Property for a disability short-stay (respite) service: the designation standards by type

The key point: If you are starting a short-stay (respite) service under disability welfare, the property requirements change greatly depending on which of three types you run—"annexed," "standalone," or "vacant-room." An "annexed office" attached to a disability support facility or residential facility, and a "vacant-room" service that uses empty living rooms of a facility, can share the parent facility's equipment and staff; but a "standalone office" run on its own must provide its own living rooms, dining room, bath, washroom and toilet, with living rooms capped at 4 people, no basement, a floor area of at least 8 m² per user (excluding storage and similar), and a bed and a buzzer (Standards concerning staffing, equipment and operation of designated disability welfare service businesses under the Act on Comprehensive Support for Daily and Social Life of Persons with Disabilities = Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Ordinance No. 171 of 2006, art. 115, art. 117). What a real-estate company (we) handle is surveying whether a property can meet these equipment and area standards, the zoning and the condition of an existing building, providing that in the important-matters explanation (Real Estate Brokerage Act art. 35), and brokerage. Preparing the designation application is for an administrative scrivener; fire equipment and the fire-defence-object category (Fire Service Act Enforcement Order, Appended Table 1) for the fire department; the building-use / change-of-use review under the Building Standards Act for an architect and the specified administrative agency; and the design of night-shift labour for a labour and social security attorney—each an independent business contracted with separately (no referral fees are exchanged). The final judgment on whether a particular property conforms to the designation standards rests with the designating authority and the respective licensed professionals.

For corporations wanting to add a short-stay after a disability group home or daytime-care service, and for owners looking for welfare-use property, this article organises what you can confirm before signing, in the order of the ordinance and public materials. This is general information; the final judgment on whether a property conforms to the designation standards, and in which type you can start, rests with the designating authority (prefecture / municipality) and the respective licensed professionals.

Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. (四葉不動産株式会社), based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, provides surveys and brokerage of commercial and welfare-use real estate. You can consult us from the stage of "can this property give us the living-room area" or "is annexed or standalone more realistic here".

How do the three short-stay types (annexed / standalone / vacant-room) change the property requirements?

A short stay (respite) is a disability welfare service under the Act on Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities, in which a person whose home care has become temporarily difficult—because a carer is ill, for example—is admitted for a short period and provided care such as bathing, toileting and meals (designation-standards ordinance art. 114, art. 118). The designated business comes in three broad types, and which you choose changes the property, equipment and staff you need.

Type	What property it runs in	Equipment approach	Staffing approach
Annexed (annexed office)	Attached to a disability support / residential facility	May use the parent facility's equipment (excluding living rooms) so far as it does not impede the parent's operation (art. 117(2))	Count the parent and short-stay users together (art. 115(1))
Vacant-room	Uses living rooms of a facility that are wholly or partly unused by residents	It suffices to have the equipment the facility requires (art. 117(1), (3))	Count together with the parent (art. 115(2))
Standalone (standalone office)	Run on its own, not relying on a parent facility	Provide living rooms, dining room, bath, washroom, toilet and other equipment on its own (art. 117(4), (5))	Life-support staff counted together with daytime-care users etc. (art. 115(3))

Annexed and vacant-room build on the equipment and staff of a residential or disability support facility already running, so the added property burden is small. A standalone type that starts a short-stay in a new property must meet on its own the living-room area and equipment standards seen next. Which type is possible turns on whether the corporation already has a facility, and whether the property sits where it can be annexed to a parent facility.

What designation standards apply to living-room area, equipment and layout?

What matters most in choosing a property is the standalone office's equipment standard. Article 117(5) of the designation-standards ordinance sets the following for a standalone type. Even for annexed and vacant-room types, the living rooms used for the short-stay must be ones "wholly or partly unused by residents" (art. 117(1)).

Equipment	Standard for a standalone type (art. 117(5))
Living room	Capacity of 4 or fewer / not in a basement / floor area of at least 8 m² per user excluding storage etc. / a bed (or substitute) and a buzzer (or substitute)
Dining room	A size and fittings that do not impede meal provision
Bath	Suited to the users' characteristics
Washroom / toilet	Provided on each floor that has living rooms, suited to the users' characteristics

What ties directly to the property are three points: "at least 8 m² per user in the living room (excluding storage)," "capacity of 4 or fewer," and "living rooms cannot be in a basement." When converting an existing building to a standalone type, whether this floor area can be secured, and whether a bath, washroom and toilet can be provided on each floor with living rooms, are the core of what to confirm on the drawings before signing. The final judgment on whether a living room's floor area conforms is made by the designating authority (prefecture / municipality) together with the property's actual measurements and layout. We handle confirming the facts from the drawings and the registered floor area.

Where do you check fire equipment and the building use under the Building Standards Act?

For a short-stay property, not only the designation equipment but the Fire Service Act and the Building Standards Act run in parallel. These split between what real estate (we) survey and what an architect, the fire department and the authority judge.

Law	What to check	Who judges
Fire Service Act	Which use category of Appended Table 1 a short-stay facility falls in, and what fire equipment is required	The fire department / fire-defence headquarters
Building Standards Act	The building's use (whether a special building), whether a change-of-use confirmation is required, lighting and evacuation standards	Architect / specified administrative agency / designated confirmation body

Under Appended Table 1 of the Fire Service Act Enforcement Order, the practical dividing line is that a disability short-stay facility is organised as item (6)-ro if it mainly admits "persons with disabilities etc. for whom evacuation is difficult," and item (6)-ha otherwise. Which it is changes the fire equipment required, such as sprinklers, so confirm per property with the fire department. Judging this category is the fire department's domain; we survey and provide information based on the possible category.

Under the Building Standards Act, converting an existing building to a short-stay facility generally requires a change-of-use confirmation application when the changed floor area exceeds 200 m² (Building Standards Act art. 87(1) applies art. 6; a change to a special building under art. 6(1)(i) = a child welfare facility etc.; excluding changes between similar uses). Whether a short-stay facility falls under this "special building (child welfare facility etc.)," and whether it meets lighting and evacuation standards, is the final judgment of an architect and the specified administrative agency. We do not undertake the change-of-use design or confirmation application.

What to watch when annexing to an existing group home or daytime-care service?

Where a corporation already running a disability group home (shared-living support) property or a type-A supported-employment property adds a short-stay in the same building or site, there is room to use the annexed or vacant-room type. Here the parent facility's equipment and staff can be counted together, keeping the added property burden down (art. 115, art. 117).

There are two cautions, though. One is that the living rooms used for the short-stay must be "wholly or partly unused by residents" (art. 117(1)); you cannot double-use the parent facility's capacity as is. The other is that annexing is premised on a disability support / residential facility, and whether annexing is allowed and how staff are counted varies by service type. Which service you can annex to, and whether staff can be combined, is premised on confirmation by the designating authority and the administrative scrivener who designs the business.

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Existing facility	Example type usable	What to add in property / equipment
Disability support / residential facility	Annexed / vacant-room	Secure unused living rooms (art. 117(1)); equipment can draw on the parent
A corporation running daytime-care / a group home etc. starting in a new property	Standalone	Living rooms ≥ 8 m², capacity ≤ 4; provide dining room, bath, washroom, toilet on its own

We confirm from the property side the positional relationship with the existing facility and whether there are living rooms that can be made vacant, and we broker. The business design of which type the designation can be obtained for is the domain of the administrative scrivener and the designating authority.

What is the flow from designation application to opening, and who handles what?

Opening a short-stay runs property, building, fire, designation and labour in parallel. These cannot be bundled into one contract; each is an independent business contracted with separately. With the windows separated, we connect them smoothly from one and the same window (no referral fees are exchanged).

Stage	Who	Content
Property survey and brokerage	Real estate (we)	Zoning, floor area, securing living rooms, surveying the existing building; brokerage incl. important-matters explanation
Building	Architect / specified administrative agency / designated confirmation body	Use / change-of-use confirmation, lighting and evacuation conformity, completion inspection
Fire	Fire department / fire-defence headquarters	Confirm the Appended Table 1 use category, install fire equipment, fire consent
Designation application	Administrative scrivener / designating authority (prefecture / municipality)	Confirm conformity with the standards, prepare and file the application
Labour (night shift)	Labour and social security attorney	Work rules, working hours and premium pay suited to the night-time structure
Registration on acquiring the property	Judicial scrivener	Ownership-transfer registration

We handle the property survey and brokerage; the designation application goes to an administrative scrivener, fire to the fire department, building to an architect, and labour to a labour and social security attorney—windows separated, then connected. Because a short-stay involves night-time care, consulting a labour and social security attorney early on the night-shift design lets it feed back into the property's flow lines and equipment layout.

From searching for welfare-use property, bring it to Yotsuba Real Estate (consultation free)

In your message, write the type you envisage (annexed / standalone / vacant-room), whether you have an existing facility, the intended capacity, and candidate locations. We talk through whether a property can meet the living-room area and equipment standards, which type is realistic, and where to refer designation, fire, building and labour.

Frequently asked questions

Q. How many square metres per person must a short-stay living room be?
A. For a standalone office, the living room must be at least 8 m² of floor per user excluding storage etc., with a capacity of 4 or fewer, and cannot be in a basement (designation-standards ordinance art. 117(5)). A bed (or substitute) and a buzzer (or substitute) are also required. For annexed and vacant-room types, you can use the parent facility's living rooms that are "wholly or partly unused by residents," and it suffices to have the equipment the facility requires (art. 117(1), (2), (3)). The final judgment on whether a living room conforms is made by the designating authority.

Q. What is the difference between annexed, standalone and vacant-room?
A. The annexed type (annexed office) runs attached to a disability support / residential facility and may use the parent facility's equipment (excluding living rooms) and staff combined. The vacant-room type uses empty living rooms of a facility, and it suffices to have the equipment the facility requires. The standalone type (standalone office) runs on its own, so it must provide living rooms, dining room, bath, washroom and toilet by itself (designation-standards ordinance art. 115, art. 117). A corporation with an existing facility typically uses annexed / vacant-room; starting in a new property typically means standalone.

Q. Is short-stay fire equipment the same as a group home's?
A. Not necessarily. Under Appended Table 1 of the Fire Service Act Enforcement Order, a disability short-stay facility is organised as item (6)-ro if it mainly admits persons with disabilities etc. for whom evacuation is difficult, and item (6)-ha otherwise, and the category changes the fire equipment required, such as sprinklers. Which category applies and what to install is the fire department's / fire-defence headquarters' judgment. A real-estate company (we) survey and provide information based on the possible category; installing equipment and fire consent itself is the domain of the fire department and licensed design/construction professionals.

Q. When using an existing building for a short-stay, is a change-of-use procedure needed?
A. Converting an existing building to a short-stay facility generally requires a change-of-use confirmation application when the changed floor area exceeds 200 m² (Building Standards Act art. 87(1) applies art. 6; a change to a special building under art. 6(1)(i) = a child welfare facility etc.; excluding changes between similar uses). Whether a short-stay facility is this special building, and whether it meets lighting and evacuation standards, is the final judgment of an architect and the specified administrative agency. We do not undertake the change-of-use design or confirmation application; where it applies, we connect you to an architect.

Sources

The following public materials are starting points. Laws are amended, so check the current article, paragraph, item, enforcement date and latest amendment on e-Gov Law Search. The operation of the designation standards and the handling of fire and building matters can differ by municipality and competent body, so the conformity of a particular property is judged by the designating authority, the fire department and an architect. Public materials were all consulted on 9 November 2026. The sources below are in Japanese.

• e-Gov Law Search: Standards concerning staffing, equipment and operation of designated disability welfare service businesses under the Act on Comprehensive Support for Daily and Social Life of Persons with Disabilities (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Ordinance No. 171 of 2006, promulgated 29 September 2006; art. 114 = short-stay basic policy, art. 115 = number of staff (para. 1 annexed office, para. 2 vacant-room, para. 3 standalone, on combined counting), art. 116 = application of art. 51, art. 117 = equipment and fittings (para. 1 use living rooms unused by residents, para. 2 annexed may use the parent facility's equipment excluding living rooms, para. 3 vacant-room needs only the facility's equipment, para. 4 standalone equipment, para. 5 standalone standard: living room capacity ≤ 4 / no basement / ≥ 8 m² per user excluding storage etc. / bed / buzzer, dining room, bath, washroom / toilet), art. 118 = start and end of a short-stay; confirm the text in the article)
• e-Gov Law Search: Fire Service Act Enforcement Order, Appended Table 1 (the use category of fire-defence objects such as short-stay; a facility mainly admitting persons with disabilities etc. for whom evacuation is difficult is item (6)-ro, otherwise item (6)-ha; confirm the specific category and required fire equipment with the fire department; consulted 9 November 2026)
• e-Gov Law Search: Building Standards Act art. 6 and art. 87 (confirmation for change of use; a change to a special building under art. 6(1)(i) needs a confirmation application when the changed floor area exceeds 200 m²; excluding changes between similar uses; whether a short-stay is a special building is judged by an architect and the specified administrative agency; consulted 9 November 2026)

This article provides general information and does not guarantee whether a particular property conforms to the designation standards or in which type you can start. The property survey and brokerage are real estate's (ours); preparing the designation application an administrative scrivener's; conformity with the standards the designating authority's (prefecture / municipality); fire equipment and use category the fire department's; the building-use / change-of-use confirmation an architect's and the specified administrative agency's; the night-shift labour design a labour and social security attorney's; registration on acquiring the property a judicial scrivener's—each judged and handled by them.

Joji Uramatsu (浦松 丈二), Representative Director and licensed real estate transaction specialist, Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. (四葉不動産株式会社). As a licensed real estate transaction specialist in Bunkyo, Tokyo, we provide surveys and brokerage of commercial and welfare-use real estate. Author profile

Updated: 9 November 2026