1.
Short title, applicability and commencement.-
(1) These rules called the Kerala Municipality Building
Rules, 1999.
(2) They shall apply to all Municipalities in the State.
(3) They shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions -
(1) In these rules unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) 'access' means the way
to a plot or building;
(b) 'accessory building'
means a building attached or detached to a building on a plot
and containing one or more accessory uses;
(c) 'accessory use' means
any use of the premises subordinate to the principal use and
customarily incidental to the principal use;
(d) 'Act' means the Kerala
Municipality Act, 1994 (20 of 1994);
(e) 'advertising sign' means
any sign either free, supported or attached to a building or
other structure which advertises an individual, a firm, a society,
an establishment or a product displayed on the said premises
for identification purposes;
(f) 'alteration' means a
structural change, such as an addition to the area or height
or addition of floor/floors or mezzanine floor within any existing
floor height, or change of existing floor or changing the roof
to concrete slab or re-construction of existing walls or construction
of concrete beams and columns amounting to structural change
or construction of internal walls for sub-dividing the existing
rooms with the intention of changing the use of the room/rooms
which amount to change in the occupancy group of the building
under these rules, or closing of any required means of ingress
and egress to the building;
(g) 'apartment' means a
part of a building intended for any type of independent use
including one or more rooms or enclosed spaces located on one
or more floors or parts thereof in a building, intended to be
used for residential purposes and with a direct exit to a public
street, road or highway or to a common area, leading to such
street, road or highway. This word is synonymous with residential
flat;
(h) 'appendix' means the
appendix to these rules;
(i) 'approved plan' means
the set of drawing and statements submitted under these rules
for obtaining development permit or building permit and duly
approved by the secretary;
(ia) 'balcony' means a
horizontal projection, including a handrail, or balustrade to
serve as passage or sitting out place;
(j) 'basement floor' means the lower storey
of a building below or partly below the ground floor. This word
is synonymous with cellar;
(k) 'bathroom' means a room or cubicle for
bathing;
(1) 'building' means any structure for whatsoever
purpose and of whatsoever material constructed and every part
thereof whether used for human habitation or not and includes
foundations, plinth, walls, floors, roofs, chimneys, plumbing
and building services, verandah, balcony, cornice or projections,
part of a building or anything affixed thereto or any wall enclosing
or intended to enclose any land or space and signs and outdoor
display structures;
(m) 'building line' means a line which is
away from the street boundary and up to which the main wall
of the building facing that street may lawfully extend, no portion
of the building may extend beyond this line except as prescribed
in these rules;
(n)
'carpet area' means the usable floor area excluding the area
of staircases, lift wells, escalators, ducts, toilets, air condition
plant room and electrical control, room.
Note:-In calculating carpet area, for avoiding
the ariea of wall twenty percent of the floor area, shall
be deducted from the total floor area;
(o) 'ceiling' means the internal roof/lining
of any room; in case there is not such lining, the roof membrane
shall constitute the ceiling;
(p) 'Chief Town Planner' means the Chief
Town Planner to the Government of Kerala;
(q)
'chimney' means an upright shaft containing and encasing one
or more flues;
(r) 'conversion'
means the change of one occupancy group into another occupancy
group;
(s) 'corridor'
means an exit serving as a passage way communicating with separate
rooms or with different parts of a building or
with different buildings;
(t) 'coverage' means the maximum area
on any floor of the building excluding cantilevered open balconies,
it does not include the spaces covered by,-
(i) garden,
rockery, well and well structures, plant, nursery, water
tank, swimming pool
(if uncovered), platform around a tree, tank, fountain bench and
the like;
(ii) drainage,culvert,
conduit, catch-pit, gully pit, drainage chamber, gutter and the
like; and
(iii) compound wall,
gate slide, swing, uncovered staircase, areas covered by sunshade
and the like;
(u) 'depth of plot' means the mean horizontal distance between
the front and rear plot boundaries;
(v) 'development of land' means any material change on the use
of land other than for agricultural
purpose brought about or intended to be brought about by filling
up of the land andlor water bodies or changing from the existing
former use of the land, layout of streets and foot paths, sub-division
of land for residential plots or for other uses including layout
of internal streets, conversion of wet land, and developing parks,
play grounds and social amenities of the like, but does not include
legal partitioning of family property among heirs
[X X X X]
(w) 'development plan' means any general planning scheme for the
local area as a whole or any detailed town planning scheme for
any specified area prepared under the Town and Country Planning
Act in force;
(x) 'drain' means a sewer, pipe, ditch, channel and any other
device for carrying of sewage, offensive matter, polluted water,
sullage, waste water, rain water or sub-soil water and any ejectors,
compressed air means, sealed sewage mains and special machinery
or apparatus for raising, collecting, expelling or removing sewage
or offensive matter to the sewage outfall;
(y) 'drainage' means the removal of any liquid by a system constructed
for the purpose;
(z) 'dwelling' means a building or a portion thereof which is
designed or used wholly or principally for residential purposes;
(aa) 'dwelling unit' means a room or suites of rooms designed
and intended for habitation by an individual or household in which
facilities for cooking may or may not be provided; -
(ab) 'exit' means a passage, channel or means of egress from any
building, storey or floor to a street or other open space of safety;
(ac) 'external wall' means an outer wall of a building eventhough
adjoining a wall of another building; it also means a wall abutting
on an interior open space of any building;
(ad) 'factory' means any premises including the precincts thereof
used or proposed to be used for any purpose as defined under the
Factories Act, 1948 and which comes under the purview of the said
Act;
(ae) 'family' means a group of individuals normally related in
blood or connected by marriage living together as a single house
- keeping unit and having common kitchen arrangements; Customary
resident domestic servants shall be considered as adjunct to the,term
'family';
(af) 'floor' means the lower surface in a storey on which one
normally walks in a building. The general term 'floor' unless
otherwise specifically mentioned shall not refer to a mezzanine
floor;
Note:
- The sequential number of floor shall be determined by its relation
to the determining entrance level. For floor at or wholly above
ground level, the lowest floor in the building with direct entrance
road/street shall be called as ground floor and the other floors
above the ground floor shall be called in sequence as first floor,
second floor, third floor etc. with number increasing upwards.
(ag) 'floor area' means the built up area of a- building at any
floor level;
(ah) 'floor area ratio (F.A.R.)' means the quotient obtained by
dividing the total floor area on all floors by the area of the
plot;
(ai) 'flue' means a confined space provided for the conveyance
to the outer air of any product of combustion resulting from the
operation of any heat producing appliance or equipment employing
solid, liquid or gaseous fuel;
(aj) 'frontage' means side or part of a side of a plot which abuts
on a street;
(ak) 'front yard' means an open space extending laterally along
thefront side (main ground floor entrance side) of a building
and forming part of the plot;
Note: - Where there are more than one entrance to a building,
the entrance givin access to the major portion of a ground floor
shall be considered as the main entrance;
(al) 'gallery' means an intermediate floor or platform projecting
from a wall of an auditorium or a hall providing extra floor area,
additional seating accommodation, etc..,
(am) 'garage' means a building or portion thereof, used or intended
to be used for the shelter, storage or repair of any mechanically
propelled vehicle;
(an) 'ground floor' means the lowest storey of a building to which
there is an entrance from the [x
x xl adjacent ground or street.,
(ao) 'Government' means the Central or State Government.
(ap) 'head room' means the clear vertical distance measured from
the finished floor surface to the finished ceiling surface; where
a finished ceiling is not provided, the underside of the joists
or beams sortie beams shall determine the upper point of measurement;
(aq) 'height
of building' means the vertical distance measured from the average
level of the ground contiguous to the building or the centre line
of the adjoining street.-
(1)
in the, case of flat roofs, to the highest point of the eailing
building adjacent to the street wall;
'
(ii) in the case of pitched roofs, to the point where the external
surface of the outer wall intersects the finished surface of the
slopping roof;
'
(iii) in,the case of gabled roofs, to the midpoint between,the
eves level and the ridge; and
'(iv)
in the case. of dommed roofs, to the '[lowest point on the
eailing;] Provided that architectural features serving no other
function except that of decoration shall be excluded for the purpose
of taking heights.,
(ar) 'height of room' means the vertical distance between the
floor an the lowest point on the ceiling; ' (as)
'hut' means any building constructed principally of wood, mud,
leaves, grass, thatch or such easily perishable material;
(at) 'lift well' means the unobstructed space within an enclosure
provided for the vertical movement of the lift car (s) and any
counter weight (s) including the lift pit and the space for
top clearance;
(au) 'loft' means a residual space in a pitched roof, or any
similar residual space, above normal floor level without any
direct staircase leading to it which may be constructed or adopted
for storage purposes;
(av) 'mezzanine floor' means an intermediate floor in any storey
over - hanging and over - looking a floor beneath;
(ava) 'occupancy group' means
the principal occupancy for which a plot, a building or a part
of a building is used or intended to be used; for the purposes
of classification of a plot or building according to occupancy,
an occupancy shall be deemed to include the subsidiary occupancies
which are contingent upon it;
(aw) 'open space' means an area forming an integral part of
the plot left open to the sky;
(ax) 'operational construction' means a construction whether
temporary or permanent which is necessary for the operation,
maintenance, development or execution of any of the services
essential to the life of the community or
so declared by the Central or State Government from time
to time;
(ay) 'owner' in respect of land or building, means the person
who receives the rent for the use of the land or building or
would be entitled to do so if they were let and includes,-
(i) an agent or trustee who receives
such rent on behalf of the owner or is connected with any building
devoted to religious or charitable purpose;
(ii) a receiver, executor or administrator or a manager appointed
by any court of competent jurisdiction to have the charge of
or to exercise the rights of the owner;
(iii) mortgagee in possession; and
(iv) a lessee in possession;
(az) 'parapet' means a low wall not more than 1.2 m in height
built along the edge of a roof or a floor;
(ba) 'parking space' means an area enclosed or unenclosed, sufficient
in size to park vehicles, together with a drive way connecting
the parking space with a street or alley and permitting ingress
and egress of vehicles;
(bb) 'passage way' means a means of access;
(bc) 'pathway' means an approach constructed with materials,
such as bricks, concrete, stone, asphalt or the like;
(bd) 'permit' means a permission or authorisation in writing
by the Secretary to carry out work;
(be) 'plinth' means the portion of a structure between the surface
of the surrounding ground and surface of the floor, first above
the ground;
(bf) 'plinth area' means area of the building at the plinth
level, does not include the area of open porch (not
enclosed by wall) uncovered staircase and the like;
(bg) 'plot' means a parcel or piece of land enclosed by definite
boundaries;
(bga) 'plot corner' means
a plot at the junctions of and fronting on two or more intersecting
streets;
(bgb) 'plot depth' of means
the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear plot
boundaries;
(bgc) 'plot double frontage'
means plot having a frontage on the two streets other than a
corner plot;
(bgd)'
plot interior' means a plot, access to which is by a passage
from a street whether such a passage forms past of the plot
or not;
(bh) 'Pollution Control Board'
means the Kerala State Pollution Control Board;
(bi) 'porch' means a canopy supported on pillars or otherwise
and used for the purpose of pedestrain or vehicular approach
to a building;
(bj) 'rear yard' means the utility open space extending laterally
along the rear side of the plot and formin part of the plot;
any side other than rear if used as utility open space shall
be deemed as rear yard;
(bk) 're-development of land' means the revision or replacement
of an existing land use and population distribution pattern
and the clearance and building of the area according to a development
plan. It involves the reduction or inc1rease of population densities;
the acquisition and clearance of deteriorated buildings, the
repair, modernisation and provisions of sanitary facilities,
water supply and electricity, provision of street, parks or
other public improvements and preservation of predominantly
built up areas that are in good condition;
(bl) 'registered Architect/Engineer/Town Planner/Supervisor'
means an Architect/Engincer/Town Planner/Supervisor registered
or deemed to have been registered as such under these rules;
(bm) 'road' means any highway, street, lane, pathway, alley,
passageway, carriageway, footway or bridge whether a thoroughfare
or not, over which the public have a right of passage or access
uniterruptedly for a specified period; whether existing or proposed
in
any scheme;
(bn) 'row building' means a row of buildings with only front
and rear open spaces with or without interior open spaces;
(bo) 'Secretary' means the Secretary of a Municipality;
(bp) section' means a Section in the Act;
(bq) 'semi - detached building' means a building detached on
three sides;
(br) 'service lane' means a lane provided at the rear or side
of a plot for service purposes;
(bs) 'service station' means a place where no automobile repairing
is done but only washing, cleaning and oiling of automobile
take place;
(bt) 'set back line' means a prescribed building line drawn
with reference to the central line of a street on the street
side of which nothing can be erected or re-erected;
(bta)
'sewage drain' means a drain used or constructed to be used
for conveying solid or liquid waste matter, extremental or otherwise
to a sewer;
(bu) 'shop' means a building or part of a building where articles
of food and personal, domestic and household use and consumption
are sold and goods of any kind are ordinarily sold. It does
not include a workshop;
(bv) 'side yard' means an open space extending laterally between
any side of a building and the boundary of the plot facing that
side other than front and rear/utility yard and forming part
of the plot;
(bw) site' means a plot and its surrounding presincts;
(bx) 'stair cover' means cabin - like structure with a covering
roof over a staircase and its landing built to enclose only
the stairs for the purpose of providing protection from weather
and not used for human habitation it
is synonymous with stair cabin or staircase room;
(bxa) 'stall' means any temporary
structure other than a hut used solely for the display
and sale of goods;
(by) 'storey' means the portion of a building included between
the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above
it, or if there be no floor above it, then the space between
any floor and the ceiling next above it.;
(bz) 'Street' means a private street or a public street, synonymous
with .road and giving access to more than one plot or one building;
. @ 1 2. 3. 4.
(ca) 'street line' means the line defining the side limits of
a street;
(cb) 'street level' means the level at the centre line of the
street;
(cc) 'structure' means anything that is built or constructed
or building of any kind or any piece of work artificialy built
up or composed of parts joined together in some
definite manner. The term structure includes 'building';
(cd)
['sunshade or weather shade' means a sloping or horizontal
structural overhang usually provided over openings on provide
protection from sun and rain;
(cc) 'tenement' means part of a building intended or used or
likely to be used as a dwelling unit;
(cf) 'to erect' means-
(i) to erect a new building on
any site whether previously built or not;
(ii) to re-erect any building of
which portions above the plinth leval have been pulled
down or destroyed; and
(iii) conversion from one occupancy
to another;
(cg) 'travel distance' means the
distance an occupant has to travel reach an exit.,
(cga)
'unconnected latrine' means a latrine not connected to the public
sewer system, it may be connected to a septic tank;
(ch) 'unsafe building' means building
which is structurally unsafe insanitary or not provided with
adequate means of egress or which fire hazard or are otherwise
dangerous to human life or which in relation existing use constitute
a hazard to safety or health or public welfare, by of inadequate
maintenance, dilapidation or abandonment;
(cha)
'use group' means the principal use for which a plot, a building
or part of a building is -used or intended to be used;
(ci) 'verandah' means a covered
area with at least one side open to the outside with the exception
of parapet, trellis, j ally or grill work on the openside;
(cia)
'Village panchayath' means a village panchayath constituted
under section 4 of the Kerala Panchayath Raj Act, 1994 (13 of
1994)
(cj) 'warehouse' means a building,
the whole or substantial part of which is used or intended to
be used for the storage of goods whether for keeping or for
sale or for any similar purposes but does not include a store
room attached and used for the proper functioning of a shop;
(ck) 'Water Authority' means the
authority delegated by the Government of Kerala to be in charge
of the management of water and sewerage installations in the
area;
(cl) 'water closet' or 'WC' means
a latrine with arrangement for flushing the pan with water but
does not include a bathroom; (cm) 'water course' means an artificial
or natural drainage canal;
(cn) 'yard' means an open space
at ground level between a building and the adjoining boundary
lines of the plot unoccupied and unobstructed except by encroachment
of structures specially permitted by these rules on the same
plot with a building. All yard measurements shall be the minimum
distance between the front, rear and side yard plot boundaries,
as the case may be, and the nearest point of the building including
enclosed porches. Every part of yard shall be accessible from
every part of the same yard.
(2) Words and expressions used
but not defined in these rules but defined in the Kerala Municipality
Act, 1994 (Act 20 of 1994) shall have the same meaning assigned
to them in that Act.
NOTES
Building:- The word building should
be given its literal meaning as something which is built. The
meaning to be given to that word must depend upon the enactment
in which the word is used and the context in which it is used.
Underground petrol tank and other structures installed for petrol
pump were held to be building for the purpose of Section 106
of Kerala Land Reforms Act (Raman Pillai V. George, 1974 KLT
246: ILR 1974 (1) Ker 284).
Under Section 3(4) of the Kerala
Municipal Corporations Act, 1961 boundary wall not exceeding
eight feet in height is excluded from the definition of building.
(Abul Latheef V. Corporation of Cochin, 1995 (2) KLT 91).
Building of a charitable trust
used as auditorium does not qualify exemption from profession
tax or property tax. Attuk-al Bhagavathy Trust v., Corporation
of Thiru,@,ananthapuram, 2001 (1) KLT 108
"Occupier" includes a
licensee in occupation of any land or (Damodaraii V. Health
Assistant, 1966 KLT 124 : 1995 KLJ 1185).
The word "occupied" in
Section 239 of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994, in the context
of the expression "has been vacant and unlet" can
only mean the section actual userof the building.Theexpression'hasbeenvacant'usedin
is also significant. 'Vacancy' is a state of non-occupation.
It implies non -userwhen both the words 'occupied', and 'vacant'
occur in the section, it is clear that the said expression in
the context convey different meaning. So understood the word
'occupied 'can only been actually used.(BijuMathewv.Corporationi
of Cochin, 2000(2) KLJ 68).
A house is a place pf,dwelling
or habitation. Quarters in one row having common wall though
each separating the other would not be taken as one building
for the purpose of arriving at the annual Value. (Notified area
CNT v. Behra M. Board 1999 (3' ) KL7'SN 25).
Parking Space.. - Parking fee -
Owner of d shopping complex levied vehield .parking fee from
the customers of its tenants and from others. In the Wdt Petitions
filed challen 'ng the levy it was contended that it was mandatory
under the Build- 91 ing Rules to provide parking area at the
time of construction of the building and so there was no justification
for levying fee. It was @held that even though there is specific
provision for parking space to be mandaton'ly made available
at the time of:construction, there is nothing more in the rule
which prohibits a fee being charged in respect of the space
that has been so used. Charly v. KTDC, 2001 (1) KLT 178.
3. Applicability
These rules shall apply to,-
(i) any public or private building
as described below, narnelv :-
(a) where a building is newly
erected, these rules shall apply to the designs and construction
of the building;
(b) where the building is altered,
these rules shall apply to the altered portion of the building;
(c) where the occupancy or use
of building is changed, these rules shall apply to all
the parts of the building affected by the change;
(d)
where addition or extension is made to a building, the rules
shall apply to the addition or extension only, but for calculation
of floor area ratio and coverage permissible and for calculation
of required off street parking area to be provided, the whole
building [existing and proposed] shall betaken in to account.
(e)
where the whole or any part of a building is removed, the rules
shall apply to all parts of building whether removed or not;
(ii) all lands which is proposed
to be re developed or developed for construction or buildings;
(iii)
all developments and constructions existing or proposed in any
village panchayath area to which the provisions of these rules
stand extended.
KERALA MUNICIPALITY BUILDING
RULES Ch.1 is and coverage permissible and for calculation of
required off street parking area to be provided, the whole building
(existing and the proposed) shall be taken into account; 1 [
X X X 11 (it) all lands which is proposed to be redeveloped
or developed for construction of buildings; 7[(iii) all developments
and constructions existing or proposed in any village panchayath
area to which the provisions ofthese rules stand extended.]