Part 2Administration

1 SCOPE

This Code (Part 2) covers the administrative aspects of the Code, such as applicability of the Code, organization of building department for enforcement of the Code, procedure for obtaining development and building permits, and responsibility of the owner.

NOTE — This Code is called the National Building Code of India, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Code’.

2 TERMINOLOGY

For the purpose of this Part, the following definitions shall apply.

2.1 Accessory Use — Any use of the premises subordinate to the principal use and customarily incidental to the principal use.

2.2 Alteration — A change from one type of occupancy to another, or a structural change, such as an addition to the area or height, or the removal of part of a building, or any change to the structure, such as the construction of, cutting into or removal of any wall, partition, column, beam, joist, floor or other support, or a change to or closing of any required means of ingress or egress or a change to the fixtures or equipment.

2.3 Approved — Approved by the Authority having jurisdiction.

2.4 Authority Having Jurisdiction — The authority which has been created by a statute and which, for the purpose of administering the Code/Part, may authorize a committee or an official or an agency to act on its behalf; hereinafter called the ‘Authority’.

2.5 Building — Any structure for whatsoever purpose and of whatsoever materials constructed and every part thereof whether used as human habitation or not and includes foundation, plinth, walls, floors, roofs, chimneys, plumbing and building services, fixed platforms, verandah, balcony, cornice or projection, part of a building or anything affixed thereto or any wall enclosing or intended to enclose any land or space and signs and outdoor display structures. Tents/Shamianahs, tarpaulin shelters, etc, erected for temporary and ceremonial occasions with the permission of the Authority shall not be considered as building.

2.6 Building, Height of — The vertical distance measured, in the case of flat roofs from the average

level of the ground around and contiguous to the building or as decided by the Authority to the terrace of last livable floor of the building adjacent to the external walls; and in the case of pitched roofs, up to the point where the external surface of the outer wall intersects the finished surface of the sloping roof, and in the case of gables facing the road, the midpoint between the eaves level and the ridge. Architectural features serving no other function except that of decoration shall be excluded for the purpose of measuring heights.

2.7 Building Line — The line up to which the plinth of a building adjoining a street or an extension of a street or on a future street may lawfully extend. It includes the lines prescribed, if any, in any scheme. The building line may change from time to time as decided by the Authority.

2.8 Conversion — The change of occupancy or premises to any occupancy or use requiring additional occupancy permit.

2.9 Development — ‘Development’ with grammatical variations means the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, or over, or under land or water, or in the use of any building or land, and includes redevelopment and layout and subdivision of any land; and ‘to develop’ shall be construed accordingly.

2.10 Drain — A conduit or channel for the carriage of storm water, sewage, waste water or other water-borne wastes in a building drainage system.

2.11 Drainage — The removal of any liquid by a system constructed for the purpose.

2.12 Occupancy or Use Group — The principal occupancy for which a building or a part of a building is used or intended to be used; for the purposes of classification of a building according to occupancy, an occupancy shall be deemed to include the subsidiary occupancies which are contingent upon it.

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2.13 Occupier — It includes any person for the time being, paying or liable to pay rent or any portion of rent of the building in respect of which the ward is used, or compensation or premium on account of the occupation of such building and also a rent-free tenant, but does not include a lodger, and the words ‘occupy’ and ‘occupation’ do not refer to the lodger.

An owner living in or otherwise using his own building shall be deemed to be the occupier thereof.

PART 2 ADMINISTRATION

2.14 Operational Construction/Installation — A construction/installation put up by Government Departments for operational purposes (see 12.1.2.1).

2.15 Owner — A person, a group of persons or a body having a legal interest in land and/or building thereon. This includes freeholders, leaseholders or those holding a sublease, who will have a legal right to occupation and have liabilities in respect of safety or building condition.

In case of lease or sublease holders, as far as ownership with respect to the structure is concerned, the structure of a flat or structure on a plot belongs to the allottee/lessee till the allotment/lease subsists.

2.16 Permit — A permission or authorization in writing by the Authority to carry out work regulated by the Code.

2.17 Registered Architect, Engineer, Structural Engineer, Geotechnical Engineer, Supervisor, Town Planner, Landscape Architect, Urban Designer — A qualified architect, engineer, structural engineer, geotechnical engineer, supervisor, town planner, landscape architect or urban designer who has been registered by the Authority or by the body governing such profession and constituted under a statute, as may be applicable. The registration requirements of these professionals shall be as given in Annex A.

NOTES

1 Unless specified otherwise, the world ‘engineer’ shall mean ‘civil engineer’ or ‘architectural engineer’.

2 The word ‘licencing/licensed’, etc, if used by the Authority in the above context, shall be deemed to mean ‘registration/registered’, etc.

2.18 Road — See 2.25.

2.19 Road Line — See 2.27.

2.20 Room Height — The vertical distance measured from the finished floor surface to the finished ceiling surface. Where a finished ceiling is not provided, the underside of the joists or beams or tie beams shall determine the upper point of measurement for determining the head room.

2.21 Sanctioned Plan — The set of plans, specifications and other details submitted in connection with a building or development and duly approved and sanctioned by the Authority.

2.22 Service Road — A road/lane provided at the rear or side of a plot for service purposes.

2.23 Set-Back Line — A line usually parallel to the plot boundaries and laid down in each case by the Authority, beyond which nothing can be constructed towards the site boundaries.

2.24 Site (Plot) — A parcel (piece) of land enclosed

by definite boundaries.

2.25 Street — Any means of access, namely, highway, street, lane, pathway, alley, stairway, passageway, carriageway, footway, square, place or bridge, whether a thoroughfare or not, over which the public have a right of passage or access or have passed and had access uninterruptedly for a specified period, whether existing or proposed in any scheme and includes all bunds, channels, ditches, storm-water drains, culverts, sidewalks, traffic islands, roadside trees and hedges, retaining walls, fences, barriers and railings within the street lines.

2.26 Street Level or Grade — The officially established elevation or grade of the centre line of the street upon which a plot fronts and if there is no officially established grade, the existing grade of the street at its mid-point.

2.27 Street Line — The line defining the side limits of a street.

2.28 To Erect — To erect a building means,

a) to erect a new building on any site whether previously built upon or not;

b) to re-erect any building of which portions above the plinth level have been pulled down, burnt or destroyed.

2.29 Unsafe Building — Buildings which are structurally and constructionally unsafe or insanitary or not provided with adequate means of egress or which constitute a fire hazard or are otherwise dangerous to human life or which in relation to existing use constitute a hazard to safety or health or public welfare, by reason of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation or abandonment.

3 APPLICABILITY OF THE CODE

3.1 All Parts of the Code and their Sections shall apply to all buildings described in 3.2 to 3.8, as may be applicable.

3.2 Where a building is erected, the Code applies to the design and construction of the building.

3.3 Where the whole or any part of the building is removed, the Code applies to all parts of the building whether removed or not.

3.4 Where the whole or any part of the building is demolished the Code applies to any remaining part and to the work involved in demolition.

3.5 Where a building is altered (see 12.4 and 12.4.1), the Code applies to the whole building whether existing or new except that the Code applies only to part, if that part is completely self contained with respect to facilities and safety measures required by the Code.

3.6 Where the occupancy of a building is changed the Code applies to all parts of the building affected by the change.

3.7 Where development of land is undertaken the Code applies to the entire development of land.

4 INTERPRETATION

4.1 The heading which appears at the beginning of a clause or sub-clause of the Code shall be deemed to be a part of such clause or sub-clause, respectively.

4.2 The use of present tense includes the future tense, the masculine gender includes the feminine and the neuter, the singular number includes the plural and the plural includes the singular. The word ‘person’ includes a corporation as well as an individual; writing includes printing and typing and ‘signature’ includes thumb impression made by a person who cannot write if his name is written near to such thumb impression.