Survey Research on Legal System of Floating Residence and on Management of Water Utilization in the United States: Case Study on Seattle, Washington and Sausalito, California

Effective utilization of oceanic space in Japan is just recent compared to U.S. Since the end of 19th century, water utilization and management for residence constructed on lake was promoted in U.S. It is then the aim of this paper to comprehend the laws and regulations for floating residence as well as water utilization and management of United States. Through web survey, each State in United States will be searched if there are existing laws and regulation on floating residence. After searching and reading all conditions of the U.S. States regarding laws and regulation as well as legal positions on floating residence, two states in the west coast of U.S: Seattle in Washington and Sausalito, California are chosen for this study. Floating residence in U.S. are divided into two; the Floating Homes and Houseboats. Floating Homes are handled by law the same with homes built in land while Houseboats are treated as type of ship. The State managing the water will lease it to the private sector, then, building of Floating Home will be carried out. Furthermore, design and construction of Floating Homes follow the building standards of the counties and cities where it will be built.