APPENDIX A: Guidelines for the Development of Minimum Standard Housing (Occupancy A4)
A.1 GENERAL
A.1.1
Government bodies or public agencies may designate an area in the master plan for the development of mass housing projects for the low income people. It may not be convenient or practicable for the dwelling units in such projects to be in full compliance with all the requirements of this Code. All such dwelling units in planned layouts of an approved settlement shall be classified as Occupancy A4 : Minimum Standard Housing. The guidelines of this appendix cover the planning and the general building requirements of such minimum standard housing developments.
A.1.2
Only government bodies or public agencies should be responsible for planning the number and location of the settlements in a master plan and the layout of units within the settlement. The guidelines of this appendix regarding layout planning are applicable to government bodies or public agencies responsible for such planning.
A.1.3
The guidelines and requirements regarding design and construction of buildings for minimum standard housing in approved layouts are applicable to government bodies, public agencies, private developers or individual owners who undertake such constructions.
A.2 TYPES OF DEVELOPMENT
The developments of minimum standard housing may be any one or a combination of the following types :
a) Single unit plots of row type housing,
b) Multi-storied flats of row type housing,
c) Block development as group or cluster housing, and
d) Site and service schemes.
The guidelines for planning and general building requirements shall be applicable to all types of development of minimum standard housing.
A.3 PLANNING
A.3.1 Basic Master Plan Requirements
Each cluster of minimum standard housing should accommodate a maximum of 400 dwelling units with an average of 5 persons per dwelling. The following common spaces should be provided in the layout plan of a settlement :
Community open spaces like park, children’s play area etc. : 1000 m² per 1000 population
Internal roads and walkways : 15 to 20 per cent of the site area
Primary school : 1 school covering 1000 m² per 1500 population
Shopping centre : 4 shops per 1000 population
Clinic/dispensary : 175 m² per 2000 population
Places of worship : 175 m² per 2000 population
Services : 175 m² per 2000 population
Community welfare centre : 400 m² per 1500 population
A.3.2 Density
The permissible density of dwelling units should be worked out in consideration of the minimum common space requirements given above and the size of the units. The density of minimum standard housing shall not be more than 175 units per hectare.
A.3.3 Size of Plot
A.3.3.1 Minimum standard housing with one room, cooking space, bathing facility and water closet in the ground floor and prospect of future extension of one room and bath/WC on the first floor or ground floor shall normally require a minimum plot size of 30 m². In areas other than metropolitan cities, with population less than 0.5 million, the minimum size of plot for such houses should be 40 m².
A.3.3.2 Developments having minimum standard houses with two rooms, kitchen, bathing facility and water closet in multi-storied flats, group housing or individual ownership houses shall require a minimum plot size of 40 m². In areas other than metropolitan cities, having a population less than 0.5 million, the minimum size of the plot for such houses should be 60 m². In dense inner city areas of metropolitan cities with population more than 1.5 million, the Government may decide to have a minimum plot size of 25 m² for such houses.
A.3.4 Plot Frontage
The minimum frontage of individual plots shall be 3.5 m. Plots for group housing developments in multi-storied blocks and plots for multi-storied flats will require a larger frontage.
A.3.5 Site and Service Schemes
A.3.5.1 Minimum Provisions : Site and service schemes shall delineate individual plots and provide for the infrastructural needs for the development of a permanent housing. Interim constructions by the allottees should also be permitted. Skeletal structures with a roof on columns and/or developed plinths may be provided if funds are available.
A.3.5.2 Sanitation : Sanitation and water supply must be provided in all site and service schemes. A sanitary service core or common water supply and sanitation facilities for planned groups of plots should normally suffice.
A.3.5.3 The developing agency shall install the services before handing over the plots.
A.3.6 Internal Roads and Walkways
Pedestrian walkways when provided as means of access, shall be at least 3 m wide. Such walkways shall not be longer than 60 m, nor serve more than 10 plots on each side of the path. Buildings on plots abutting such walkways shall not be higher than two times the sum of the width of the walkway and the front open space.
Other internal roads shall be at least 6 m wide to allow emergency vehicles to enter. The paved portion of such roads, if used for pedestrian movement only, should be at least 2 m wide.
A.4 GENERAL BUILDING REQUIREMENTS
A.4.1 Plinth Coverage
The plinth area coverage of any plot of minimum standard housing shall not exceed 75 per cent of the plot area. There shall be a set back of minimum 1.5 m on the rear side of a plot. There is no requirement for such set back on the sides and front of a plot.
A.4.2 Height Limitation
The height of any building in a minimum standard housing scheme shall not exceed 6 storeys or 20 m. Whenever feasible, the height should be limited to 5 storeys. For buildings on internal pedestrian walkways, the provisions of Sec A.3.6 regarding height shall be applicable.
A.4.3 Plinth Level
The minimum height of the plinth shall be 300 mm from the surrounding ground level.
A.4.4 Habitable Room
A.4.4.1 One roomed dwelling units shall have a multi-purpose room which may include an alcove or space for cooking. The minimum area of the room shall be 12 m² with a minimum width of 2.5 m.
A.4.4.2 For dwelling units with two habitable rooms the minimum size of any room shall be 6 m² with a minimum width of 2.1 m. The total area of the two rooms shall not be less than 15 m².
A.4.4.3 One-roomed dwelling with plan for future extension into a two-roomed house in a staged construction scheme shall satisfy the requirement of A.4.4.2 regarding room sizes. The first room to be built in this type of development shall have a minimum area of 9 m² with a minimum width of 2.5 m. The total area of the two rooms after future extension shall be a minimum of 15 m².
A.4.4.4 All habitable rooms shall have a minimum clear height of 2.75 m. For sloped roofs the average height shall not be less than 2.75 m with a minimum of 2 m at the lowest side.
A.4.5 Kitchen
A.4.5.1 The size of the cooking alcove or cooking space provided in a multi-purpose room of a one-roomed house shall not be less than 2.25 m² with a minimum width of 1.2 m.
A.4.5.2 Separate kitchen provided in a two-roomed house shall have a minimum area of 3.25 m² with a minimum width of 1.6 m.
A.4.5.3 Minimum clear height of the kitchen or cooking space shall be 2.15 m.
A.4.6 Bathroom and Water Closet
A.4.6.1 Independent water closets shall have a minimum width of 0.9 m and a minimum length of 1.15 m. The water closet shall be fitted with a door.
A.4.6.2 Independent bathroom without water closet shall have a minimum width of 1 m and a minimum length of 1.4 m.
A.4.6.3 The minimum size of a combined bathroom and water closet shall be 1.8 m² with a minimum width of 1 m. The bathroom shall be fitted with a door.
A.4.6.4 The minimum clear height of bathrooms and water closets shall be 2.15 m.
A.4.7 Balcony and Corridor
The minimum width of individual balcony shall be 0.9 m. Corridors for use of more than one dwelling units shall have a minimum width of 1.2 m.
A.4.8 Stairs
A.4.8.1 Minimum Width : The minimum widths of stairs serving not more than two dwelling units per floor shall be as follows :
2 - storeyed buildings 0.75 m
3 - storeyed buildings 0.80 m
4 - storeyed buildings 0.90 m
5 or 6-storeyed buildings 1.00 m
A.4.8.2 Maximum Rise : The height of the riser shall not be more than 215 mm. The maximum number of risers per flight in a straight flight stair shall be 15.
A.4.8.3 Minimum Tread Depth : The minimum depth of the tread shall be as follows :
2 or 3-storeyed buildings 215 mm
4, 5 or 6-storeyed buildings 250 mm
A.4.8.4 Minimum Head Room : The minimum clear head room between flights of a staircase shall be 2.15 m. The clear head room may be reduced to 2.03 m for not more than three flights in any staircase.
A.4.8.5 Landing : The depth of landing at any level shall be at least equal to the width of the stair.
A.4.9 Water Supply
One water tap or hand tubewell pump per dwelling unit should be provided, if feasible. Each unit of public water hydrants or community hand pumps, if provided in lieu of individual water supply, shall serve not more than 10 dwelling units and shall not be farther than 15 m from any dwelling unit served.
A.4.10 Lighting and Ventilation
Every room, bathroom and kitchen shall have windows in an external wall opening on a courtyard, a balcony not wider than 2.5 m, or the exterior. The aggregate area of openings in the exterior wall of a habitable room or kitchen shall not be less than 12% of the floor area and that for a nonhabitable room such as bath room, water closet or stair shall be at least 8% of the floor area.
APPENDIX B: Suggestive Typical Termite Proof Constructions and Preconstructional Measures
B.1 GENERAL
Constructions and preconstructional measures presented in the following sections may be adopted for design and construction of termite proof buildings.
B.2 CONSTRUCTIONAL MEASURES
B.2.1 Suggested typical anti-termite constructions for brick masonry works are shown in Fig B.1.
B.2.2 Fig B.2 (a), (b) and (c) present termite shield, groove at entrance and arrangement at their junctions. Ends of termite shield shall overlap by at least 20 mm and soldered. A piece of 20x10 mm shall be cut off from the lower end portion of one of the pieces before soldering the two ends so that the thickness at the free edges remain constant.
B.2.3 Bottom of wooden columns supported directly on basement floors shall be protected with termite caps. Such caps shall be a metal sheet covering the whole section of the column and projecting 50 mm beyond the outer edge of the column.
B.3 PRECONSTRUCTIONAL MEASURES
B.3.1 For load bearing walls, treatment of soil shall be carried out at the bottom of the trenches and at the sides up to 300 mm above the bottom (Fig B.3 and B.4). In such cases, 5 litre of the chemical shall be sprayed per m² of the surface area. The backfill material in direct contact with the foundation shall be treated with 15 litre of chemical emulsion per m² of the surface area of the foundation. If water is used for compaction operation, it shall be done before applying the chemicals. Treatment shall follow the same layer wise sequence as that of the backfilling operation.
B.3.2 For frame structures, if the concrete mix of the foundation is 1:2:4 or richer, treatment of soil at the bottom of the trench is not needed. A layer of treated soil at a depth of 500 mm from the ground level shall be prepared. Details of this treatment is shown in Fig B.5. The density of chemicals in such treatment shall be 15 litre/m³.
B.3.3 The top surface of plinth in any building having a floor at the ground level shall be treated with a chemical emulsion at the rate of 5 litre/m².
Last modified on August 29, 2026
