Room Condition And Furnishings
Common Area Furniture[back to top]
Furniture assigned to a House lounge and/or suite common area may not be appropriated for a student’s personal use. Furniture must not be physically removed from the house/hall. Common area furniture must adhere to CAL133 fire code. Students may not add non-Institute owned furniture to common spaces.
Room Furniture[back to top]
All rooms in the Undergraduate Residence Halls are furnished with a bed, mattress, dresser or wardrobe, desk, chair, bookshelves and wastebasket for each resident. All beds are twin extra-long. Students must supply their own room lamps. Each student is responsible for his or her room furniture. This furniture is to be used only in the space to which it has been assigned. If a student wishes to remove furniture from a room, he or she must first request permission from the House Manager and make the necessary arrangements for storage or transfer within the residence. Students are responsible for ensuring that stored furniture is returned to rooms before they vacate for the year [even if they are returning in the fall] to avoid being charged for replacement costs. There are some residence halls where all room furniture must remain in place. Check with your House Manager.
Alterations and Additions [back to top]
Alterations to physical conditions of rooms and hallways [including painting, building lofts, etc.] must be approved by the House Manager. The majority of undergraduate halls and all graduate halls prohibit such alterations. Residents are not permitted to alter or add to any part of the building structure, mechanical, or electrical systems.
- No materials may be placed, affixed, hung or extended on any exterior surface of an MIT residence, including rooftops.
- Each residence, through their house government, will develop their own guidelines for materials that may be displayed within their residence, following fire safety guidelines.
MIT Housing recognizes, however, that during key-time periods the practice of developing and hanging banners is one that has been an asset to the student community. Residence halls may request permission from MIT Housing to safely affix banners. All banners must be safely affixed to residence halls only during the approved time frame and must be removed as per authorized date.
Nothing contained in these rules and regulations shall be construed as restricting in any way a student’s right to free expression as guaranteed under the United States Constitution or Massachusetts Declaration
of Rights.
Lofts [back to top]
Plans for construction of lofts must be submitted to the House Manager, who will review and approve adequacy of structural design. For reasons of safety and to ensure that sleeping residents are visible in a building fire search, lofts may not be attached to building components or be enclosed with drapes, curtains or doors. The structure must have smooth surfaces with no protruding nails, bolts, or angle forms. Per electrical code, no electrical wiring or lighting fixtures may be fixed to the loft structure.
Sprinklers must not be blocked or shielded. Additional information covering location, height, and size are available from the Safety Office, and/or your House Manager. Completed structures are subject to inspection by the House Manager for approval. Lofts are prohibited in Simmons Hall and all graduate housing.
Waterbeds [back to top]
While waterbeds are not prohibited in those houses where they can be accommodated structurally, approval must be obtained from the House Manager prior to installation. Waterbeds do present some serious problems of which residents should be aware. The two major ones are the risks from leakage and electrocution from faulty heaters. Electric heaters must be U.L. approved.
All waterbeds must be enclosed in a tank capable of holding all the water if a leak occurs. Students using heaters in conjunction with a waterbed should be aware there is a potential danger of electrocution or shock. Students installing waterbeds must accept full responsibility for any damage or injury that may be caused by the waterbed. Before installing a waterbed, a resident must sign a release form accepting responsibility for all damages to the residence hall structure, mechanical systems, and personal property of other residents which may be caused by it. The resident is responsible for all labor costs associated with draining and moving the waterbed to facilitate repairs to the residence hall structure or mechanical systems. The resident must remove the waterbed when she/he moves out of the room or leaves for the summer or must pay the labor costs for the housing staff to remove it. Waterbeds are not permitted in the graduate halls or apartment buildings.
