BMC Changes Rules for Renovating Your Homes

No permission needed for repairs and modification without structural changes to the building.

In Mumbai, there is always need to repair, renovate and modify the house people occupy due to damages, changing lifestyles needs and increasing space requirements. Incidentally, these civil works are governed by the Development Control Rules (DCR) of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Under these rules, a house owner has to take permission to carry out changes he needs. This creates red-tapism, bureaucratic hassles and corruption and rampant deviation in norms. On the other hand, unregulated modifications can have tragic consequences, as witnessed in recent times where illegal structural changes have weakened buildings causing collapse of houses and massive loss of lives.

What’s Changing?

The Indian government’s many recent initiatives to boost the economy are beginning to have an impact on the way things will be conducted in future. One of these initiatives ‘Ease of Doing Business’ is concerned with making business processes easy. Recently, the BMC in a seminar on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ last month, with World Bank officials and entrepreneurs, decided to ease the norms of the Development Control Rules of the BMC, to allow owners, under the supervision of a certified consulting architect, to carry out repairs and modification which would not alter the structure of the building, which has in the past endangered the safety of buildings. “The BMC will only verify the self-certification and if needed, advise corrections based on the original plan and structure strength. Also, from now on the quality of plumbing and mechanical parts inside a building will be self-certified. Till recently, the BMC used to certify the plumbing quality inside buildings.” said Ajoy Mehta, Commissioner BMC. He added, “The ultimate goal of this initiative is to put the responsibility on architects.”

Mixed Reactions from the Realty Sector: There have been mixed reactions from property experts, architects and consultants.

In Support- Supporting the move Sanjay Jain, an architect and consultant for co-operative societies, says, “Until now, the internal modifications in apartments were mostly done illegally. Often, contractors would end up damaging the structural element of the building. The civic body’s move is a welcome one. It will empower the architect to take the onus of renovation of the apartment, without the hassles of seeking the local administration’s approval.”

Adding his approval to the move, Sandeep Ahuja, CEO, Richa Realtors said, “This decision will cut down unnecessary obstructions, delays, red-tapism and resultant corruption, for residents. A resident is allowed to make changes without compromising the structure of the building. Practices such as BMC officials visiting the renovation sites and threatening to charge unnecessary penalties will stop.”

Utkarsh Jani, Project Manager, Edifice Erection Pvt. Ltd. observes that, “Residents can now change the layout of their homes with lighter material such as hollow blocks, so that the direct load on the slab can be avoided. However, the layout of sunken slabs, which includes bathrooms, toilets and kitchen sinks, cannot be changed.”

Overall, experts advise that any modifications carried out should be done only after the location, load, lay out of the beam structure and RCC pillars are evaluated by experienced architects and engineers in the field.

Unhappy with the Move- However, some more cautious voice are pointing out the pitfall that can lead to flagrant violations of safety norms. Anticipating that the move may lead to chaos if removal of support walls and beam structure are overlooked, Civic activist G R Vora feels that, “It could prove to be disastrous to the building’s structure and could lead to its collapse. The civic body should clarify what can be done and what is not permissible.” The fear, that without prior approval and supervision, everybody would be encouraged to modify their houses, shops and commercial offices to suit their whims and fancies.

“People tend to overlook the dangers to structures when renovating their homes and especially commercial areas in a building. All buildings and structures that collapsed or were badly damaged have been due to load-bearing wall, beams and columns being removed.” says Rajkumar Sharma, President, Advanced Locality Management and Networking Action Committee (ALMANAC).

The Road Ahead: The general consensus among the realty experts is that residents need to exercise caution and enlist the services of a reputed architect and housing societies should mediate in these matters and must vigorously resist any violation noticed, and take preventive steps. Structural engineer, Pavan Nishad holds the view that, “For any kind of changes in the building’s structure, a proper survey should be done in advance. Individuals and societies should now engage the services of qualified professionals to undertake flat renovations.”

No permission needed for repairs and modification without structural changes to the building.

• The rules laid out in section 342 of the BMC Act 1988 and amended to date, make the following ‘Tenantable Repairs’ possible without permission from the ‘Building and Factory Department” of BMC.

• Plastering, Painting and ‘Pointing’ of your flat;

• Providing ‘Guniting’ to structural members and walls;

• Changing of floor tiles;

• Repairing WC, bath spaces and washing areas;

• Repairing and/or replacing drainage pipes, defective taps, manholes covers and other fittings;

• Repairing and/or replacing sanitary ware, water plumbing fixtures, and electrical fittings;

• Replacing old roof with the same material;

• Replacing existing water-proofing material;

Note: i. The original tenantable structure must be legal and based on the BMC approved building plan;

        ii. Changes to be done under supervision of registered architect and/or structural engineer.

‘Tenantable Repairs’ should not include the following:-

• Replacement/ removal of any structural member of load-bearing walls;

• Change in horizontal or vertical existing dimensions of structure;

• Lowering of plinth, foundations or floors;

• Addition or extension of mezzanine floor or loft;

• Flattening of roof or repairing roof with different material;

• Changing location of baths/WC/kitchen sinks that may cause leakage for residents below;

• No merger of tenancies by removal or opening of any walls in between two or more tenancies;

• Increasing the internal height of the structure.