Building production

Concepts

Area of a dwelling

The area of a dwelling, i.e. a residential dwelling is the floor area that is limited, on the one hand, by walls surrounding the dwelling, on the other hand, by the main walls and the surfaces of building parts in the inside of the dwelling necessary for the whole building. NB The floor areas of auxiliary spaces (utility space, walk-in wardrobe, etc.), bathroom, hobby room, fireplace room, sauna in dwelling, washroom and changing room, and rooms used as working space if no hired employees work in them are also included in the floor area of a residential dwelling. Garage, cellar, sauna space in unfurnished basement, unheated storage space, balcony, porch, veranda, vestibule and unoccupied attic spaces are not included in the floor area of a residential dwelling.

Building

A building refers to any independent structure permanently constructed or erected on its site. It has its own entrance and contains covered space intended for different purposes, usually enclosed within outer walls or walls separating it from other structures.

A multi-purpose building is a building which has space for different use purposes, such as residential and business premises.

Caves and other subterranean spaces which are mainly enclosed within rock or similar walls and/or which do not contain structures comparable to the interior structures of buildings proper, for example, underground oil tanks, are not buildings. Stalls, kiosks and so on that do not contain space separated by closed walls, and transportable caravans, ships and so on are not classified as buildings.

Building permit

Depending on the size of the building project, a building permit is a permission for construction granted by municipal building supervision or environmental control authorities according to the Land Use and Building Act. A building project notification is made on projects requiring a building permit, on which data content the statistics on building and dwelling production are based.

Projects requiring a building permit are such as construction of a new building, building of an extension, renovation and repair work comparable to construction of a building, expansion of a building or addition of space calculated in its floor area, essential alteration of the building or its use purpose.

Building production

Building production refers to building construction production subject to a building permit, as a result of which buildings with different use purposes are produced.

Completed building

A building has been completed when municipal building supervision authorities have performed a final inspection of the building and recorded the date in question in the Digital and Population Data Services Agency's register of buildings and dwellings (RH5).

Construction stage

The construction stage indicates the different stages of the construction of buildings: granted building permit, started building project and completed building.

Cubic capacity of a building

The cubic capacity of a building is calculated in accordance with the Finnish Standards Association's standard SFS 2460, RT 120.12.

The cubic capacity of a building is the space limited by the exterior surfaces of outer walls, the lower surface of the base floor (the base of the building’s lowest space with thermal insulation) and the upper surface of the roof (the building part limiting the building's uppermost heated space from above including thermal insulation and protection).

Dwelling 

A dwelling refers to a room or a suite of rooms which is intended for year-round habitation; is furnished with a kitchen, kitchenette or cooking area; and has a floor area of at least 7 square metres. Every dwelling must have its own entrance. A single-family house may be entered through an enclosed porch or veranda. If a dwelling is entered through the premises of another dwelling, it is not regarded as a separate dwelling but instead those two constitute one dwelling.

Gross floor area of a building

The gross floor area of a building includes the floor areas of each storey measured to the outer face of the exterior walls, and the area of the basement storey, attic or loft in which premises for the building's principal intended use are located or in which such premises could be located on the basis of position, access, size, available light and other attributes. (Land-use and Building Act, Section 115, Paragraph 3).

The gross floor areas and the areas of parts included in the basement storey, attic or loft are calculated using the standard concepts as floor plates. Because in the attic, loft and basement storeys the floor area includes only the spaces according to principal use, the building’s floor area can be smaller than the gross area.

Newbuilding construction

Newbuilding is considered to be newbuilding subject to a building permit, extension of buildings and a change comparable to re-construction. Newbuilding produces new space either entirely in the form of new building construction, extensions made to existing buildings or a re-constructed building.

Construction, which produces new space, a new construction or a new building (Kira glossary).

Number of dwellings

The number of new dwellings or dwelling units used for permanent residence directed to building permits granted in a certain period.

Purpose of use of the building

The intended use of a building is determined according to the purpose for which the largest part of the gross floor area of the building is used. The statistics on building and dwelling production cover all categories according to the Classification of Buildings 2018:

01 Residential building

02 Free-time residential buildings

03 Commercial buildings 

04 Office buildings 

05 Transport and communications buildings 

06 Buildings for institutional care 

07 Assembly buildings 

08 Educational buildings 

09 Industrial and mining and quarrying buildings 

10 Energy supply buildings 

11 Public utility buildings 

12 Warehouses 

13 Rescue service buildings 

14 Agricultural buildings and livestock shelters 

19 Other buildings

Residential building

A building used for dwelling in which the dwelling area makes up at least one-half of the total floor area (Classification of buildings).

Started building

A building is registered as a started building into the Population Information System maintained by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency when municipal building supervision authorities have performed an initial inspection and recorded the starting date of construction work in the system (RH5).