UT Chief Administrator Sanjay Kumar had issued orders regarding amendments in its building bylaws for commercial and residential units on Tuesday. As per rules, the orders will be notified by December 22, 60 days after being issued.

The orders are mandatory for residential buildings as well, constructed on a site of one kanal and above.

While a one kanal house will have to make provision for a solar water heating system with capacity of at least 100 litres, houses constructed on an area of two kanal or above will have to install the same with a minimum capacity of 200 litres. The existing houses are required to provide these facilities within two years from the date the orders are notified in the official gazette, that is December 22.

Talking to Newsline, Sanjay Kumar said: “The issue was under consideration for long and had to be implemented. We have given a timeframe of one year or two years, depending on the category of the premises, keeping in view that in certain houses, senior citizens stay alone. Such people might not be that swift in implementing the provisions. The timeframe will ensure all houses have such systems gradually.”

Meanwhile, in all buildings with toilets or washrooms, dual flushing system of not more than seven liters per western commode (WC) will be mandatory to ensure water conservation. All commercial institutions and non-residential buildings will install the requisite flushing system within two years from the date of issuance of the notification.

According to the new fire safety norms, a minimum of two staircases are to be ensured in buildings above 15 metres of height. In buildings already constructed with one staircase as per the approved plan and architectural control, it will be mandatory to have more staircases as fire safety staircases. If the fire staircase cannot be provided within the existing building, it can be allowed beyond the architectural control of the building and the zoned area. In such cases, the staircases will be open to the sky and hence will not be counted towards the Floor-Area-Ratio (FAR). While providing the extra staircase, uniformity will have to be maintained.

In buildings, including residential, commercial and institutional, which are or will be located on plot measuring one kanal and above, will be required to have a rainwater harvesting system as per the specifications given by the Administration. This is to be installed within two years from the date of issuance of the notification.

The owner or lessee of any existing building, willing to avail the benefit(s) of additional volumetric control being granted through the orders issued yesterday, will only be granted the same after upgrading the parking facilities as per the new norms, wherever applicable, setting up solar water heating system, dual flushing system and rainwater harvesting system to recharge ground water in the respective buildings.

All new public buildings, which will be approved from now onwards, will have to conform to the requirements of Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, and rules made there-under. The owners or lessee or occupier of existing buildings will make their houses as friendly as possible for persons with disabilities.

Norms for silent gensets
There will be no objection to install a silent generating set of capacity beyond 25 KVA in the basement or ground floor of the premises of commercial, industrial, public and apartment buildings in Chandigarh within the covered area norms subject to clearance by the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee and the Electricity department. A silent generating set up to 25 KVA will be allowed on the lowest level of the residential building in compliance with air pollution norms and structure-borne noise levels being as approved by the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee and the Electricity Department of Chandigarh Administration.

A silent generating set of any capacity and Dry Type Transformer or sub-station equipment will be allowed on the terrace or rooftop within service zone subject to the following conditions
i) That the structural stability is certified by a structural engineer
ii) That the Chief Fire Officer of the MC issues a No-Objection Certificate for the purpose
iii) That consent or clearance is obtained from the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee
iv) The applicant will apply to the Electricity department for clearance and electricity connection