Jammu and Kashmir administration has put in public domain draft ‘Model Building Byelaws and Building Code-2020’ for the areas falling under jurisdiction of urban local bodies in the Union Territory.
The draft laws have been prepared with the assistance of experts /professionals from the relevant fields after taking into account the National Building Code, officials said.
According to a notification of Housing and Urban Development Department, draft Building Bye Laws are notified for inviting suggestions/objections from all stakeholders – citizens, developers, builders, government departments, housing cooperatives and other agencies to enable incorporation of useful suggestions to make the new bye laws /building code comprehensive, progressive and relevant.
As per the draft byelaws, construction of any type of government or private building near Defence land/ premises shall be governed by as per guidelines of government of India, Ministry of Defence. The construction of any type of Govt or private buildings near Railway land shall be governed as per the guidelines of Ministry of Railways.
“No construction activity shall be allowed in the areas vulnerable to flood/ flash floods, water courses. No development, whether any filling or otherwise shall be carried out from the 50 mts of the edge of the bank of any river, stream or major water courses,” draft document reads.
As per new building Bye-laws it is amply clear that no Government/ Semi-Government organizations either Central or UT shall be exempted from complying with the provisions of the building Bye-laws / regulations, unless the government grants such an exemption.
For the multi-storeyed buildings having height of more than 15 mtrs, special provisions are needed including all safety measures and NOCs from various departments.
For all high rise buildings which are 15 mt or more in height and for special buildings like educational, assembly, institutional, business, mercantile, industrial, storage, hazardous and mixed-occupancies, having more than 500 sq mt covered area, the permission shall be granted under two stages covering fire and lift safety norms under National Building Code-2016 regulations.
“Once a building permit is sanctioned, it shall remain valid for three (3) years, from the date of sanction for residential, industrial and commercial buildings (4 storeyed) and for a period of four (4) years from the date of sanction for high-rise and tall buildings. However, the validity period of sanction in case of additions/ alterations in both the cases, shall be two years from the date of sanction.”