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As the construction sector has been giving a major push to the growth of India, the stakeholders of the industry, from the landowner and builder to the mason, have the responsibility of meeting society’s expectations.

While the builders make quality of construction their unique selling proposition and their clients demand it, the wellbeing of the environment in which a building comes up should also be a concern for both sections.

The ethics, as it can be called, to be followed by the construction sector have been codified as the National Building Code of India, 2005.

A seminar on the code was recently organised in Kochi by the Institution of Engineers local centre, in association with the City Corporation, to create an awareness of ethical practices among those in the sector.

Knowledge of building codes is limited to a few in the construction field. And it hardly percolates down to the worker.

The seminar aimed to make people understand why the code was necessary and how these could be applied in every construction.

How these codes can be applied locally by enforcing their respective building rules is what the States have to debate, discuss and implement. It is the only way to ensure planned growth.

In Kochi, a master plan, which should be the essence of implementing all construction and building rules, remains forever in the making. While the State government agencies struggle to have a master plan to fall back upon, the Town and Country Planning Department has come up with structural plans for certain areas and has brought villages also under the Kerala Municipal Building Rules. This is to ensure that haphazard growth does not spoil the sustainability of the countryside.

In a presentation on “Development control rules and general building requirements,” M.S. Jaya, Senior Town Planner, Ernakulam, said that land available per person in Kochi was 0.15 hectares. Urbanisation had increased the pressure on the limited land available. The controls were to ensure the health and safety of the public and orderly building works.

The development control rules have three components — zoning regulations, subdivision regulations and building regulations.

The building code, originally formulated in 1970, were later revised twice based on suggestions from the implementing agencies to incorporate technological advancements and to change the norms of amenities to keep them in tune with the times. However, the provisions in the code are not strictly implemented in a State such as Kerala.

With regard to many parameters such as the means of access to a plot and open spaces, the Kerala Municipal Building Rules make different stipulations. Ms. Jaya said the codes were a guideline for the whole of the country.

The variations had been made based on the needs of the State.

For example, under the building code, the means of access to a residential plot should be at least 6 metres wide if the lane is 75 metres long.

If the length is more than 1 km, then the width should be 24 metres.

Under the building rules, access to residential areas is governed by the number of storeys. There is no access parameter for a single-storey unit.

For single-storey multiple units, a 1.2-metre-wide lane is required. For a two-storey single unit, 90-cm width is required, while two-storey multiple units requires 2-metre width. The norms for frontage are based on the plot size. Even the terminology is different in the building code.

A detached building with an area above 250 square metres will need a frontage of 12 metres, the building code says.

However, the State rules determine this based on the use — residential, commercial and industrial.

A residential plot with an area of not less than 125 square metres needs an average width of 6 metres; commercial area not less than 60 square metres needs a frontage of 6 metres; and an industrial area not less 400 square metres a minimum width of 15 metres.

As regards open spaces, the building code says residential buildings should have a 7.5-metre-wide street in front and a minimum open front space of 1.5 metre.

There are norms for rear open space with regard to the height of buildings too.

Under the building rules, for a building of up to 10-metre height, the front yard should ideally be 3 metres or a minimum of 1.8 metres and backyard ideally 2 metres or a minimum of 1 metre.

There are various factors governing the floor area ratio (FAR) too. Occupancy class, type of construction, width of street, locality, parking facilities, local fire-fighting facilities, water supply and drainage facilities regulate the ratio.

Ms. Jaya said the building rules allowed a higher FAR if the infrastructure was better.

Hence, it differed even in a city according to the width of the road and water supply and drainage facilities.

A higher FAR meant more number of people occupying the built-up area.

If there were fewer facilities for that many people in an area, a higher FAR would be a disaster.

Parking norms stipulated by the building rules are going to be revised soon, she said. The population as well as the number of vehicles in Kochi has gone up.

This has severely stressed the city’s parking areas. There are also norms for recreational area, which is ideally 7.5 per cent of the built-up area.

New rules are generally not accepted by the people easily. Hence, the code stands as a general parameter for construction. But awareness of it is important.

Apart from laying down rules for the layout and plan, the code stipulates the type of building materials, such as soil, timber, bamboo, concrete and steel; structural design; building services, such as plumbing and electrical and allied installations; acoustics; landscaping, fire safety; public safety; construction safety; and environment safety.

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