KERALA MUNICIPALITY BUILDING (AMENDMENT) RULES, 2021

PREAMBLE

In exercise of the powers conferred under Sections 381, 382, 387, 392 A, 398 and 406 of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 (20 of 1994) read with Section 565 thereof, the Government of Kerala hereby make the following rules further to amend the Kerala Municipality Building Rules, 2019 issued under notification G.O.(P) No. 77/2019/LSGD. dated 2nd November, 2019 and published as S.R.O. No. 828/2019 in the Kerala Gazette Extraordinary No. 2691 dated 8th November, 2019, namely:

Rule - 1. Short title and commencement.

(1)     These Rules may be called the Kerala Municipality Building (Amendment) Rules, 2021.

(2)     They shall come into force at once.

Rule - 2. Amendment of the Rules.

In the Kerala Municipality Building Rules, 2019,

(1)     In Rule 2, in sub-rule (1),

(a)      In clause (i), the following sentence shall be added after the words "duly approved by the Secretary" namely.

"It also includes self certified building permit along with the acknowledgment by 1 the Secretary"

(b)      the following clause shall be inserted after clause (bn) namely:

"(bna) 'low risk buildings' include residential buildings under Group A1 occupancy, with built up area of less than three hundred square meters and height less than seven meters and limited to two storeys, hostel, orphanage, dormetry, old age home, seminary under Group A2 occupancy having built up area less than two hundred square meters, educational buildings under Group B occupancy having built up area less than two hundred square meters, Group D occupancy buildings where persons congregate for religious and patriotic purposes having built up area less than two hundred square meters, Group F occupancy buildings having built up area less than one hundred square meters, Group G1 occupancy buildings without any nuisance and not dangerous and having built up area less than one hundred square meters"

(c)      the following clause shall be inserted after clause (ce) namely:

"(cea) Plinth level inspection' is defined as the inspection at site as prescribed when the construction reaches at the plinth level. In the case of pile foundation this inspection is done at the stage where pile cap is completed. Plinth level inspection shall be carried out for low risk buildings.";

(d)      the following clause shall be inserted after clause (cs) namely:

"(csa) 'Self Certification' means self certification issued jointly by the owner of the building and the empanelled licensee to the effect that, the building plan and site plan for the construction or reconstruction of the low risk buildings, are in accordance with the provisions of the Act and rules, for the time being in force, and any lawful direction issued, any stipulation as to the standard of specifications laws, rules and directions.";

(2)     In Rule 3, in clause (e) of sub-rule (4) for the words "District Town Planning Scheme", the words, "Detailed Town Planning Scheme" shall be substituted.

(3)     In Rule 4, for sub-rule (2) the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:"(2) No person shall construct or reconstruct or make addition or extension or alteration to any building or cause the same to be done without first obtaining a building permit from the Secretary and in the case of low risk building without obtaining an Acknowledgment Receipt which shall be deemed to be a permit from the Secretary;"

(4)     In Rule 5,

(i)       in sub-rule (1), after clause (b) the following shall be inserted, namely:"

(c)   to construct or reconstruct a building or make alteration or addition or extension or change in occupancy may file an application to the Secretary for approval of building site and for permission to execute the work with self certification in Form in Appendix A1A along with documents as specified in Rule 19A:"

(ii)      In the Table under sub-rule (4), against SI. No. 5 in column (1), in column (3) under the heading Officer/authority, for the words "District Collector", the word "Municipality" shall be substituted.

(5)     In Rule 10, in sub-rule (5), after the words "issue of permit", the words "or self certified building permit" shall be inserted;

(6)     In Rule 12, for the words "thirty days", the words "fifteen days" shall be substituted.

(7)     In Rule 13, for the words "thirty days", the words "fifteen days" shall be substituted.

(8)     In Rule 14,

(a)      in sub-rule (1) for the words "thirty days", the words "fifteen days" shall be substituted.

(b)      in sub-rule (3) for the words "sixty days", the words "forty five days" shall be substituted;

(9)     In Rule 15,

(a)      in sub-rule (1), after the words "building permit" the words "acknowledgment receipt which shall be deemed to be permit" shall be inserted;

(b)      in sub-rule (2), after the words "five years", the following sentence shall be added, namely:

"In the case of acknowledgment certificate which shall be deemed to be a permit for another five years is to be intimated by a letter signed by the owner and empanelled licensee to the Secretary.";

(c)      in sub-rule (4), after the words "ten years", the following sentence shall be added namely:

"In the case of acknowledgment certificate which shall be deemed to be permit the intention to renew the same for another five years is to be intimated by a letter signed by the owner and empanelled licensee to the Secretary.";

(10)   After the Rule 19, the following rules shall be inserted namely:

"19A. Procedure for grant of acknowledgment certificate.

(1)       In the case of low risk buildings application shall be submitted to the Secretary with the application fee and permit fee, along with Self certification in Appendix A1A, self certified building permit in Appendix O along with the documents specified in sub-rule (1) of Rule 5 of these rules.

(2)       On receipt of the application in Appendix A1A under sub-rule (1) complete in all respects the Secretary shall within five working days issue an Acknowledgment Certificate in Appendix A1B.

(3)       The applicant may commence construction from the date of commencement of construction mentioned in the self certified building permit in Appendix O. All plans submitted shall be certified by the empanelled licensee as given in Appendix J1.

(4)       Clearances and NOCs from any authorities concerned required under these rules or any other relevant Act or Rules and their amendments shall be submitted along with the application.

(5)       Constructions which involve excavations to a depth of more than 1.5 metres are not eligible for acknowledgment receipt.

"19B. Other conditions pertaining to self certification.

(1)     At any stage of construction of low risk buildings, if the empanelled licensee who issued self certified building permit, notices that such building is being constructed in violation of such building plan, empanelled licensee as intimate to the authority of such violations and stop further supervision. The empanelled licensee shall submit complete details along with photographs of the building being constructed to the concerned authority;

(2)     The Secretary shall immediately issue a notice to the owner on the basis of the intimation received from the empanelled licensee to suspend further work and rectify violations. In such cases the owner shall not make further additions in violation of the conditions. The owner may, after removal of violations, engage an empanelled licensee for preparing the revised drawings for obtaining revised self certified building permit. In such cases occupancy certificate shall be given only after scrutiny of revised self certified building permit and inspection of site;

(3)     After submission of application or during the construction of building if there is change in the owner or the empanelled licensee, the person concerned shall intimate the Secretary in writing or through online building plan approval system that he is no longer responsible for the construction project from the date of receipt of the intimation. The information must be sent within seven days of occurrence of the change to the Secretary by the respective owner/empanelled licensee. The construction work shall have to be suspended until the new owner/empanelled licensee, as the case may be, undertake the full responsibility of the project by submitting in writing to the Secretary intimating the same.

(4)     Secretary or any other person authorized reserves the right to check the building plans and construction at any stage and violations, if found shall have to be rectified by the owner. In case the owner fail to rectify violations, the Secretary shall take necessary steps to rectify the violations.

19C. Issue of occupancy certificate.

After the completion of the construction of the building as per the self certified building permit, the occupancy certificate be issued in form Appendix F2A.

19D. Procedure for plinth level inspection for low risk buildings.

In the case of Low risk buildings the empanelled licensee shall conduct plinth level inspection and shall submit the Inspection Report, in Appendix P to the Secretary. The Secretary or the officer authorized by him may offer remarks on Appendix P submitted by the empanelled licensee and inform the same along with the observed deviation or objection, if any, to the owner within five days from the date of receipt of such intimation. The following documents shall be submitted along with Appendix P:

(i)       Building plans indicating the plinth constructed at site in relation to the plot dimensions, area and setbacks, duly signed by the owner and empanelled licensee.

(ii)      Signed photograph(s) with date showing construction up to plinth level at site.

19E Procedure for plinth level inspection for all other buildings.

(1)     In case of all other buildings, on completion of work up to plinth level, the owner, through his registered Architect/Institution/Building Designer/Town Planner/Engineer/Supervisor, shall submit an intimation of such completion in Appendix P to the Secretary to enable the Secretary or the person authorized by him to verify that the work conforms to the approved plans and building bye-laws and relevant Acts and Rules. After plinth level inspection the Secretary or the person authorized by him shall offer remarks on Appendix P submitted by the registered Architect/Institution/Building Designer/Town Planner/Engineer/Supervisor and inform the same along with the observed deviation or objection, if any, to the owner within 5 days from the receipt of such intimation. The following documents shall be submitted along with the intimation, namely:

(i)       Building plans indicating the plinth constructed at site in relation to the plot dimensions, area and setbacks, duly signed by the owner and registered Architect/Institution/Building Designer/Town Planner/Engineer/Supervisor.

(ii)      Signed photograph(s) with date showing construction up to plinth level at site.

(2)     No further construction shall be continued without the submission of plinth level inspection report.

19F. Deemed completion of plinth level inspection.

In case the owner who submitted the in Inflation on plinth level inspection receives no communication from the Secretary within 7 days of such intimation, plinth level inspection shall be deemed to have been completed without any deviation having been noticed. It shall be the responsibility of the owner/Empanelled licensee/registered Architect/Institution/Building Designer/Town Planner/Engineer/Supervisor to ensure that the building is constructed in accordance with the approved plan.

(11)   In Rule 25, in sub-rule 2, in clause (I), for the words "Fire and Rescue Department", the words "Department of Fire and Rescue Services" shall be substituted;

(12)   In Rule 28, in sub-rule (1),-

(1)     In the twelfth proviso and thirteenth proviso, for the words "total built up area" the words "total floor area" shall be substituted;

(2)     In sub-rule (2) and sub-rule (3), for the words "total built up area" the words "total floor area" shall be substituted;

(3)     after the fourteenth proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:

"Provided also that in the case of buildings intended for the storage of LPG cylinders designated as transparent category as per the norms of the Pollution Control Board, the access width shall not be less than 6 metres.";

(13)   In Rule 43, after sub-rule (2) the following sub-rules shall be inserted, namely:-

"(3) Provision for LPG piped gas system/LPG articulate system shall be provided in all apartments with adequate safety measures.

"(4) In the case of existing apartments, provision for LPG piped gas system/LPG articulate system shall be provided within 3 years of the date of commencement of the Kerala Municipality Building (Amendment) Rules, 2021.";

(14)   In Rule 52, for the words "Social Welfare Department", the words "Social Justice Department" shall be substituted;

(15)   In Rule 99, the following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely:

"(7) For providing self certified building permit, a registered Architect/Institution/Building Designer/Town Planner/Engineer/Supervisor shall empanel with the registering authority and shall submit an application in Appendix Q for empanelment. All empanelled licensees shall undergo training as prescribed by Government from time to time.

The fee for empanelment shall be the rates shown below:

(16)   Amendment of Appendix A,-

In Appendix A1, in the table under SI. No. 10, the following item shall be added as SI. No. 13 namely:

"connected load in kW for buildings coming under Rule 2.1 and 2.2 of Kerala State Energy Conservation Building Code Rules, 2017"

(17)   After Appendix A1, the following appendices shall be inserted, namely:

APPENDIX A1A

APPENDIX A1B

(18)   After Appendix F2, the following appendix shall be inserted, namely:

APPENDIX F2A

(19)   After Appendix N, the following appendices shall be inserted namely:

APPENDIX O

APPENDIX P

APPENDIX Q