APPENDIX D.
BUILDING REGULATIONS FRAMED UNDER SECTION 241, BENGAL MUNICIPAL ACT.
Introductory.
1. Any powers of the Chairman under these Rules can be delegated by him to the Vice-Chairman.
PART I.—Building Sites.
2. No piece of land shall be used as a site for the erection of a building.
(1) If the building is to abut on a road, unless the site is of such a shape that the face of the building can be made parallel to the line of the road, or as nearly parallel to the said line as the Chairman may consider practicable; and,
(2) If the building to be erected is a public building, or a dwelling-house—
(a) Unless the site is certified by the Overseer to be dry and well-drained, or to be capable of being dried and well-drained, in which latter case instruction should be furnished to the applicant as to what improvements are necessary before a certificate can be granted. It rests with the Chairman to decide in each case whether any certificate is necessary at all.
(b) If the site is a tank filled up with earth, unless the site has been filled up for at least five years, with the proviso that if the foundations reach to the original ground there is no limit as to time.
(c) If the site has been filled up with or used for depositing rubbish, offensive matter, or sewage, unless the site was so filled up or last so used more than five years previously and unless the Chairman has examined the site and granted a certificate to the effect that it is, from a sanitary point of view, fit to be built upon.
PART II.—Buildings Generally.
3. (1) If a building is situated at the side of a road no portion of the building shall be higher than the distance from its base to the opposite side of the street.
Explanation.—If a building be placed at the edge of the road its height must not exceed the width of the street; but if the building or one or more of its stories be set back, the height of the building may be increased as much as the basement of the increased portion is distant from the adjoining edge of the road.
(2) In the case of any building which is re-erected in a road in existence at the time when these rules come in force which is less than 25 feet wide but more than 20 feet, the proportion of height to width may be as five to four up to a limit of 25 feet.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (2) the Chairman may give permission for building houses in the cases of roads or lanes of less than 20 feet wide, after personal inspection in each case.
(4) If a building is situated on a corner plot, the height of the building shall be regulated by the wider of the intersecting streets.
4. The floor or lowest floor of every building erected or re-erected from the ground-level must be constructed at such level as will admit of—
(a) The construction of a drain sufficient for the effectual drainage of the building, and placed at such level as will admit of the drainage being led into some Municipal drain at the time existing or projected.
(b) The provision of the requisite communication with some drain into which the drainage may lawfully be discharged, at a point in the upper half of such drain, or with some other outfall into which the drainage may lawfully be discharged.
5. No foundation of any building shall be placed over any Municipal drain, nor shall any superstructure whatever, whether verandah, balcony, eave, or any other portion of the building, project beyond a vertical line drawn through the centre of the drain, and if there be no drain, not beyond 1 foot 6 inches from the edge of the road. But no material or structure of any kind at or below the level of 6 feet from the ground, with the exception of entrance culverts, allowed under Rule 7, shall project over any part of a drain.
6. The applications which are filed for entrance culverts must contain the following particulars:—
(1) Length.
(2) Breadth beyond drain.
(3) Ventage allowed.
(a) Ordinarily the following dimensions will be allowed for foot traffic:—
(1) two feet.
(2) ten inches.
(3) same size as area of drain up to a maximum of three square feet.
The number of entrance culverts in any building shall not exceed the number of separate shops or dwelling-houses. The intervening space between culverts over a drain shall not be covered over by planks, stone slabs or any other substance.
(b) For wheel traffic the size and the nature of the entrance culverts are left to the discretion of the Chairman.
Balcony.
7. No balcony shall be erected in any road, street, or lane which is not maintained by supports which in the opinion of the Chairman are sufficiently strong.
8. In any road laid out after these rules come into force in which continuous building is allowed, the distance between the building line and the street alignment shall not be less than 4 feet.
PART III.—Masonry Buildings Generally.
9. The plinth of any new building must be at least one foot above the level of the centre of the nearest road, provided no one is required to build a plinth higher than three feet above the ground.
10. The outer walls of a masonry building must be constructed of burnt brick or some other hard and incombustible substance.
11. If a masonry building exceeds 30 feet in height, all except the topmost storey should be built of well burnt bricks and lime mortar.
12. No part of a flat terrace roof or part of a parapet shall extend beyond the outer face of the wall on which it is supported.
PART IV.—Dwelling-Houses and other Domestic Buildings.
13. The total area covered by all the buildings (including verandahs erected or re-erected on any site used for a dwelling-house) shall not exceed three-fourths of the total area of the site. But in the case of rebuilding this rule will not apply in a case in which the site is less than 500 square feet.
14. Except in localities where the erection of only detached buildings is allowed, there must ordinarily be, in the absence of any specific permission of the Chairman to the contrary, in the rear of every domestic building an open space extending along the entire width of the building of not less than 10 feet.
15. Every interior courtyard and every open space prescribed by rule 15 must be raised at least six inches above the level of the centre of the nearest street or road so as to admit of easy drainage into the street.
16. All living rooms should be so placed as to get light and air. For that object all such rooms should have at least one window opening to the outer air direct, or into a verandah.
17. The height of the room on the basement floor shall be not less than nine feet.
18. Water spouts should be so arranged as to discharge water in a Municipal drain or on land belonging to the proprietor of the house to which the water spout is attached.
PART V.—Applications for Approval of sites for, and for permission to erect or re-erect, masonry buildings.
19. (1) Every notice under section 237 of the Bengal Municipal Act for the erection or re-erection of a house not being a hut must be in writing and should state the boundaries of the site, the number assigned to it in the assessment book, and its dimensions.
(2) The site plan sent with such an application must
be drawn to a scale of not less than 1
30th of an inch to a foot,
must be sent in duplicate, and must show—
(a) the boundaries of the site;
(b) the position of the site in relation to neighbouring roads;
(c) the circle and holding number in which the building is proposed to be situated;
(d) the position of the building in relation to its own site, the proposed means of access, the proposed drains, privies, and cesspools, the purpose for which it is to be used, the elevation of the proposed building, the materials of the walls and of the roof, and the level of plinth. An elevation is not required in the case of a one storied tiled house.
(3) The application and site plan must be signed by the applicant.
20. After the receipt of any application for approval of site, or for permission to execute work or both, the Chairman may require the applicant—
(a) to furnish him with any information on matters referred to above which has not already been given in the documents received under these rules; or
(b) to satisfy him that there are no objections which may lawfully be taken, on any of the grounds mentioned above, to the approval of the site or to the grant of permission to execute the work.
21. The Chairman should ordinarily take action under section 21 within fifteen days of the receipt of the application.
22. The Chairman shall sign all passed plans in token of his approval.
PART VI.—Kucha Houses or Huts.
23. The building of all huts can be regulated by the Commissioners under the powers vested in them by Sections 236, 243, 244 and following ones of the Bengal Municipal Act.