Classification of Buildings 1994

The classification is intended only for the classification of buildings. The classification does not include products of civil engineering and of secondary contracts and sub-contracts. The target unit of the classification is a building containing space intended for housing or other activities. The target unit may also be business premises located in the building. The use purpose is defined for a building when granting a building permit or when changing the purpose of the building subject to licence. The use purpose of a building can often be expressed with the same concepts as the activity taking place there. The difference should be noted; the Standard Industrial Classification classifies units engaged in economic activities, while the Classification of Building classifies physical units, buildings or premises. The Standard Industrial Classification is used primarily when classifying establishments, enterprises, and so on. According to the Ministry of the Environment’s decision on plan notation, the use purpose of different areas can also be assigned. The mere use purpose of a building does not always tell enough about the characteristics of the building. Some structural building issues, such as hall-like spaces and balcony-access blocks, determine the characteristics of the building that are needed particularly for the needs of economic statistics to measure the volume and value of building production, for example.

The sections of the Classification of Buildings 1994 are indicated with characters. The sections are divided into 2-digit divisions and further into 3-digit groups. Buildings are always classified according to the 3-digit group. Buildings can be grouped in various applications according to the main and sub-groups. There are 13 sections, 31 two-digit divisions and 77 three-digit groups. A building (premises) is mainly classified into a certain classification category by the intended use of the largest share of its floor area. However, only such buildings where the living space is more than one-half of the gross floor area are defined as residential buildings. An exception to these rules is the group “Other buildings”, to which only small buildings of minor importance can be classified, such as outbuildings and sauna buildings in connection with residential buildings and summer cottages, for example. Important outbuildings of sufficiently large size are classified in the main and sub-group to which they are mainly intended. 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 (buildings). Caves and other subterranean spaces are not buildings if they are mainly enclosed within rock or similar walls and they do not contain structures comparable to the interior structures of buildings proper, for example, underground oil tanks. Light-structured stalls, kiosks and so on, as well as transportable caravans, ships and so on are not classified as buildings. Business premises are a building or its part, which are managed by the same natural or legal person and are used for other activity than housing. If the same person both lives and engages in other activity in the same building, the space used for other than own housing is defined as business premises. The premises include all separate spaces, such as room spaces, storages, utility spaces and so on, so the internal spaces of premises are not further specified. A dwelling is a room or a suite of rooms that is equipped with a kitchen, kitchenette or cooking area intended for permanent housing. A dwelling must have a separate entrance that does not go through another accommodation. A dormitory is a building where residents have communal kitchen, living and/or sanitary facilities. A dormitory does not usually have dwellings according to the definition mentioned above.

The Classification of Buildings 1994 is not based on an international recommendation. However, the EU has prepared its own classification of buildings, the Classification of Types of Constructions, CC (Version 19 March 1996. Eurostat, 1996.). The classification was designed on the basis of the UN’s Central Product Classification CPC (Provisional Central Product Classification. United Nations, 1991) so that the CPC division 52 “Constructions” with its sub-divisions is used as the basis of the EU's Classification of Types of Constructions.