Apartment Redesign: What Is Allowed and What Is Not

In February 2018, new rules for obtaining approval for apartment redesign came into effect. Architect Marina Pod'yachyeva explains all the nuances and details of legalizing changes in an apartment.

Marina Pod'yachyeva is an architect and founder of the ML laboratory project.

What Is Allowed

Free Layout

What many developers try to sell as free layout (absence of internal walls and minimal number of load-bearing supports) is nothing more than a commercial trick. In reality, buyers pay unreasonably large sums for such apartments. Radical changes to the internal space of an apartment still need to be approved with Moscow Housing Inspection.

Expanding Wet Zones by Using Non-Living Spaces

Often there is not enough space in a bathroom for all the necessary sanitary fixtures — bidet, bathtub, shower cabin, hygiene shower, washing machine. Wet zones are classified as non-living area, which means that their size can only be increased by using other non-living spaces — hallway or storage room. It is not allowed under current Russian legislation to increase the bathroom area at the expense of the kitchen.

Combining Bathroom

Combining the bathroom is one of the most popular types of apartment redesign. Partitions between adjacent wet zones are removed, creating a more spacious room. However, there is an exception when ventilation ducts are installed in the wall between these rooms. This occurs in Stalin-era and other pre-war buildings.

Opening in Load-Bearing Wall

Intervention in load-bearing walls can affect the entire building structure. These changes must be approved by the project author and Moscow Housing Inspection. It should be remembered that a new opening in a wall is usually required to be reinforced.

Replacing Gas Stove with Electric One

This is one of the most complex types of apartment redesign. You need to obtain permission for additional electrical power, prepare a project for the new electrical installation, and complete several documents with the management company and electricity provider.

At the same time, you must prepare a project for reconfiguration and redesign of the apartment and get approval from "Mosgas." You must also approve the reconfiguration and redesign with Moscow Housing Inspection. In the end, the apartment will become more eco-friendly, and electricity tariffs will decrease by 30%.

What Is Not Allowed

Changing the Building Facade

Since February 2018, it has been prohibited to approve completed redesigns that alter the architectural appearance or color scheme of a multi-apartment building. The validity period of the approval can only be extended once, and for no more than half a year.

Attaching Balcony

The Moscow Government directly prohibits such types of redesigns: joining balconies, loggias, terraces, and verandas with internal rooms. The solution to the problem is a sliding or hinged glass partition, similar to French doors, as specified in the redesign project.

In panel buildings constructed after 2007, the project author does not allow any modifications to the window sill block. Removing only the window and door while keeping the sill is forbidden due to thermal calculations. Balconies and loggias are classified as summer rooms, and joining them with living rooms or kitchens without glazing between them is not allowed.

Bathroom Over Living Space

It is forbidden by SNiP norms to increase the bathroom area at the expense of the kitchen or bedroom. Any wet zone inside an apartment must not even partially be located above living spaces of the apartment on a lower floor. Exception — an apartment on the first or second floor, but above non-living spaces like a store or office.

Combining Kitchen and Bedroom with Gas Stove

It is not allowed to combine a gas-equipped room with a living bedroom. However, you can remove a non-load-bearing partition if you replace it with a sliding partition. For example, it can move on guides or fold into the wall like in a drawer.

Extending Kitchen by Using Living Room or Bathroom

You can expand the kitchen area at the expense of a bathroom only on the last floor of a multi-apartment building. You can enter a living room only if an electric stove is installed in the kitchen, and only on the first floor or above non-living spaces.

Extending Water Heating System to Balconies and Loggias

In winter, pipes on balconies or loggias can freeze and burst. Additionally, connecting radiators or heated floors to the central heating system will create extra load. The pressure in the entire system will drop, and pipes throughout the building will become colder. In many cities, it is sufficient to insulate the balcony to get approval, but Moscow does not allow any exceptions for this rule.