Govt replaces building code with a new standard, Retains fire safety provisions as 'advisory'

New Delhi: Govt on Thursday replaced National Building Code (NBC) with National Building Construction Standards (NBCS) by withdrawing the earlier code. The new standards will serve more as guidelines, with this being done following directives from Deregulation Cell under Cabinet Secretariat.

TOI has learnt that one of the main reasons for replacing NBC with NBCS was that despite NBC being voluntary, the term “Code” indicated that its provisions were legally binding and led to matters reaching courts.

Though the Deregulation Cell had recommended to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) that the “fire and life safety” section be kept out of the standards, it has been made a part of NCBS following strong pushback from fire safety experts.

But there is a catch: while provisions dealing with fire and life safety in NBC used the modal verb “shall”, NBCS has replaced it with “should”. Experts said this is a big change as “should” means what’s desirable without being mandatory.

Another change is the applicability of these provisions. While in NBC, residential buildings above 15 metres in height had to adhere to norms laid down for “fire and life safety”, in NBCS these apply to buildings that are 24 metres high or more.

“While state fire authorities could earlier simply follow norms specified in NBC, now they have to make detailed provisions for compliance. It remains to be seen how this plays out,” an expert involved in revision of NBC said.

The new standards, which were notified on Thursday, mention that since the last revision of NBC in 2016, many things have changed, including per capita land availability, growing infrastructure requirements, socio-economic conditions and technological advancements.

NBCS also notes that with construction being a state subject, state govts and local authorities should have a say on issues dealing with administration, height and space requirements.

The document mentions that the nature of standards and codes has changed from a prescriptive regime, under which states and local authorities required handholding, to a “more performance-oriented outlook, giving ample scope for innovation and decision- making”.

On fire and life safety, it said that though a state subject, it has been included in NBCS due to its importance for safety and well-being of occupants as well as the common public.

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