From online NOCs to building height relaxations, what’s in the draft Uttar Pradesh Building Construction bylaws?

1. 01

   De-regulation

   One focus area is deregulation. For residential plots upto 100 square meters and commercial buildings upto 30 square meters, the owner would not need to seek permission for construction, and plot registration would be enough. This would also apply to the reconstruction and renovation of residential buildings.

   Additionally, no separate permission or additional map approval would be required for service professionals using residential buildings up to 25 per cent of the FAR (Floor area ratio). FAR is the total covered area on all floors divided by the total plot area.

   Similarly, no separate permission would be required to utilise residential buildings as home-stays or paying guest accommodations. “Up to 25 percent FAR can be utilized for Nursery, Creche, homestays and for office space by service professionals such as architects, chartered accountants, doctors, lawyers, without any need for a separate map approval,” an officer said. However, these establishments would have to ensure adequate parking arrangements.

2. 02

   Online approval

   Officials also said that a “Trust Based Online Approval” system would be introduced in case of building plans in the sanctioned layout areas, and if such a plan has been prepared by a Licensed Technical Person (such as an architect). “Applicants would be required to submit a self-declaration in a prescribed format and an affidavit, following which they would get a certificate of acceptance generated automatically,” an official said.

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   To counter the complaints of delays and allegations of corruption in obtaining different NOC approvals, a deemed NOC approval system is being introduced. Under this, a timeline for issuance of different NOCs – be it electrical, fire, etc. – has been set. If the concerned department has neither asked for any additional details nor rejected it by an explicit order on substantial grounds, the NOC shall be deemed to have been given within 30 days of the application being submitted.

   However, permits involving the NOC from Defence, Indian Air Force, Airport Authority of India, etc., would be issued only after the NOC is actually received.

3. 03

   Unrestricted FAR

   This is important for the future development of cities. On roads wider than 45 meters, unrestricted FAR would now be permissible. Officials said this is to facilitate vertical development and enable “optimum use of costly urban land”.

   There would be no restriction on building height, except for residential plotted developments or areas with other statutory restrictions, like proximity to airports or Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments, etc.

   Even setback requirements (the minimum distance a building must be from a road) have been reduced to increase the use of available land. A setback of 5 meters has been proposed for buildings up to 15 meters in height. For buildings more than 51 meters in height, the setbacks have been decreased from 16 meters on all sides earlier, to 15 meters for the front setback and 12 meters on the remaining three sides now.

   The minimum plot size requirement for hospitals, shopping malls, group housing, and the requirement for approach roads (which provide a clear approach to a plot or a building from a road/street) have also been reduced. As a result, while hospitals and shopping malls can now come up on plots of 3,000 square meters, group housing is allowed on a 1,500 square meter plot.

   Further, the minimum approach road width under the new bylaws would allow industries and heritage hotels on seven-meter-wide roads, non-bedded medical establishments and primary schools on nine-meter-wide roads, and shopping malls on 18-meter-wide roads.

Other key provisions

Parking: Under the bylaws, “Podiumparking and mechanized triple-stack parking” would now be permitted. Officials informed that new provisions have been introduced for “separate ambulance parking in hospitals as well as separate provisions for bus parking and pick-and-drop zones, in case of schools.”

Ceiling on cost for Economically Weaker Section and Lower Income Group units: The proposed by-laws have also put a ceiling cost of EWS and LIG units, i.e. Rs. 4,50,000 for EWS category per unit, Rs. 9,00,000 per unit for LIG. However, for cities with more than 10 lakh people, the ceiling cost may be enhanced by 20 per cent.

Bylaws for the health sector: Officials said the new bylaws would attract more investment, with provisions such as minimum plot area for non-bedded medical establishments being reduced from 300 sqm to 100 sqm. For hospitals having more than 50 beds, it has been reduced from 20,000 sq meter to 3,000 square meter.

The permissible capacity of nursing homes has been increased from 10 to 50 beds. While there would be a requirement for additional parking provision for ambulances, the bylaws would allow additional use of basements for diagnostic services, toilets, etc.

Education sector: The minimum width of the approach road has been reduced from 12 meters to nine meters for nursery and primary schools. While institutions would have to make a separate parking provision for school buses, they would also be required to make additional provisions for pick-up and drop zones within their campuses.