THE MULTI STOREYED BUILDING REGULATIONS, 1981

PREAMBLE

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section(1) of section 59 of the Andhra Pradesh Urban Areas (Development) Act, 1975 (Act I of 1975 ) the Bhagyanagar Urban Development Authority with the previous approval of the Government hereby makes the following Regulations, namely:-

Regulation 1. Short Title Extent and Commencement.

(i)       These regulations may be called the Multi Storeyed Buildings Regulations, 1981,

(ii)      They shall extend to the Development area of Hyderabad.

(iii)     They shall come into force on ?such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette appoint.

NOTE: - Brought into force with effect from 5th Sept., 1981 vide G.O. Ms.No.1006 dated 3-9-1981 published in Issue No. 466 of Part I ? Extra ., A.P. gazette d/5-9-1981.

Regulation 2. Definitions.

In these regulations unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context-

(i)       ?Authority? means the Bhagyanagar Urban Development Authority.

(ii)      ?Corporation? means Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad.

(iii)     ?Floor area ratio? means the quotient obtained by dividing the total covered area (Plinth area) on all floors by the area of the plot;

Total covered area of all floors Floor area ratio- plot area

(iv)    ?Height of Building? means the height measured from the average level of the Central line of the Street on which the site abuts;

(a)      in case of flat roof, upto skyward surface of the roof.

(b)      In case of pitched roof, upto the tie beam of the roof.

(v)      ?Multi-Storeyed Building? means and includes all buildings with more than four floors (including the ground floor) or whose height is 15 metres or more, measured from the average level of the Central line of the street on which the site abuts, provided that staircase rooms, lift rooms, chimneys and elevated tanks above the top most floor and architectural features shall not be included in the number of floors in calculating height of building. The total height of such additional construction shall not exceed the average floor height of the building.

5. Approval of Director of Fire Services, fees and cess prior Clearance of Director of Fire Services of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad.--

(1)     All the building plans showing the necessary fire protection and fire fighting requirements as per these regulations shall be submitted to the Director of Fire Services, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad for their clearance before the building plans are approved by the local body.

(2)     After necessary permission for construction is granted, fire Officer not below the rank of Divisional Fire Officer, should inspect the building along with the Chief Engineer ,MCH /his nominee or Chief Engineer, BDA his Nominee as The case may be during the course of construction to ensure that prescribed Fire Precautionary and Fire Protection measures, as suggested earlier are being Implemented .

(3)     A certificate that necessary fire safety requirement have been fulfilled shall also be obtained from the Director of fire Services, and submitted by the Builders/Owners before they approach the BDA or Municipal corporation of Hyderabad , as the case may be for necessary occupancy certificate.

(4)     The Builders/occupiers/Owners shall allow the fire protection and fire fighting installations to be inspected by the officers of Director of Fire Services, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad MCH/BDA who shall enter their observations in the register maintained with Director of Fire Services, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad and in the building itself, in the prescribed form. In case any installations are not in a fit condition the inspecting officers shall issue a notice to the Builder/Owner/Occupier to comply with the regulations and improve the installation as prescribed in the notice.

(5)     Plans of the building, floor wise shall be exhibited in the Fire Control Room/Entrance Lobby of the ground floor of the building and also in the fire station in whose jurisdiction the building lies.

(6)     At the time of application to the Director of Fire Services for approval under these regulations the Builder/Owner shall pay an amount calculated at the rate of Rs. 5 per Sq. Mt. Of sanctioned built up areas of each building subject to a minimum of Rs. 25,000 to the Fire Precaution Fund as per prescribed procedure. The entire amount shall be refundable without any interest in case the building proposal is subsequently dropped.

(7)     For areas outside Municipal limits, Bhagyanagar Urban development Authority shall be substituted for Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad.

(6) Conformance to National Building Code of India, 1970.--

(1)     In so far as the determination of sufficiency of all aspects of structural design, building services, plumbing fire protection, practices and safety are concerned specifications, standard and code of practice recommended in the National Building code of India, 1970, shall be fully conformed to and any breach thereof shall be deemed to be a breach of the requirements under these regulations.

(2)     In so far as sufficiency of all aspects of structural design is concerned, the specifications, standards, and all other details given in Part-VI of the National Building Code of India, 1970 shall in particular be fully conformed to.

(7) Fire Safety, Detection and Extinguishing System.--

(1)     The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad shall while according their approval or permission follow the code of practice and standard requirements recommended the National Building Code of India,1970.

(2)     All buildings in their design and construction shall be such as contribute to and ensure individually and collectively the safety of life from fire, smoke fames and panic arising from these or similar other causes.

(3)     In building of such size, arrangements or occupancy that a fire may not itself provide adequate warning to occupants automatic fire detecting and alarm facilities shall be provided where necessary to warn occupants of the existence of fire, so that they may escape, or to facilitate the orderly conduct of fire exit drills.

(4)     Fire protecting and extinguishing system shall conform to accepted standards and shall be installed in accordance with good practice as recommended in the National Building Code of India, 1970 and to the satisfaction of Directorate of fire Services.

(8) Means of Access and Circulation.--

(a)      There shall be a clear access way of not less than 5 metres in width separately for entrance and exit, as a means of access to and from the building or buildings within the site, provided that where a site does not abut on a street the means of access to the site shall be not less than 12 metres from the existing public street.

(b)      The access way so provided, shall be maintained free from any obstruction or overhead or projection from the building below a height of 3 metres from the level of such access way.

(c)      The space so set apart as means of access shall be separately distinguished from any house, gully or open space for amenity requirements prescribed under these regulations.

(d)      Every such means of access shall be made drained and lighted to the satisfaction of the Commissioner and manhole covers or other drainage, water supply or any other fittings laid in such means of access shall be flushed with the finished surface level so as not to obstruct safe travel over the same.

(e)      Any person who undertakes any construction, reconstruction, addition or alteration to any building shall not reduce the access to any building previously existing below the minimum width prescribed under these regulations.

(f)       Exits and Means of Access:

(i)       Every building meant for human occupation shall be provided with exits sufficient to permit safe escape of occupants in case of fire or other emergency.

(ii)      An exit may be a doorway, corridor, passageway to an internal staircase or external staircase or to a verandah or roofs or terraces having access to the street or a staircase.

Explanation:- Lifts and escalators shall not be considered as exits.

(iii)     Exits shall be so arranged so as to provide continuous means of access to the exterior of a building or an exterior open space leading to a street, without passing through any occupied unit.

(iv)    Exits shall be so located that the travel distance on the floor shall not exceed 22 metres in the case of residential and public buildings and 30 metres in the case of commercial, industrial and other buildings. There shall be atleast two exits serving every floor and atleast one of them shall lead to a staircase.

Explanation:- Travel distance means the distance from any point in the floor area to any exit measured along the path of egress except that when floor areas are subdivided into rooms used singly or suites of rooms and served by corridors or passages, the travel distance may be measured from the corridor entrance of such rooms or suites to the nearest staircase or verandah having access to the street.

(g)      Width of any exit shall not be less than 100 cm, and shall be determined for the total number of occupants as specified in the following table. The unit of exit width for measuring the capacity of exits shall be 50 cm. A clear width of 25 cm., shall be counted as an additional half unit and any width less than 25 cm., shall not be counted for calculating exit widths.

(10) Open Spaces.--

(i)       Open spaces around and about the building.

(a)      There shall be a permanent open space, forming an integral part of the site and of a minimum extent specified in this regulation, between each of the boundaries of the site and the building proposed within the site.

(b)      The extent of the open spaces specified in the above sub-regulation which shall be co-extensive with the site boundaries shall be as follows.

For heights of buildings above 10m, and up to 25m., in addition to the minimum open spaces required for height of 10m., there shall be an increase in the minimum open space at the rate of one metre per every 3m., or fraction thereof for heights above 10m.

(c)      The space specified above shall be kept open to the sky and free from any structure other then a fence or compound wall in the ground floor and a balcony or sunshade of not exceeding 1.25 metre in width.

(d)      Provided that these open yards may be used for the purposes like Playground , tot lot, lawns, Gardens, Wooded area and at any cost it should not be used for parking of vehicles.

(e)      Provided that where the site abuts two roads the open spaces specified shall be provided along the two site boundaries abutting these roads.

(f)       Provided further where the site does not abut on to any public street, the open spaces specified shall be provided between any two boundaries of the site and the building.

(ii)      Space between Multi-Storeyed Buildings:- For a scheme of multi-storeyed buildings (where two or more blocks are proposed in the same scheme) the open spaces between the buildings shall be not less then ½ the height of the tallest building.

(iii)     The following table shall be followed for determining open spaces for different heights.

(11) Height of Buildings.--

(a)      The height of any multi-storeyed building permitted under these regulations shall not exceed 30 metres

(b)      (i) Every multi-storeyed building erected shall be provided with atleast one lift in addition to the required staircase.

(ii) The commissioner, M.C.H. may insist on more than one lift in each case on merits with reference to height, number of families, floor space use to which the building is put to;

(iii) Water-storage tanks and pumps of approved size shall be provided and maintained in working order.

(iv) The number and other specifications of the lifts and staircases shall be in accordance with a National Building Code of India 1970.

(16) Fire Alarm System.--Fire alarm system as described below shall be installed;

(i)       A push switch shall be installed on all floors in the lift lobby and shall be enclosed in a wooden box with a glass front which shall be duly marked ?Fire Alarm?.

(ii)      There shall be a special electric bell (Fire Guage) of distinctive characters

prescribed by Fire Bridgade on each floor.

(iii)     All such bells and switcheds shall be so connected in such a way that all bells would start functioning if any of the push button of the fire alarm is operated.

(17) Water Supply.--Every multi-storeyed building shall be provided with under-ground sump and overhead tank for the provision of water supply to the inhabitants at the rate of 40 gallons per capita per day( on the basis of 5 family members per flat) . Every building should be provided with adequate water supply exclusively for fir fighting by providing a static water tank of sufficient capacity on the ground and a separate over-head tank.