Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s Housing and Urban Development Department is set to amend the state’s public building rules again to align them with current requirements, officials said.
The public building rules were notified in 2019 for statewide implementation, aiming to bring uniformity in building-permit procedures from metropolitan planning bodies to local bodies. Since their rollout, multiple revisions were carried out up to 2024 based on decisions taken from time to time.
Officials now say further changes are needed in areas such as limits on building height and built-up area, as well as the jurisdiction of authorities issuing building approvals. The work is being planned alongside the preparation of the draft for the third master plan.
According to an official, the amendments will be taken up in two phases, and a draft for the first phase has already been prepared. Based on requests received on issues faced during the approval process, the height cap in the “non-high-rise” category—currently 18 metres (about 59 feet)—may be revised up to 24 metres (about 78 feet).
For ordinary buildings, the Floor Space Index (FSI) is currently set at 2, and an increase of up to 50% is being considered. While 22-feet-wide roads are generally mandatory, areas where unapproved plots have been regularised often have 14- or 16-feet-wide roads; road-width criteria for granting approvals in such connected stretches are to be defined. Rules on side setbacks, along with changes needed for industrial and commercial buildings, are also expected to be updated.
