8. Indoor Space Flashcards
Usable Indoor Floor Space
the space available for children’s use for indoor play, classroom activities, and napping. Usable space also includes cubbies, cabinets, and shelves that are used as open storage and is accessible to the children.
Non-usable Space
includes stairways, toilet and bath facilities, permanent fixtures, and non-moveable furniture. Additionally, kitchens or designated food preparation areas, offices, laundry rooms, storage areas, etc. are not included when determining usable floor space.
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Total Interior Space - Unusable Space = Usuable Indoor Floor Space
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Usuable Indoor Floor Space / Square Foot per Child = Licensed Capacity
Child care programs are required to have a minimum of 35 square feet of usable indoor space for each child. These are following example situations:
If the child care program held a license on October 1, 1992 and has remained continuously licensed, it is required to have a minimum of 20 square feet of usable indoor space for each child.
- A new child care program being licensed has four classrooms; each room is 23 feet wide and 25 feet long. Each classroom has a 12 square foot bathroom and a 3 square foot closet. This program has 2,240 square feet useable indoor floor space and has a program capacity of 64 children.
- Interior Space (23 x 25) – Unusable Space (12 square feet + 3 square feet) = 560 square feet per classroom x 4 classrooms = 2,240 square feet useable indoor floor space
- 560 useable square feet indoor floor space/35 square feet per child = 16 children licensed capacity per classroom x 4 classrooms = maximum 64 children capacity for the program
(cont.) Usable Indoor Floor Space
~ when infants are in care, they must have open indoor floor space for them to crawl, beyond cribs and playpens
~ this can be the same space used for cribs and plays pens, if they can be moved to allow for open floor space
~ school-age child care programs may request permission from the licensing authority to operate under an exception to usable indoor floor space
~ for example, the program may have a large outdoor play area with pavilions that they use for multiple purposes, which could substitute for the lack of indoor space
~ rooms that are used for sedentary activities may have a minimum of 20 square feet of usable space per child
~ each room routinely used as a classroom must provide the minimum 35 square footage of usable indoor floor space per child
~ during periods of transition, not to exceed 30 minutes, when children are arriving in the morning and departing from the child care facility in the evening, the indoor space requirement is suspended but they must remain in compliance with local fire ordinances
