The addition of a sauna or steam room to your home, like any significant renovation job, is regulated by the construction code of the regional building authority. Building codes vary from place to place, but in many locales, saunas and steam rooms, because of the consistent presence of steam within these, are subject to specific considerations that don’t apply to an ordinary room.

Licenses and Inspections

Almost any construction project requires you to obtain a construction permit from the regional building authority and that your job be inspected during or following construction. A new steam or sauna room is unlikely to be an exclusion. In addition to regulations concerning structural design, fire safety and electrical systems, saunas and steam rooms might also be subject to building code requirements especially aimed at high-moisture areas. Always consult the regional building authority to your particular conditions in your area before you begin work.

Wallboard Requirements

Building codes typically specify the type of wallboard that may be used in the construction of toilets and other rooms that are potentially wetter than average living spaces. Because saunas and steam rooms are subject to consistent high humidity, many codes require that wallboard used in their construction be cement board, cement-fiber board or glass mat gypsum board rather than conventional gypsum wallboard or perhaps water-resistant gypsum board. In some locales, the building code may not require the usage of wallboard in any way, and in that circumstance, wood paneling might be attached directly to the wall’s studs.

Glass Requirements

Construction codes include specifications for glass panels in wet areas to be able to decrease the odds that the glass will break and injure anybody who slips and falls against it. If the plan of a steam or sauna room includes glass in its doors or walls, most codes require that the glazing be shatter-resistant safety glass when the bottom edge of the glass is less than 60 inches over any walking or standing surfaces.

Roof Requirements

Codes typically need mechanical ventilation in bathrooms and other areas that are subject to high levels of moisture or humidity. In California, the Residential Code requires that the ventilation system within such regions have the ability to transfer no less than 50 cubic feet of air per minute and exhaust the air directly to the exterior of the construction. A mechanical ventilation system is not required if the space has a minimum of 3 square feet of glazed window region and when at least half those windows are openable.

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