KMC drafts building rule amendments, parking space for visitors compulsory
Telegraph | 10 April 2025
The draft amendments to the existing Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) building rules propose a mandatory parking space for visitors in housing complexes above a certain size and a reduction of the open space for buildings coming up on smaller plots.
The draft amendments of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Building Rules 2009 also define a “big residential complex” and “affordable housing.”
Any complex with a constructed area over 5,000sq m must have a space in its parking area reserved for visitors.
“There are some large residential complexes that do not have space for parking cars of visitors, who then park their cars on the roads. But a housing complex above a certain constructed area must provide parking space for visitors,” said a KMC official.
Many housing complexes in the city, especially those built years ago, have notices stating visitors cannot park cars inside.
“We have also proposed to proportionately reduce the mandatory open space for plots between 45sq m and 75sq m, and between 75sq m and 125sq m. This will help people with small plots to obtain the building permit from the KMC and prevent them from raising an illegal building,” said a KMC official.
Suggestions and objections on the draft amendments, available on the urban development and municipal affairs department’s website, can be raised within thirty days from April 7, the date of publication of the draft amendments, said an official of the department.
The suggestions and objections must be sent to a special secretary of the department.
The draft amendments define a big residential complex as a “residential building having a total built-up area of more than 15,000sq m, with the residence portion having at least 100 tenements, inclusive of proportionate common area of more than 100sq m.”
“Earlier, there was no definition of a big residential complex. Rules that apply to a 2,500sq m built-up area or constructed area project will be different from rules for a 90,000sq m constructed area project. A definition was required to make this distinction,” said a KMC engineer.
The 50-page document has decided to adopt the definition of “affordable housing” notified by the ministry of housing affairs. KMC Building Rules did not define affordable housing earlier.
“Affordable housing is built for the economically weaker section or low-income group,” said a KMC official.
Feedback from real estate developers, civil engineers and architects was taken to prepare the draft amendments. The preparation of the amendments has been going on for over a year, said an official.
“The existing building rules need to be updated. They were framed at a time when 13 or 14-storey buildings were few. The rules of the fire brigade for housing complexes have changed in the last few years. The building rules need to be in sync with the changes and modifications,” said Sidharth Pansari, the president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai), Bengal chapter.
Some of the changes were in bits and pieces, butwere never aggregated, said Pansari.
“The changes will also benefit the buyers. Most banks ask for the occupancy certificate as part of diligence, but the KMC used to give only a completion certificate. The occupancy certificate has been incorporated in the draft amendments,” said Pansari, also the managing director of Primarc.
An occupancy certificate means the building has a water supply and sewerage connection with the main lines of the KMC’s water supply and sewer network in the area. Earlier, only the completion certificate was issued, and it did not mean that the building had a water supply and sewer connection.
The KMC and the urban development department will consider suggestions and objections raised on the draft.
“The amendments are likely to be notified by the department, or if the government wants, they may be passed in the state Assembly,” said a KMC official.