Punjab Cabinet approves stilt-plus-4 floors as it gives nod to Unified Building Rules

Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Vikas Garg said that the Unified Building Rules will pave way for selling of independent floors. “We have amended the bylaws. After this, we will consider making amendments in the apartment rules. This will allow sale of independent floors in the state,” he said.

He said those who have a plot measuring a minimum of 250 square yards can go for stilt-plus-four floors of construction in new urban areas. Earlier, only two floors were allowed as per building bylaws in Punjab.

A government official on anonymity said that within the bureaucracy there are concerns that with four storeys allowed in the residential plots, the housing sector would become a modernised slum.

Garg, meanwhile, said, “We have also relaxed the setback area from three metres to 1.5 meters”. The setback area is left to ensure sunlight and fresh air reaches the street level.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian said that the permissible height of a building will be allowed to be increased from 15 metres to 21 metres. Under this, no NOC would be required from the fire department. The site map would be approved after self-certification by an empanelled architect. The Floor Area Ratio (FAR) would be allowed to be increased by 10 per cent.

For raising the FAR, the house owner would have to pay additional fee at the collector rate. “If FAR area is increased by 0.25 per cent, 5 per cent additional fee would have to be paid. Similarly for increasing the FAR by 0.50 per cent, 10 per cent fee would have to be paid, for 0.75 per cent increase an additional fee of 15 per cent and for one per cent increase, 25 per cent fee will have to be paid,” he said.

In one-kanal plots, 55 per cent area would be allowed for construction. Earlier, it was 50 per cent. The stilt-plus four floors is allowed in residential areas with the connecting road having mandatory width of 50 feet. The permissible height of building has been increased from 11 to 13 metres. This will pave for the enactment of Apartment Act, under which separate floors would be allowed to be sold in residential areas. He said that this will be allowed only in the new sectors and not in already existing colonies.

A spokesperson of the chief minister’s office said the approval to the Punjab Unified Building Rules aims to introduce a comprehensive and uniform regulatory framework governing building and development activities across the state. These rules apply equally to the department of housing and urban development and the department of local government, ensuring consistency and simplification in approvals and enforcement, the spokesperson said.

The key reforms focus on ease of doing business, efficient land utilisation and vertical urban growth.

The rules also include incorporating EWS, affordable and rental housing provisions within a single unified framework, introducing new building categories, such as mixed-land use and multilevel parking, aligning with modern urban needs.

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