B5-Year Building/House was Built
Item B5--Year building/house was built shall be asked from a responsible member of any household in the building.

This item provides basis for appraising the building/house inventory in terms of durability, expected rate of replacement, and estimate of rate of building/house construction over time. It also provides an estimate for maintenance costs and an insight into the housing patterns of the population.
[Dictionary Definition] The year the building/house was built refers to the year when the construction was completed and ready for occupancy and not when construction began. Generally, building constructions commence and are finished within the same year. There are cases, however, when the construction period lasts for several years. Report the year when the building was finished.
Ask the respondent, "When was this building/house built? If the building/house under construction is still vacant, write "X" in the box opposite the category not applicable to signify that the question is not applicable to the building/house. Otherwise, if it is already occupied while construction is still on going, enter the year when it was occupied.
Write "X" in the box opposite the appropriate category.

If the respondent finds it difficult to give the year the building/house became ready for occupancy, help him/her approximate the year by mentioning some historical/national events. The respondent himself/herself may be able to mention an event that occurred in the past which may be indicative of the year the building/house was built. Refer to pages 107-108 of this chapter for the examples of famous historical/national events.