Madise says bedrooms need openable windows even with mechanical ventilation

While still serving as Estonia’s Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise concluded that requiring bedrooms to have an openable window and natural light is constitutional and does not excessively restrict property rights, ERR reported.

The rule applies to every living room, workspace, bedroom and kitchen in a home. Each must have at least one openable window that allows the room to be ventilated and provides sufficient natural light.

Attorney Carry Plaks had argued that the requirement in a regulation on housing standards was unconstitutional. She said rooms with mechanical ventilation should be allowed to serve as bedrooms even without windows, and that the rule imposed unnecessary architectural and financial restrictions on housing construction.

Madise said the requirement has a clear and important purpose: ensuring a safe and healthy living environment suitable for round-the-clock use. Natural light and the ability to ventilate through a window are especially important if someone is ill and has to spend much of the day in bed, she said. An openable window also provides ventilation if a building’s mechanical system breaks down.

The regulation does not set a minimum window size. Madise said, however, that the requirement to provide sufficient natural light means it cannot be treated as a formality and rules out artificial solutions such as those resembling windows in a summer house or attic.

Madise acknowledged that the requirement can affect building layouts, construction costs and how a property can be used. But she said added costs do not in themselves make a rule unconstitutional. Whether windowless living spaces could be allowed in future, given advances in building technology and current construction practices, is a matter for policymakers, particularly the Ministry of Climate.