house
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
Researched by: Codex + Grok
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to recognise a house, assess its suitability and condition as living quarters, and identify supported next actions and required permissions.
A house is a building designed and used as independent living quarters for one household (or a small number of households), combining sleeping, living, food preparation and sanitation in one structural envelope with private access and exclusive occupancy of that structure, as treated in residential building codes and housing statistics.
It can be Identify the dwelling and resolve its boundaries against parcel, building and dwelling-unit records.; Compare domestic spaces and access routes with a stated household's needs.; Plan inspections around reported defects, inaccessible areas and missing evidence.; Assess how building defects or service failures affect particular residential activities.; Propose maintenance, repair or adaptation options with dependencies and required authorisations.; Track whether completed work restored the affected dwelling capabilities..
Distinguishing features
Establish whether the referent is a physical dwelling building, rather than a household, postal address or land parcel.
Determine whether the referent is the house as a whole or a dwelling unit within a larger building; record unresolved overlap with apartment and residential-building categories.
Look for an arrangement intended to support continuing domestic life, including sleeping, food preparation and sanitation, while distinguishing absent facilities from temporary failures.
Distinguish residential purpose from temporary accommodation or incidental sleeping in a building whose primary purpose is something else.
Treat shared walls and multiple resident families as boundary questions rather than automatic reasons to exclude a house.
Scope
+ The dwelling building and its boundaries, including attached or shared elements
+ Internal spaces, circulation and capacity to support household activities
+ Structure, weather enclosure and building condition
+ Installed services that support residential use
+ Occupancy status, habitability evidence and constraints on changes
- Land parcel boundaries, land ownership and cadastral records
- Family relationships, household finances and residents' personal histories
- Neighbourhood planning, transport networks and community services
- Utility networks beyond the house's connection interfaces
- Mortgage products, insurance contracts and property market valuations
- Detailed models of separately tracked appliances and movable contents
Characteristics
- Residential purpose
- intended residential use; mixed use; former residential use; disputed; unknown Separates the dwelling's identity from its current occupancy or temporary condition.
- Building attachment
- detached; semi-detached; terraced; other; unknown Identifies likely shared boundaries and dependencies when inspecting or changing the house.
- Dwelling-unit arrangement
- single unit; multiple units; arrangement unresolved; unknown Prevents the number of families from being mistaken for the number of independently functioning dwellings.
- Usable internal floor area
- m², with measurement convention, included spaces and observation date Supports assessment of usable domestic space without conflating it with plot size or gross building area.
- Domestic-space connectivity
- connections among entrances, sleeping spaces, cooking spaces, sanitary spaces and outdoor exits Shows whether essential household activities and movement are supported by the layout.
- Occupancy status
- occupied; partly occupied; vacant; seasonal use; unknown, with date Changes access arrangements, inspection priorities and the consequences of service interruptions.
- Condition by building element
- observed defects, affected elements, assessed severity, evidence date and uninspected areas Keeps local damage and uncertainty visible instead of reducing the house to an unsupported overall rating.
- Essential-service availability
- availability and observed operation of water, sanitation, power, ventilation and locally necessary temperature control Supports assessment of whether the house can sustain its intended residential use.
- Shared-element responsibility
- house element to responsible party and evidence establishing responsibility Identifies coordination needed for work on party walls, shared roofs, drains or access.
- Residential-use assessment
- assessed suitability, restrictions, assessor, applicable criteria, date and unresolved limitations Separates observed functionality from formal permission or qualified assessment.
Analytical facets
- substance
- material
- origin
- manufactured
- agency
- inert
- mobility
- fixed
- scale
- built
- affordances
- traversable
Also called
+39
Where this came from
oewn:2024 · CC BY 4.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions.
Dwelling identity and boundaries Establishes what physical dwelling the house denotes and where its responsibility boundaries lie.
A house can share an address, parcel or construction elements with other things without being identical to them.
Residential identity
Separates intended dwelling purpose from present use and naming.
House referent
Record the physical referent and evidence for treating it as a house, preserving disputed classifications.
- What physical dwelling does this record identify, and what supports its classification as a house? definition
- Which records or observations distinguish intended residential purpose from current use? provenance
Dwelling and shared boundaries
Locates the house relative to dwelling units, land and adjoining construction.
Included and shared elements
Record included extensions and ancillary spaces, internal dwelling divisions and shared construction interfaces.
- Which extensions, garages, basements and other spaces belong to this house, and which are separately modelled? boundary
- Where do independent dwelling units or shared walls, roofs and access routes create boundaries requiring separate responsibility records? boundary
Domestic spaces and access Describes how the house accommodates domestic activities and movement.
Floor area alone cannot establish whether a house supports the household activities and access needs under consideration.
Household activity spaces
Connects usable spaces to sleeping, cooking, washing and everyday shared life.
Domestic capability layout
Record where domestic activities can occur, their spatial requirements and conflicts between uses.
- Which spaces support sleeping, food preparation, bathing, toileting and shared living, and which facilities are shared between dwelling units? definition
- What usable dimensions and fixed obstructions constrain these activities, and how were they measured? measurement
Entrances, circulation and exits
Examines movement between the exterior and essential domestic spaces.
Usable domestic routes
Record route continuity, changes of level, restricted access and evidence about exit usability.
- What steps, clear widths, slopes, doors or obstructions affect routes from entrances to sleeping and sanitary spaces? measurement
- Which routes need assessment or adaptation for the intended occupants' access and evacuation needs? action
Structure and weather enclosure Captures the physical systems that support and shelter domestic life.
Structural defects and enclosure failures can limit use of particular rooms or make proposed alterations inappropriate.
Load-supporting construction
Identifies structural elements and the limits of available condition evidence.
Structural condition evidence
Record known construction, visible distress, prior alterations and areas requiring qualified investigation.
- What evidence identifies the foundations, load-bearing walls, floors and roof structure, including previous alterations? provenance
- Which cracks, movements, deformations or inaccessible elements require further assessment before continued use or alteration is judged? action
Rain, groundwater and air boundary
Examines the enclosure separating occupied spaces from external moisture and weather.
Enclosure performance
Record leaks, dampness and enclosure defects with their location, timing and uncertain causes.
- Where and under what conditions have water entry, dampness, condensation or draughts been observed? measurement
- Which inspections would distinguish roof, wall, opening, drainage or ground-related causes before selecting repairs? action
Residential services and indoor conditions Connects installed services and measured indoor conditions to the ability to live in the house.
Installed equipment does not establish that water, sanitation or indoor environmental needs are actually met.
Domestic service function
Tracks service connections, operation and interruption dependencies.
Water, sanitation and energy
Record service arrangements, observed operation and shared or external dependencies.
- How are domestic water, wastewater disposal and energy provided, and where do house responsibilities meet shared or external systems? boundary
- What dated observations or test records establish availability and operation, and what remains unverified? provenance
Indoor living conditions
Examines conditions in occupied rooms alongside ventilation and temperature-control capabilities.
Room environment evidence
Record indoor measurements, reported problems and the circumstances needed to interpret them.
- What temperature, humidity, air-quality or daylight evidence is available for relevant rooms, with season, occupancy and measurement method? measurement
- Which ventilation, heating, cooling or moisture-control issues require investigation against the intended use and applicable criteria? action
Occupancy and house interventions Relates present residential use to restrictions, maintenance and proposed changes.
An apparently usable house may have unresolved occupancy restrictions or intervention dependencies that an agent must preserve.
Residential use and restrictions
Separates actual occupancy, functional suitability and documented use permissions.
Occupancy basis
Record current use, affected areas and the evidence supporting any occupancy assessment or restriction.
- Which parts of the house are occupied, vacant or unavailable for residential use, and when was this established? measurement
- What assessments, notices or permissions support stated occupancy limits, and what areas or conditions do they cover? provenance
Repair and adaptation decisions
Frames changes around dwelling needs, affected systems and accountable decisions.
Intervention readiness
Record the purpose, dependencies, authority and verification criteria for proposed house work.
- What dwelling problem would the proposed repair or adaptation resolve, and which structural, service, shared-element or occupancy dependencies must be checked? action
- Whose authorisation and what completion evidence are needed before the work and its claimed residential benefit can be accepted? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Detached single-family house
- Semi-detached house / two-family duplex
- Terraced house / row house
- Townhouse
- Bungalow (single-storey house)
- Courtyard house
- Farmhouse
- Manufactured / prefabricated house
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of house this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Wikidata - Q3947 - Item for house as a building used as a home; not every residential building is this item.
- OpenStreetMap - building=house - Tag for a free-standing or attached dwelling that is not an apartment building; contrast building=apartments, building=residential, building=static_caravan.
- Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus - 300005433 - AAT concept 'houses (buildings)'.
- U.S. Census units in structure - 1-unit detached | 1-unit attached - Survey codes for a house as a single housing unit occupying an entire structure, detached or sharing a wall.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of house this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- International Code Council - International Residential Code (IRC) for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses
- International Code Council - International Building Code (IBC), Residential Group R, when the building falls outside IRC scope
- CEN - Eurocodes EN 1990-EN 1999 for structural design of houses as buildings
- ISO - ISO 6707-1 vocabulary for buildings and dwellings
- NFPA - NFPA 13D sprinkler standard for one- and two-family dwellings and manufactured homes; NFPA 101 Life Safety Code where adopted
- National/state building regulations (e.g. UK Building Regulations; Australia National Construction Code / ABCB; National Building Code of Canada) for construction, fire, energy and accessibility of houses
- World Health Organization - Housing and health guidelines (2018) for occupancy and indoor-environment conditions
- Local planning and zoning ordinances governing whether a plot may be used for a house and at what density
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of house this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Occupied as a household's primary residence, with private kitchen, bathrooms and sleeping rooms under one roof and usually one cadastral plot
- Held as a second or holiday dwelling, still classified as a house by form even when not the household's usual residence
- Let as rental housing (whole-house tenancy) or used as mortgage collateral in retail lending
- Counted in censuses and housing surveys as a 1-unit structure (detached or attached), distinct from flats in multi-unit buildings
- Permitted and inspected under residential building codes (often a one- and two-family code) and local land-use rules for low-density housing
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of house this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Usable / gross floor area - 50-250 (OECD family houses; much smaller or larger exist) - m²
- Number of storeys above ground - 1-3 - storeys
- Number of bedrooms - 1-5 - count
- Usual household size - 1-6 - persons
- Plot / lot area - 80-2000 (urban terrace to suburban detached; rural plots larger) - m²
- Building height - 3-12 - m
- Design / service life of the structure - 50-100 - years
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of house this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Fire, often starting in cooking or electrical equipment, with delayed detection and limited alternative egress in single-stair or single-exit houses
- Structural failure from foundation settlement, decay, overloading, snow, wind or earthquake, including unreinforced masonry and informal construction
- Moisture, mould and fabric decay from leaks, rising damp or inadequate ventilation
- Carbon monoxide poisoning from combustion appliances and blocked flues
- Flooding and water ingress at low-lying or poorly drained sites
- Indoor chemical and physical hazards: radon, lead paint, asbestos, unsafe stairs and falls
- Overcrowding and inadequate water, sanitation or heating, which the WHO treats as housing-related health risks
- Loss of the dwelling through disaster, demolition or foreclosure, producing homelessness rather than a building-physics failure
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of house this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- United Kingdom and Ireland: 'house' is opposed to 'flat'; terraced houses are a dominant urban form; 'bungalow' means a single-storey house
- United States and Canada: everyday term is often 'single-family home'; 'townhouse' and 'duplex' are the usual attached forms; manufactured homes may be titled as personal property rather than as houses
- Australia and New Zealand: 'house' versus 'unit' or 'apartment'; 'villa' in marketing may mean a small detached or semi-detached dwelling
- Continental Europe: cadastral and statistical practice often splits detached, semi-detached and terraced houses; 'villa' can mean a large detached house
- Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking practice: 'casa' versus 'piso'/'apartamento' is the ordinary house/flat split
- Japan: 一戸建て (detached house) is opposed to 集合住宅 (multi-unit housing); wooden light-frame houses are common and treated under a distinct building-standard path
- North Africa, the Middle East and parts of South and East Asia: courtyard houses remain a living type; in many cities an 'independent house' is distinguished from a flat in an apartment block
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of house this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Apartment / flat - A house is occupied as (almost) the whole building with private ground access; a flat is one dwelling among several in a multi-unit building that shares structure, circulation or services.
- Housing unit / dwelling - A dwelling is the statistical living-quarters unit; it may be a house, a flat, a room or another form. A house is a building type that typically contains one dwelling (or two in a duplex).
- Home - Home is the social and legal idea of a person's residence; it need not be a house (it can be a flat, institution or temporary shelter).
- Building - Building is the superordinate class; a house is a building whose designed use is household living quarters.
- Hotel / boarding house / short-stay lodging - Transient or room-by-room occupancy with a commercial operator, versus household occupancy of a dwelling.
- Hut, shack or informal shelter - A house in this sense is a permanent, typically code-addressed dwelling; informal shelters may function as living quarters without meeting that construction or legal status.
- Accessory dwelling unit (granny flat, annex) - A subordinate dwelling on the same plot as a house; it is not the house itself, though both are dwellings.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of house this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Sources
- house (Q3947) - Canonical identifier and alignment to dwelling/building classes used in linked open data.
- International Residential Code (IRC) for One- and Two-Family Dwellings - Code-level scope of a house as a one- or two-family dwelling, and the safety, structural and occupancy rules that govern it in many jurisdictions.
- ISO 6707-1, Buildings and civil engineering works - Vocabulary - Standard vocabulary distinguishing building, dwelling and related construction terms used when classifying a house.
- WHO Housing and health guidelines - Health-related performance of dwellings (crowding, indoor temperature, injury, water, sanitation) applied to houses as occupied living quarters.
- U.S. Census Bureau housing-unit and units-in-structure definitions (American Community Survey / Decennial Census) - Statistical distinction between a 1-unit detached or attached house and other dwelling types (apartments, mobile homes, group quarters).
What the second pass must settle
- Does an existing Vercy world model already cover house sufficiently to serve as the single source of truth for vr.tr.house?
- How does the registry distinguish house from apartment building, mobile dwelling, holiday accommodation and mixed-use residential building?
- Which conventions should govern inclusion of attached garages, accessory dwellings, outbuildings and shared construction?
- Which jurisdiction-specific sources and qualified assessments should ground habitability, occupancy, accessibility and alteration decisions?
- What evidence age, inspection coverage and uncertainty rules should govern condition assessments and claims that a dwelling capability has been restored?