Delhi building bye-laws draft to be put in public domain

Seeking suggestions and views from stakeholders, Urban Development Ministry has decided to put the draft of Delhi building bye-laws prepared by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC), in public domain.
"It was decided in today's meeting that the Draft Unified Building Bye-laws prepared by DUAC as in January, 2013 would be posted on the websites of the Urban Development Ministry, DDA and DUAC inviting comments and suggestions from every one over the next two weeks," said, a senior UD Ministry official.
Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has sought an early notification of simplified and user-friendly building bye-laws in place of the current bye-laws which are in "force since 1983 and are not considered user-friendly".

Urban Development Ministry proposes to notify the final Unified Building Bye-laws within three months.
Urban Development Secretary Shankar Aggarwal discussed the issue with the vice-chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), DUAC secretary and senior officials of the ministry and other urban local bodies (ULBs).
A consultative workshop would be organised involving all stakeholders including experts, architects and citizen bodies shortly, said the official, adding, "suggestions received therein would be incorporated in the Draft Unified Bye-laws which would be examined by an Expert Committee."

The proposed bye-laws seeks to simplify the procedure for obtaining sanctions for construction of buildings besides making them user-friendly and incentivising green and energy-efficient construction.

A simple and self-explanatory version of bye-laws along with simplified proformas is intended to be made available which facilitates easy interpretation.
Self-sanction by the architects and electronic processing of sanctions by the local authorities are also sought to be provided.
Under the existing Building Bye-laws, sanctions for constructions are required to be issued within 60 days from the date of application.
However, given the complexity of the procedures and rules, open-ended interpretation and complexity of documentation, the stipulated timeline is seldom complied with. The proposed Unified Bye-laws seeks to address these issues so that sanctions are issued quickly.