Soon, no curbs on floor area ratio

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 8

In the offing is unlimited floor area ratio (FAR) for group housing, commercial, industrial and office buildings in Punjab. Besides, multi-level parking up to 40 per cent of the total area will be allowed.

At present, FAR is restricted for all categories of buildings, while multi-level parking is allowed up to 20 per cent of the total area.

Punjab will be the first state to introduce rental housing and industry in flats to allow optimum utilisation of squeezing landholdings on the pattern of Western countries.

Also, self-certification of building plans is on the anvil. Any architect registered with the Council of Architects, New Delhi, will be able to submit self-certified building plan to the competent authority at least 30 days before the date of starting construction. In case no objection is conveyed to the applicant, the construction can start after 30 days.

Electric car charging stations will be allowed at petrol stations, public spaces and parking lots as well.

These are the highlights of proposed building rules drafted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Punjab Urban Planning and Development Building Rules, 2017, would be applicable throughout the state outside municipal limits, Vini Mahajan, Additional Chief Secretary (Housing and Urban Development) told The Tribune here today.

Being revised after four years, the rules would supersede those framed in 2013 and all previous notifications in this connection. The new rules will come into force from the date of their publication in the gazette.

These rules have been reframed in the light of Model Building Bylaws, 2016, issued by the Union Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, and National Building Code (NBC). Proposed buildings have been classified on the basis of risk factor. Inspection of buildings would be assigned to officers accordingly.

Mahajan said, “The new rules are expected to bring uniformity in buildings proposed to be constructed.”

In the new building rules, provisions have been made to ensure compliance with zoning plan, architectural controls, standard design, master plans, setbacks, and development and FAR norms, separately for different kinds of buildings.

Fire protection, lighting, ventilation, special-children-friendly, senior-citizen-friendly, norms for green buildings, rooftop solar energy, water re-use, water supply, sanitation and waste management have also been taken into account.

Suggestions invited 

The draft of the new building rules has been uploaded on the Housing and Urban Development Department’s Department website, phhousing.gov.in. The department has invited suggestions from people, which may be sent at [email protected] or [email protected] till September 25.