North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) Canada 2017 Version 2.0

621 - Residential buildings

This group comprises residential buildings.

A residential building refers to a construction in which at least half of the overall useful floor area is used or intended for residential or private dwelling purposes, whether on a permanent basis or not. Residential buildings normally provide accommodation units or residential building units with self-contained and exclusive use of bathroom and kitchen facilities to the occupants of each unit. At least half of the useful floor area must be used or intended for dwelling units, in the case of apartment buildings. A residential building unit is a structurally separated and independent place.

A group of three row houses that are attached is considered to be three separate buildings if their external walls or dividing walls extend from the foundations to the roof.

Residential buildings constructed entirely at the building site, as well as on-site fully assembled precast, panelized, modular and other prefabricated residential buildings are included in this group. Unassembled prefabricated residential buildings built in a factory, and manufactured or fully assembled residential buildings built in a factory and delivered ready for move-in, are excluded from this group.

A building for which the majority of the overall useful floor area is used or intended for dwelling units with shared bathroom and kitchen, or that area is used primarily to offer care and other assisted living services, is classified as a "collective dwelling-type building" under the non-residential buildings group.

A building refers to any independent free-standing permanent structure comprising one or more residential dwelling units, business units or other spaces. A building can be entered by persons or animals and is suitable or intended for protecting them and objects. A building is covered by a roof and is usually enclosed within external walls or dividing walls that extend from the foundations to the roof. In the case of interconnected structures (e.g., semi-detached or terraced houses), any unit separated from other units by a fire wall extending from roof to cellar is considered an individual building. If there is no fire wall, the interconnected building units are regarded as individual buildings if they have their own access (own entrance) as well as their own utility system and are separately usable.