Yes, to be a bedroom it has to have a closet. If your contract says a bedroom will be added, then it should include a closet. I would pay the $500 rather than do it later if it comes down to that.

Also, be aware that when you add a bedroom it changes permitting, septic, etc.

To be BR it must have a closet. Like Sue said, beware about septic permitting. We left the closet off of the plan on purpose for our bonus room/4th BR due to the septic permit. The septic was approved for a 3 BR house. We are going to add a closet when we move in.

thanks....we will have sewer - not septic

Interesting. We currently rent a very large house that has several bedrooms without closets. We are renting the house because it's not selling, lack of closet space being one consideration. I wonder if the original builder did that to get around the septic requirements? I've never heard of this bedroom/closet requirement. Around here (midwest) bedrooms have to have a window for safety reasons. It's not the same but you could purchase a nice wardrobe to serve as the closet.

Jan, I am not opposed to a wardrobe, but when it comes time for resale, I want to advertise a four bedroom house which I won't be able to do without a closet.

While it doesn't seem that difficult to add a closet it is additional framing, drywall, the closet door, and labor for all that. It would probably cost you more than $500 to add a closet to the room at a later time. And the house will have more value as a 4-bedroom vs a 3-bedroom. I'd pay the $500.

If it were me I would have a closet put in for $500. I have an office that doesn't have a closet and I regret not getting one into the design.

BTW, I don't agree with the assessment that a room must have a closet to be considered a bedroom. What about all the old houses that don't have closets in bedrooms? It might be a standard set from one municipality to the next or even regional.

In SC you can not claim it as a bedroom without a closet. Also the room has to be a minimum size.
I have a room off one of my bathrooms. It has a bathroom entry and a hallway entry. It has a closet. I use it as a dressing room/office. It is one foot too small to be considered a bedroom even though to future owners it would make a great nursery.

lsst, thanks that is the kind of info I need to know. Where can I look for the official info about this?

mar cia,

I will look back at my records. The info was from my builder.

I remember the number of 100 sq. feet. I want to say at least 10x10. I vaguely remember my room is 9x11 which make it 99 and not 100.

I just checked with a guy in SC who just got his builders license. He says a bedroom doesn't have to have a closet...just egress...window. So, I am not sure.

I just checked with a guy in SC who just got his builders license. He says a bedroom doesn't have to have a closet...just egress...window. So, I am not sure.

I don't think a bedroom is required to have a closet, however, a room with a closet is officially considered a bedroom and then must have a window that meets egress requirements, and, for some, it also affects the septic plan. (I always thought it funny that number of bedrooms, not number of people or bathrooms, was the determining factor for septic designs.)

Our county has changed to the IRC from the UBC. The IRC seems to label things based on use, not design. No closet is required for a room to be a bedroom. Bite the bullet and get the closet now. Why build a new home that's missing something you want and make plans to DIY later? You'll forget the aggrevation soon enough. Tom

We're building a Frank Betz Plan (Glenhaven) & the Bonus room doesn't have a closet (the plan doesn't even show a closet). There was knee wall access on both sides of the room, but we just finished framing & can see that the knee wall access isn't enough to store anything. Instead our DD's WIC will be extended down into one of the knee wall access areas to give her more closet space. We thought about adding a closet & taking the space from the adjacent bedroom, but we didn't want to lose space in that bedroom. We also didn't want to add any sq. footage to the plan. It's just fine w/ us that the room doesn't have a closet as it's just for guests & they shouldn't be staying too long.

"(I always thought it funny that number of bedrooms, not number of people or bathrooms, was the determining factor for septic designs.)"

Rhome - Me too. I mean how many times is my 4th bedroom going to actually use the bathroom? LOL

mar cia

For resale, In SC, to be called a bedroom it has to have a closet. For example, If I have 3 BR with closets and a bonus room with no closet I can not state the bonus room as a bedroom.

SC may have changed the codes since we built in 2004. I would love to call my small room with my closet an extra bedroom. It would increase the resale value of it.

If I recall, the closet requirement did not come from the building code but came from real estate appraisal guidelines. Of course, now I can't FIND those guidelines, but that is what I recall. This came about on here awhile ago.

Where we are a bedroom must have both a closet and an egress window in order to be considered a bedroom. I agree with the poster who said it will cost you more than $500 to put in a closet later. You would be better off doing it now.

Sue36,
That may be what my builder was referring to, too.

Thanks to all of you. I have the official answer after talking to the inspectors office and realtors in the area. The building code requires a window of a certain size but no closet. But, yes, the realtors and mls require a closet if it is to be called a bedroom.