National Building code

• The National Building Code of India (NBC), a comprehensive

building Code, is a national instrument providing guidelines
for regulating the building construction activities across the
country.
• The NBC lays down the minimum provisions buildings
need in order to ensure public safety with regard to
structural sufficiency, fire hazard and health aspects. It
contains administrative provisions, development control
rules etc.
• The building that does not satisfy building code or violation
of National building code will lead to penalty, cancellation
of sanction or demolition of the building.
• The comprehensive NBC 2005 contains 11 Parts
PART 0 INTEGRATED APPROACH - PREREQUISITE FOR APPLYING PROVISIONS OF THE CODE
PART 1 DEFINITIONS
PART 2 ADMINISTRATION
PART 3 DEVELOPMENT CONTROL RULES AND GENERAL BUILDING REQUIREMENTS
PART 4 FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY
PART 5 BUILDING MATERIALS
PART 6 STRUCTURAL DESIGN
Section 1 Loads, Forces and Effects Section 2 Soils and Foundations
Section 3 Timber and Bamboo
3A Timber
3B Bamboo
Section 4 Masonry
Section 5 Concrete
5A Plain and Reinforced Concrete
5B Prestressed Concrete
Section 6 Steel
Section 7 Prefabrication, Systems Building and Mixed/ Composite Construction
7A Prefabricated Concrete
7B Systems Building and Mixed/Composite Construction

Note; No need to memorise. Just for understanding

PART 7 CONSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES AND SAFETY
PART 8 BUILDING SERVICES
Section 1 Lighting and Ventilation
Section 2 Electrical and Allied Installations
Section 3 Air conditioning, Heating and Mechanical Ventilation
Section 4 Acoustics, Sound Insulation and Noise Control
Section 5 Installation of Lifts and Escalators
PART 9 PLUMBING SERVICES
Section 1 Water Supply, Drainage and Sanitation (including
Solid Waste Management)
Section 2 Gas Supply
PART 10 LANDSCAPING, SIGNS AND OUTDOOR DISPLAY
STRUCTURES
Section 1 Landscape Planning and Design
Section 2 Signs and Outdoor Display Structures

Note; No need to memorise. Just for understanding

Example
Fire Provision
In the case of apartment buildings exceeding three storey above
ground level, a certificate of approval from the Director of Fire Force or
an officer authorized by him shall be obtained before issue of the
building permit.
Part IV of the NBC provides in detail the fire safety and fire
protection in buildings. This part provides for provision of fire
detection instrument to detect fire in the building along with an alarm
to alert the inhabitants of the building.

Safety Provision
In case of Building having height more than 13.0 Mts. lift shall be
provided. Lift shall be provided from ground floor and shall have
minimum capacity of six persons
Classification of Building Based on
Occupancy
 GROUP A -Residential Buildings
• These shall include any building in which sleeping
accommodation is provided for normal residential
purposes with or without cooking or dining.
1 Lodging or rooming houses (inns, clubs, motels and
guest houses.)
2 One or two-family private dwellings
3 Dormitories (school and college dormitories,
students, and other hostels and military barracks.)
4 Apartment houses (flats)
5 Hotels (Upto 3 star hotel)
6 Hotels (Starred)(5 star hotel and above)
 GROUP B- Educational Buildings
• These shall include any building used for school,
college, other training institutions for day-care
purposes involving assembly for instruction, education
or recreation for not less than 20 students.

• If residential accommodation is provided in the

schools/institutions, that portion of occupancy shall
be classified as dormitory.

1. Schools up to senior secondary level

2. All others/training institutions
 Group C Institutional Buildings
• Any building or part thereof, which is used for
purposes, such as medical or other treatment or care
of persons suffering from physical or mental illness,
disease or infirmity; care of infants, convalescents or
aged persons and for penal detention in which the
liberty of the inmates is restricted.
• Institutional buildings ordinarily provide sleeping
accommodation for the occupants.

C-1 Hospitals and sanatoria (Hospitals)

C-2 Custodial institutions (home for aged, orphanages.)
C-3 Penal and mental institutions (jails, prisons, mental
hospitals)
 Group D Assembly Buildings
These shall include any building or part of a
building,where number of persons not less than 50
congregate or gather for amusement, recreation,
social, religious, patriotic, civil, travel and similar
purposes
• theatres, motion picture houses, assembly
• halls, auditoria, exhibition halls, museums, skating
• rinks, gymnasiums, restaurants, places of worship,
dance
• halls, club rooms
 Group E Business Buildings
• Used for transaction of business, for keeping of
accounts and records and similar purposes,
professional establishments, service facilities,
• E-1 Offices, banks, professional establishments, like
offices of architects, engineers, doctors, lawyers and
police stations.
• E-2 Laboratories, research establishments, libraries
and test houses.
• E-3 Computer installations.
• E-4 Telephone exchanges.
• E-5 Broadcasting stations and T.V.stations.
 Group F Mercantile Buildings
• These shall include any building or part of a
building, which is used as shops, stores, market,
for display and sale of merchandise, either
wholesale or retail.
• F-1 Shops, stores, departmental stores markets
with area up to 500 m2.
• F-2 Shops, stores, departmental stores markets
with area more than 500 m2.
• F-3 Underground shopping centres.
 Group G Industrial Buildings
• Structure, in which products or materials of all
kinds and properties are fabricated, assembled,
manufactured or processed,
• For example, assembly plants, industrial
laboratories, dry cleaning plants, power
plants,generating units, pumping stations,
fumigation chambers, laundries, buildings or
structures in gas plants, refineries, dairies and saw-
mills, etc.
• G-1 Buildings used for low hazard industries.
• G-2 Buildings used for moderate hazard industries.
• G-3 Buildings used for high hazard industries.
 Group H Storage Buildings
• Used primarily for the storage or sheltering
(including servicing, processing or repairs
incidental to storage) of goods, ware or
merchandise
• except those that involve highly combustible
or explosive products or materials
 Group J Hazardous Buildings
• any building or part of a building which is used
for the storage, handling, manufacture or
processing of highly combustible or explosive
materials or products which are liable to burn
with extreme rapidity and or which may produce
poisonous fumes or explosions for storage,
handling, manufacturing or processing which
involve highly corrosive, toxic or noxious alkalis,
acids or other liquids or chemicals producing
flame, fumes and explosive,poisonous, irritant
or corrosive gases
 Fire load Calculation
• Fire load is the amount of heat in kilocalories
which is liberated per square metre of floor area
of a compartment by the combustion of the
contents of the building and any combustible
parts of the building itself. This amount of heat is
used as the basis for classification of occupancies.
• The fire load is determined by multiplying the
weight of all combustible materials by their
calorific values and dividing the figure by the floor
area under consideration.
• Different materials having the same weight
and same calorific value may present different
hazards on account of their other properties,
such as ease of ignition, speed of burning, and
liberation of heat and fumes.
 Definitions in NBC
High Rise Building — For the purpose of this Part, all
buildings 15 m or above in height shall be considered as
high rise buildings
Fire Lift — The lift installed to enable fire services
personnel to reach different floors with minimum delay,
Fire Door — A fire-resistive door approved for openings
in fire separation
Fire Resistance Rating — The time that a material or
construction will withstand the standard fire exposure
as determined by fire test done in accordance with the
standard methods of fire tests of materials/structures
Floor Area Ratio (FAR) — The quotient obtained by
dividing the total covered area (plinth area) on all
floors by the area of the plot:
FAR =Total covered area of all floors/Plot area
Fire Separation — The distance in metres measured
from the external wall of the building concerned to
the external wall of any other building on the site,
or from other site, or from the opposite side of
street or other public space for the purpose of
preventing the spread of fire.
Fire Tower — An enclosed staircase which can only
be approached from the various floors through
landings or lobbies separated
Fire Separating Wall — The wall provides complete
separation of one building from another from
another part of building to prevent any
communication of fire or heat transmission.
Travel Distance — The distance to be travelled from
any point in a building to a protected escape route,
external escape route or final exit
 The fire zones
• Fire Zone No. 1 —residential (Group A), educational
(Group B), institutional (Group C), and assembly
(Group D), small business (Subdivisions E-1) and
retail mercantile (Group F)
• Fire Zone No. 2 — This shall comprise business (Sub-
divisions E-2 to E-5) and industrial buildings (Sub-
division G-1 and G-2),
• Fire Zone No. 3 — This shall comprise areas having
high hazard industrial buildings (Subdivision G-3),
storage buildings (Group H) and buildings for
hazardous used (Group J)
 Fire towers
• In high rise buildings with
over 8 storeys or 24 m in
height, at least one
required means of egress
shall preferably be a fire
tower.
• The fire towers shall be
constructed of walls with
a 2 h fire resistance rating
 Fire Lifts
• Where applicable, fire lifts shall be provided with a
minimum capacity for 8 passengers and fully automated
with emergency switch on ground level.
• In general, buildings 15 m in height or above shall be
provided with fire lifts.
• In case of fire, only fireman shall operate the fire lift. In
normal course, it may be used by other persons.
• Each fire lift shall be equipped with suitable inter-
communication equipment for communicating with the
control room on the ground floor of the building.
• The speed of the fire lift shall be such that it can reach the
top floor from ground level within 1 min.
• The words ‘Fire Lift’ shall be conspicuously displayed in
fluorescent paint on the lift landing doors at each floor level.
 Emergency and Escape Lighting
• Emergency lighting shall be powered from a source
independent of that supplying the normal lighting.
• Escape lighting shall be capable of:
a) Indicating escape routes,
b) Providing adequate illumination
c) Ensuring that fire alarm call points and firefighting
equipment provided along the escape routes can be
readily located.
• The horizontal luminance at floor level on the
centerline of an escape route shall be not less than 10
lux.
Fire protection requirements for high rise buildings 15 m or above.
• The internal walls or staircase shall be of brick or
reinforced concrete with a minimum of 2 h fire
rating.
• Use of basements for kitchens working on gas fuel
shall not be permitted, unless air conditioned.
• All buildings with heights of 15 m or above shall be
equipped with manually operated electrical fire
alarm (MOEFA) system and automatic fire alarm
system
 Annex in Part 4 of NBC
• Annex A- calorific values of common materials and typical
values of fire load density
• Annex B- broad classification of industrial and non-
industrial occupancies into different degree of hazard
• Annex C- fire protection requirements for high rise
buildings 15 m in height or above.
• Annex D- fire protection considerations for venting in
industrial buildings
• Annex E- guidelines for fire drill and evacuation
procedures for high rise buildings (above 15 m in height)