Considering that the right to light is now a basic right for inhabitants, the provisions regarding the right to light in the Building Design and Construction Section of the Building Technical Regulations were amended on December 21, 2017 by the Ministry of the Interior. In addition to the expansion of restrictions on the scope and time of the shadows caused by certain buildings on their neighboring buildings in a residential area on the winter solstice day, the amendment also explicitly stipulated that it shall, pursuant to the type of building, examine the condition of the shadows. In order to allow buffer time for builders, the amendment comes into effect on July 1, 2020.

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The key point of the amendment to Article 39-1 is as follows: On the winter solstice day, the shadow caused by any part of a new building or additions to a building exceeding 21 meters shall allow the neighboring residential or commercial district to receive at least one hour of effective sunlight. It also shall pursuant to the statistics such as climate condition simulation analyses and land use efficiency rate to explicitly stipulate the method of examining the shadows caused by buildings.  

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With respect to the enforcement of the aforementioned provisions, the Ministry of the Interior explained in the Interpretation Letter Tai-Nei-Ying-Zi No. 1090810389 of June 10, 2020 that, “If a municipal government already has relevant regulations regarding urban planning, land use control, and urban design that is equivalent to the examinations of the height and density of the access to the sunlight, and since such matters pertain to higher administration in building administration, regulations at the urban planning level shall be applied first. The examinations of sunlight on the winter solstice day pursuant to the Building Technical Regulations can be waived. Moreover, this will be effective immediately, and no request for review will be necessary.” Further, to ensure the needs of specific local development and special landscape are met, each municipal government may provide its examination regulations for approval from the Ministry of the Interior.    

(By Jerry Hung)

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