New Taipei City Special Report: Navigating New Regulations for Studio Apartment Renovations

New Taipei City Special Report 4/4: Latest Regulations and Review Trends for Studio Apartment Renovations in New Taipei City

How do studio apartment renovations trigger New Taipei City’s regulations? A review revolution is changing the rules for subdivided rental units. A landlord excitedly tells a contractor, “Landlord, this 30-ping apartment, help me divide it into 5 studio units with good soundproofing using brick walls!” He thought it was just an “interior renovation” cost, and as long as he worked discreetly and wasn’t reported, he could wait for rental income. He didn’t even realize his neighbor would be the next to report him.

However, in nearby Banqiao, another savvy prospective landlord consulted an architect before signing the purchase agreement. The architect sternly advised him, “This building is on the 6th floor and above; dividing it into studio units falls under ‘general interior renovation’ and requires architect certification. Furthermore, adding 5 bathrooms, if it involves ‘drilling through the floor slab,’ may require ‘consent from the floor directly below.’ We must use ‘lightweight partitions’ and ensure hallway widths exceed 120 cm, otherwise, it will 100% not pass.”

The stark contrast between these two scenarios brutally reveals the harsh reality of “studio apartment renovations in New Taipei City.” Following the fatal tragedy of the Zhonghe fire in mid-2017, the New Taipei City government has elevated its review of “subdivided rentals” from mere “interior renovation” to the highest alert level for “public safety.” This article will delve into New Taipei City’s latest regulations and review trends, illustrating how this revolution has completely ended the old era of “privately subdivided studio apartments.”

Challenges in Studio Apartment Renovations: Why Traditional Partitions Fail to Measure Public Safety?

The allure of “one more room, one more rent payment” has driven landlords to pursue this path relentlessly. However, the flaw in the old model was building “profit” on the grave of “safety.” Traditional “brick partitions” and “train-car-style” layouts are the two main targets of New Taipei City’s strict regulations.

The Invisible Killer of Structural Load: When Brick Walls Collapse Old Buildings

Landlords in the old model favored “brick walls” for their superior soundproofing and tenant satisfaction. But they overlooked that many old apartments in New Taipei City, dating back 30 to 40 years, were not designed with floor slabs capable of supporting the “additional” weight of four or five brick walls. A single brick wall (including plaster) can weigh over 200 kilograms per square meter. Dividing an apartment into five studios is akin to placing a large truck inside the building. Several cases in Zhonghe and Yonghe have occurred where upstairs neighbors illegally used brick walls to create studios, leading to “structural cracks” and “floor slab subsidence” in the downstairs ceilings. This resulted in costly lawsuits and mandatory demolition.

The Paradox of Fire Escape: When a Single Exit is Choked by Dark Corridors

The second characteristic of the old model was the “maximization” of room count. To cram in more rooms, landlords would design narrow, elongated corridors in a “train-car style,” with rooms lining both sides, and only a single exit at the end (or sometimes no exit at all). In the event of a fire, such a design becomes a death trap with “zero chance of survival.” The arson tragedy in Zhonghe in 2017 was precisely due to the flammable materials used in illegal partitions and the narrow, blocked escape routes, which caused smoke and heat to spread rapidly, leaving tenants with nowhere to flee. This incident became the turning point for the New Taipei City government to “iron-handedly” rectify studio apartment renovations.

How Studio Apartment Renovations Rewrite the Rules: The Roles of General Interior Renovation and Usage Determination

After the Zhonghe fire, the New Taipei City government completely rewrote the rules for “studio apartment renovations.” The core of the review trend is to elevate it from a mere “renovation act” to a “high-risk public safety behavior,” strictly controlled through “application categories” and “usage determination.”

Review Core: Mandatory Upgrade from Simple to General Interior Renovation

This is the first “iron rule” landlords must know. As mentioned in previous articles, New Taipei City’s “simple interior renovation” has a “red line”: it “shall not alter partition walls.” The essence of “dividing into studio apartments” is precisely the “addition of several partition walls.”

This means:

• No Gray Areas: In New Taipei City, if you are “dividing into studio apartments,” it is 100% not applicable to “simple interior renovation.”
• Mandatory “General Interior Renovation”: You must commission a licensed architect or structural engineer for certification and submit for review under the strictest “general interior renovation” procedures.
• Review Focus: Reviewers will rigorously check your “fire compartmentation,” “escape route widths,” and “structural load-bearing capacity.”

Any attempt to sneak through using “simple interior renovation” or to proceed with “no permit” construction will result in an order to “stop work” and a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 if reported.

Material Revolution: Shifting from Brick to Lightweight Partitions

To address the challenge of “structural load-bearing,” New Taipei City’s review trends have “effectively” banned brick walls for studio apartment renovations. Architects must consider structural safety during certification, thus mandating landlords to switch to “lightweight partition” construction methods. Key materials for review include:

• Light Gauge Steel Frame + Double-Sided “Fire-Resistant Grade 1” Calcium Silicate Boards: Filled internally with “fire-resistant and sound-insulating cotton.” This is the current mainstream method, weighing only 1/3 of brick walls and meeting the legal requirement of “one-hour fire resistance rating.”
• Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Blocks: Also significantly lighter than brick, with inherent fire-resistant and sound-insulating properties.

The review trend requires you to clearly indicate the “detailed construction of partition walls” on your drawings and, upon completion inspection, provide “factory certificates of fire-resistance grade 1” for all boards and framing materials.

Regulatory Boss Battle: “Number of Units Change” and “Consent from Lower Floor”

These are the two major hurdles that have tightened New Taipei City’s review process in recent years. If your studio apartment division is “excessive” (e.g., dividing one floor into 6 or more units, each with independent electricity meters and door numbers), the Public Works Department may not simply classify it as “interior renovation” but will upgrade it to a “change in the number of units.” This falls under the scope of “changing the building use permit,” and the review difficulty and cost will increase exponentially.

Furthermore, New Taipei City has adopted the strict standards of Taipei City. If you “add bathrooms” and the construction involves “chipping the floor slab” (to embed drainpipes and sewage pipes), you must submit a “consent form from all owners of the floor directly below.” Adding 4 or 5 bathrooms without chipping the floor slab is almost an impossible task, making “downstairs neighbors” the key veto power for your ability to legally subdivide.

Beyond Room Count: 4 Key Review Indicators for Legal Studio Apartment Renovations in New Taipei City

To legally renovate studio apartments in New Taipei City, landlords must shift their mindset from “pursuing room count” to “complying with regulations.” Your architect must achieve perfection in these four key indicators to have a chance of passing.

Core Indicator: The “Golden Width” of Escape Routes

This is a “hard-learned lesson” indicator after the Zhonghe fire. Reviewers will use rulers to precisely measure the “corridor widths” on your drawings. According to the “Architectural Technical Regulations,” corridor widths have strict limitations:

• Corridor with residences on one side: Minimum clear width of **90 cm**.
• Corridor with residences on both sides: Minimum clear width of **120 cm**.

Any design attempting to reduce corridor width to gain interior space will be “immediately rejected.”

Key Indicator: Fire Resistance Rating of Partition Walls and Fire Doors

All “partition walls” and “corridor walls” for studio apartments must have a “fire resistance rating of one hour or more.” Simultaneously, the “room doors” of each studio must be “fire doors” (f60A or f60B) with a “one-hour fire resistance rating” and “heat-insulating properties,” accompanied by “factory certificates.” The cost of these fire doors is a crucial expense that landlords in the old model often overlook.

Here is our compiled “Legal SOP Dashboard for New Taipei City Studio Apartment Renovations”:

• Review Dimension: Application Type
• NG Status (Old Model / Illegal): No permit / Simple interior renovation (sneaking)
• OK Status (Legal SOP / Review Trend): General Interior Renovation Permit (licensed architect certification)
• Review Dimension: Partition Material
• NG Status (Old Model / Illegal): Brick walls (overweight, endangering structure)
• OK Status (Legal SOP / Review Trend): Lightweight partitions (light gauge steel frame/AAC blocks) + submission of “Fire-Resistant Grade 1” certificates
• Review Dimension: Escape Corridor
• NG Status (Old Model / Illegal): Narrow train-car style corridor (<90cm)
• OK Status (Legal SOP / Review Trend): Corridor clear width meets **90cm / 120cm** regulatory requirements
• Review Dimension: Room Door
• NG Status (Old Model / Illegal): Standard wooden door (not fire-resistant)
• OK Status (Legal SOP / Review Trend): Fire door with “one-hour fire resistance rating” + factory certificate
• Review Dimension: Bathroom Plumbing
• NG Status (Old Model / Illegal): Unauthorized floor slab chipping, causing neighbor damage
• OK Status (Legal SOP / Review Trend): Submission of “Consent from Lower Floor” (if floor slab is penetrated) / or use of non-penetrating methods

The Future of Studio Apartment Renovations: A Choice Between Landlord Responsibility and Tenant Safety

The regulations and review trends for “studio apartment renovations” in New Taipei City have clearly signaled the end of the “private studio apartment” era. This revolution is a “fire safety wall” established by the New Taipei City government after paying a heavy price in public safety. As a landlord, you face a choice: Will you continue to use the old model, becoming an “illegal landlord” operating on the fringes of the law, putting tenants at high risk, constantly worrying about being reported, demolished, or even facing criminal charges? Or will you choose to face the regulations, invest the necessary costs, commission professional architects, and create a “legal,” “safe,” and “peace of mind” rental property, becoming a responsible “professional landlord”? Ultimately, this is a choice between “short-term high profits” and “long-term responsibility.”