For purposes of the census, two types of dwellings are established: private and collective.
Private dwelling.- Is a separate premises or place of lodging with independent access intended for accommodating one or more households (a household is considered a person or group of people, related or not by kinship bonds, that cooks their food separately and sleeps in the same dwelling). Also considered a private dwelling is one which, though not meant for human lodging, is occupied as such at the time the census is taken.
In this sense, a private dwelling can be: a room or bedroom, an apartment, a house or villa, a raft, a boat, a cave, etc. Take into account that in a given house or edification there can be various dwellings, and in a dwelling one or more households.
A building or any other place used for commercial, industrial, or service purposes is not a dwelling, unless in it there is some premises occupied as a place of lodging by one or more persons. In this case, the part of the building occupied by these people is a private dwelling.
Houses, "ranchos," "mediaguas," and other places used as factories, warehouses, corrals, stables, etc. for agricultural, commercial, industrial or service purposes are not private dwellings, unless there is a room, bedroom, or area in them that is used as a place of lodging by one or more people. In these cases, the part occupied as lodging by one or more people is a private dwelling.
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Collective dwelling.- Is a dwelling inhabited by a group of people who share it due to reasons of health, discipline, religion, etc., such as: hotels, boarding houses, barracks, hospitals, convents, retirement homes, military camps, jails, etc.
Mr. Enumerator, remember that buildings known as multi-family or condominiums are not collective dwellings. Keep in mind that these buildings are a group of private dwellings intended for housing one or various households.
[The following appear on the enumeration form for dispersed areas.]
Also considered collective dwellings are workers' shelters which, at harvest and planting time become seasonal dwellings.
In the census, all private dwellings in existence in the country --occupied with people present, occupied with people absent, unoccupied, and under construction-- will be enumerated, along with occupied collective dwellings.
Question 1.- Type of dwelling
[There is a picture of question 1 from this section of the enumeration form.]
Within private dwellings 8 types are distinguished. Identify its type and mark the corresponding box.
House or villa.- Is any permanent building made with resistant materials such as: concrete, stone, brick, adobe, cane or wood. They generally have an exclusive-use water supply and toilet facilities.
Apartment.- Group of rooms that forms part of a building of one or more floors. They are characterized by being independent and having an exclusive-use water supply and toilet facilities.
Room(s) in a boarding house.- Includes one or various rooms or bedrooms belonging to a house with a common and direct entrance from a hallway, patio, corridor or street and which, generally, doesn't have exclusive-use water or toilet facilities, these being common-use services for all of the households or dwellings.
Mediagua.- Is a building of one floor with brick, adobe, concrete block, or wood walls, and a roof made of straw, asbestos (eternit), or zinc. They have a roof sloping in only one direction and no more than two rooms or bedrooms. If there are more than two rooms or bedrooms, record it as a house or villa.
Rancho.- Are rustic buildings covered with palms, straw, or any other similar material, with walls made of cane and with a floor made of wood, cane, or dirt.
Covacha.- Is a building that uses rustic materials such as: branches, cardboard, asbestos remnants, tin, plastic, etc. with a floor of wood or dirt.
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Choza.- Is a building that has walls made of adobe or straw, a dirt floor and a straw roof.
Other.- Spaces adapted as a dwelling, which generally lack toilet facilities, where people live at the time of the census. These include: train cars, cargo containers, watercraft, boats, tents, caves, pavilions, barns, etc.
[There are drawings representing the last six types of private dwellings.]
In the collective dwellings 6 types are distinguished. Mark with an "x" the appropriate box. If you should have to enumerate a dwelling of this type, mark only the type of dwelling and don't ask the questions related to dwelling data, household data and data from emigrants to foreign countries. Continue with question 1 of chapter V. Identification of the people in the household: What are the first and last names of each one of the people that spent the night of November 24th to the 25th in this household?, and Chapter VI. Population data. In these cases the characteristics of the building are not of interest, but rather just those of the people that occupy these dwellings. You should not enumerate unoccupied collective dwellings.
Given that private dwellings are frequently found within collective dwellings, it is your obligation to visit these places and ensure that you are not omitting any dwelling. For example: if a boarding house has four floors, of which one floor is occupied by the owner of the residence and their family, in this case you should enumerate this dwelling separately from the collective dwelling.