History of foreign regulations

Generally speaking, foreign regulations take into account, more or less explicitly, users' wishes in terms of daylighting when drafting planning, building or occupational health regulations.

• In Belgium, for example, a General Regulation for the Protection of Workers has stipulated since 1946 that workplaces must receive sufficient natural light for the work being carried out. For residential premises, the "règlements communaux sur les bâtisses" (local building regulations) set the requirements, most often taking the floor area as the basis for assessing the total surface area of lighting parts.

• In Great Britain, the Regulations apply to both sunlight and lighting. They are flexible enough to ensure that the view of the sky, i.e., the possibility of direct illumination from the sky, whose luminosity is assumed...