Building process: Type II constructions

Type II constructions are non-infrastructural (i.e. not roads, not overhead lines or similar structures) buildings that correspond to the requirements set forth by the ’Categorization of constructions according to the building process’ (Būvju iedalījums grupās atbilstoši būvniecības procesam; part of Cabinet of Ministers regulation nr. 500 (Vispārīgie būvnoteikumi), app. 1).

Requirements

Type II buildings do not have a set of strictly defined requirements. Rather than that, Type II constructions are classified as ’any buildings that do not belong to either Type I or Type III’. This, however, still allows to draw an approximate set of parameters, divided into five categories: the number of floors, the number of people who intend to simultaneously be present in the building, the area of the construction, the storage volume (for liquids, gases, and granular materials; only when applicable), and the power generation volume (for buildings intended for power generation; only when applicable).

Please note that such a method of describing Type II buildings can be rather imprecise, especially if not analyzed carefully. This is why it is still advisable to follow the initial formula - a Type II building is the one that is neither Type I nor Type III - when determining the type of construction. Besides that, in order for a building to be classified as Type II, it must correspond to all the parameters mentioned further - even if at least one of them does not apply, most probably the construction is either Type I or Type III.

Number of floors

A Type II construction is a building that contains five or less regular floors and/or one or less underground floor.

Number of people

Type III buildings are designed to simultaneously hold fewer than 100 people. Two additional points must be emphasized in this regard.

First of all, this number is not for the real number of people at any given moment, but for the projected and supported number of people. For example, if the building is designed for a maximum of 99 people to be present inside at any moment, and two more people enter it, it does not become a Type III building, but remains either a Type II, despite the fact that now there are more than 100 people in the building. It must be noted that such a situation would violate a number of safety requirements, because the type of building is determined at the building stage, not at an arbitrary point in time. It means that a Type II building does not become a Type III just because it contains more than 100 people.

Secondly, this regulation does not only mean residents of the building (i.e. people who live there on a more or less constant basis), but includes any people that are simultaneously present inside the building. For example, a building that is specifically designed to contain 52 residents and 52 visitors is above the limit of 100 people and considered to be Type III, not Type II.

Area

Type II buildings have an area between 60 m2 and 1000 m2. Other parameters, however, can override this requirement, and make, for example, a 100 m2 wide building a Type III.

Volume

Type II buildings, if designed to store liquid, gas or granular materials, have a volume between 50 m3 and 1000 m3 (if designed to store water) or 5000 m3 (if designed to store any other materials).

Power

Although there are a number of power production parameters defined for both Type I and Type III buildings, qualitatively they are not same, which does not allow an adequate comparison in order to produce a set of parameters for Type II constructions.

Requirement summary

In general, it must be emphasized that Type II can not be effectively determined by a range of strictly defined parameters. This is both due to the complexity of parameters for Type I and Type II, and due to the fact that, even if such a range existed, it would change the moment something changed for the other two types (I and III), making it ineffective in the long term. This is why we recommend using the formula defined by the Latvian government - Type II constructions are ’any buildings that do not belong to either Type I or Type III’.

Differences from other types

Type II buildings, in terms of paperwork needed to initiate construction, renovation or demolition works, are considered to be equal to Type III structures. They are usually more difficult to build than other types, they require more documents to be submitted. This includes not only documents for initiating the building process, but also documents for any other activity, such as renovation ar demolition works. The documents in question are stipulated by the rsquo;Documents for initiating the construction of a Type I building or its part’ (Pirmās grupas ēkas vai tās daļas būvniecības ieceres dokumenti; part of Cabinet of Ministers regulation nr. 529 (Ēku būvnoteikumi), p. 2.2)

In general, Type III buildings require more details to be submitted to the government. This mostly concerns detailed descriptions of the design and intended use of a building. Indirectly it also means, that one must acquire more permits, as more complex buildings incorporate more specialised substructures, which usually require special permits due to their nature. In the same way, large-scale Type III buildings are much more demanding when it comes to safety and respective permits, as they tend to create a lot more safety risks id built, renovated or demolished improperly.

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