important factor in the darkening of the lower floors of dwelling houses. All such structures should be provided by owners on their own land.

RESTRICTION ON PARTITIONS, OBSTRUCTIONS AND ENCLOSURES IN VERANDAHS AND BALCONIES.

136. Verandahs and balconies not to be enclosed. This clause is intended to cover all existing

verandahs and balconies on Crown land or over any street.

KITCHENS, FIREPLACES AND CHIMNEYS.

137. Kitchen accommodation must be provided in domestic buildings.

138. Limitation of extent of kitchens in tenement houses.

139. Construction of chimney of fireplace.

140. Fireplaces adapted for use of charcoal to have hoods,

141. Floors under oven, stove or fireplace to be incombustible.

142. Chimneys not to be fixed near woodwork.

143. Thickness and height of chimney above roaf defined. 144. Corbelting and foundations of himneys regulated. 145. Thickness of back of chimney opening defined.

WINDOWS, CUBICLES AND ROOMS.

146. Windows in rooms required,

147. Limitation of depth of buildings. One of the most important causes of the insanitary condi- tion of many of the dwellings in this Colony is the excessive depth of buildings in relation to their width, and this clause is designed to prevent the further erection of domestic buildings of great depth without lateral windows. The enforcement of this clause may occasionally necessitate the resumption of a portion of a building-lot by the Crown, but in view of the insufficient width of many of the public streets in the Colony, and the lack of open spaces this resumed land can well be utilized to increase the width of the public street or streets abutting on such lot or be reserved as an open space for the improvement of the neighbourhood. The option of resuming any portion of a building-lot in connection with this clause should rest with the Government, as it is conceivable that the land may be laid out in several different ways, and it is only suggested that resumption might ensue when the building-owner can make no use whatever of a portion of his land. 148. Cubicles without windows prohibited in domestic buildings hereafter erected. Very little improvement in the sanitary condition of the vast majority of the Chinese dwellings in the Colony can be hoped for until this question of cubicles is dealt with in a rational manner, and we consider that it will be no great hardship to require all cubicles in buildings hereafter erected to possess windows into the external air.

149. Requirements as to cubicles in existing buildings.

The number of cubicles, not separately

lit by windows or skylights on any storey has been limited to two, and in lieu of the present sliding scale as to the height of the partitions, the Bill provides for a maximum height of six feet. The size of the cubicles has also been amended to accord with the proposed increase in the area of floor space to be allowed per head by clause 48 of this Bill. 150.. Obstruction of windows prohibited.