To meet the public's need for improved living quality, the national standard "Residential Project Code" has been released and will take effect on May 1 this year. The new code takes the residential project as a whole as its object and aims at safety, comfort, greenness and intelligence, setting out provisions on the construction, use and maintenance of residential projects in terms of scale, layout, functions, performance and key technical measures.

The new code stipulates that the storey height of newly built residential buildings shall be no less than 3 meters, and that residential buildings of 4 storeys or more shall be equipped with elevators; it improves the sound insulation performance of walls and floor slabs; increases the clear passage width of entrance doors and bathroom doors; raises the height of railings at open-air locations such as balconies; requires public mobile communicationsignal coveragein public spaces and elevator cars; requires outdoor air-conditioning units to be installed on dedicated platforms; and specifies requirements for the installation of heating and air-conditioning facilities in different climate zones.

With China's rapid economic and social development, both the people's living standards and the level of building technology have improved considerably, creating higher demand for better residential quality. Drawing on China's residential project construction practices in recent years and based on an assessment of the implementation of current residential standards, the new code, after extensive solicitation of opinions and thorough demonstration, sets out the baseline requirements for residential projects, which will more effectively support the high-quality development of urban housing.