ADMINISTRATION - CHAPTER - I

1.0 TITLE : These Regulations shall be called Development Control Regulations for Vasai-Virar Sub-Region, 2001 (hereinafter referred to as “these Regulations”). 1.1 JURISDICTION: These Regulations shall apply to building activity and development work in the area notified by the Government of Maharashtra as Vasai-Virar Sub-Region (hereinafter referred to as “V.V.S.R.”) on 31/08/1988 and additions and deletions made thereto from time to time. 1.2 ENFORCEMENT: These Regulations shall come into effect from the date of enforcement stipulated by the Government of Maharashtra and shall supersede all earlier Development Control Regulations published and/or sanctioned under the Maharashtra Regional & Town Planning Act, 1966 and the Maharashtra Municipalities, Nagar Pancayat and Industrial Township Act, 1965, for the V.V.S.R., or part thereof. 1.3 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS: The terms and expressions used in these Regulations shall have the meaning given against them in the following: (1) ACCESSORY BUILDING means a building separated from the main building and containing one or more accessory use. (2) ACCESSORY USE means any use of the premises subordinate to the principal use and customarily incidental to the principal use. (3) ACT means the Maharashtra Regional & Town Planning Act, 1966 as amended from time to time. (4) ADDITION AND/ OR ALTERATION means an addition or alteration to the area or height, or removal of a part of a building or change from one occupancy to another or a structural change, such as construction or cutting into or removal of any wall or part of a wall, partition, column, beam, joist, floor including a mezzanine floor or other support, or a change to or closing of any means of ingress or egress. (5) APPLICANT for development permission means, any person who is an owner or a person claiming to be an owner through an irrevocable registered Power of Attorney or a Lessee. (6) APPROVED means approved by the Competent Authority or before the enforcement of these regulations, approved by the competent authority then in force. (7) BALCONY means a horizontal projection including a handrail or balustrade to serve as passage or sit out place. (8) BASEMENT OR CELLAR means a lower storey of a building below or partly below ground level. (9) BUILDABLE PLOT AREA means an area of plot considered for computation of permissible Built up Area (BUA) under these Regulations. (10) BUILDING means a structure, constructed with any material whatsoever for any purpose, whether used for human habitation or not, and may include - (i) foundation, plinth, walls, floors, roofs, plumbing and building services (ii) verandahs, balconies, cornices, projections (iii) part of a building or anything affixed thereto (iv) any wall enclosing or intended to enclose any land or space, signs and outdoor display structures (v) tanks, constructed for storage of liquids (vi) all types of buildings as defined in 10A to 10L given below : (10A) ASSEMBLY BUILDING means a building or part thereof where group of people congregate or gather for amusement, recreation, social, religious, civil, travel and similar purposes. (10B) DETACHED BUILDING means a building whose walls and roofs are independent of any other building. (10C) EDUCATIONAL BUILDING means a building used for a school or college or any other educational and related institutional uses including incidental uses like staff quarters and hostels. (10D) HAZARDOUS BUILDING means any building or part of a building, which is used for storage, handling, manufacture or processing of highly combustible, explosive or poisonous materials defined by the appropriate authority. (10E) HIGH RISE BUILDING means a building exceeding 16 m. in height. (10F) INDUSTRIAL BUILDING means any building or part of a building or structure in which products or materials of all kinds and properties are fabricated, assembled or processed. (10G) INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING means a building used for social, and welfare purposes, including penal institutions such as jail, remand home etc. and not used on a commercial basis. (10H) MERCANTILE BUILDING means any building or at least 1/3rd part of it used for business, office purposes, shops, markets, and incidental service facilities. (10I) RESIDENTIAL BUILDING means any building in which living accommodation is provided in at least 2/3rd part of it for normal residential purpose, including lodging and boarding houses and hostels. (10J) SEMI DETACHED BUILDING means a building detached on three sides. (10k) SPECIAL BUILDING means – (i) Assembly building, (ii) Hazardous building. (iii) Mercantile building (iv) High rise building (10L) STORAGE BUILDING means a building or at least 1/3rd part of it used for the storage or sheltering of goods, wares or merchandise like ware houses, cold storages, freight depots, transit sheds, store houses, public garages, hangars and truck terminals. (11) BUILDING LINE: means a line up to which the plinth of a building adjoining a street or an extension of a street or a future street may lawfully extend and includes the lines prescribed, if any, in any scheme and/or Development Plan or prescribed in any other Act. (12) BUILT UP AREA (BUA) means an area covered by a building on all floors including cantilevered portion, if any, excepting areas excluded specifically under these Regulations. (13) CABIN means a non-residential enclosure constructed of non-load bearing partition. (14) CARPET AREA means a net usable floor area within a building excluding that covered by the walls or any other areas specifically exempted from built up area computation in these Regulations. (15) CHHAJJA means a sloping or horizontal structural overhang usually provided over openings on external walls to provide protection from sun and rain. (16) CHIMNEY means a construction by means of which a flue is formed for the purpose of carrying the products of combustion to the open air. Chimney includes Chimney Stack and the flue pipe. (17) COMBUSTIBLE MATERIAL means a material which burns or adds heat to a fire when tested for combustibility in accordance with IS: 3808-1966 Method of Test for Combustibility of Building Materials of the National Building Code. (18) COMMENCEMENT means commencement of the work or development carried out with due permission granted either under section 45 or 69 of the Act as the case may be, by the Competent Authority. (19) COMMON FACILITY CENTRE (CFC) means a plot of land, which a landowner or applicant is required to provide for common facilities under these Regulations in developing large holdings. (20) COMPETENT AUTHORITY means an officer by whom the powers and functions of Planning Authority are to be exercised and performed as per the provisions of Section 152 of the Act. (21) CONGESTED AREA means a land included within the gaothans as determined under Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, prior to enforcement of these Regulations, and within the areas specifically marked in the Development Plan. (22) CONVENIENCE SHOPPING means shops each with a carpet area not exceeding 20 sq.m. and dealing with day-to-day household requirements as illustrated in these Regulations. (23) CORRIDOR means a common passage or a circulation space including the common entrance hall. (24) COURTYARD OR CHOWK means a space permanently open to sky, enclosed fully or partially by a building at any level within or adjacent to a building. a) Inner chowk means a chowk, which is enclosed on all sides and conforming to Regulation No. 5.11.1. b) Outer chowk means a chowk where at least one of the sides is not enclosed and conforming to Regulation No. 5.11.2. (25) DEVELOPMENT PERMISSION means a valid permission or authorisation issued in writing by a Competent Authority to carry out development with due regard to the provisions of the Maharashtra Regional & Town Planning Act, 1966 and/or any other Act or law in force at the time of its issue. (26) DILAPIDATED OR UNSAFE BUILDING means whole or part of a building which has been declared unsafe or which is likely to be demolished for being unsafe by an order of the Competent Authority. (27) DOOR means an opening provided for entry and/or exit of goods or people. (28) DRAIN means a system or a line of pipes or open channels with their accessories, for conveying surface water or any effluent for disposal. (29) ENCLOSED STAIRCASE means a staircase separated by the fire resistant walls and doors from the rest of the building. (30) EXISTING BUILDING OR USE means a building or its use existing before the enforcement of these Regulations. (31) EXIT means a passage, channel or means of egress from any building, storey or floor area to a street or open space of safety. (i) EXIT, VERTICAL connotes exit used for ascension or descension between two or more levels including stairway, smoke proof towers, ramps, lifts, escalators and fire escapes. (ii) EXIT, HORIZONTAL connotes a protected opening through or around a firewall or a bridge connecting two or more buildings. (32) EXTERNAL WALL means an outer wall of a building not being a partition wall even though adjoining a wall of another building and also means a wall abutting an interior open space of any building. (33) FLOOR means the lower surface in a storey on which one normally walk in a building, and does not include a mezzanine floor. The floor at ground level with a direct access to a street or open space shall be called the ground floor; the floor above it shall be termed as floor 1, with the next higher floor being termed as floor 2, and so on upwards. (34) FLOOR SPACE INDEX (F.S.I.) means the quotient or the ratio of the gross area of all floors, including mezzanine floors excepting areas specifically exempted under these Regulations, to the total area of the buildable plot. F.S.I = Built up Area of all Floors Buildable Plot Area (35) FOOTING means a foundation unit constructed in brick work, masonry or concrete under the base of a wall or column for the purpose of distributing the load over a large area. (36) FOUNDATION means that part of a structure, which is in direct contact with the soil to transmit loads to it. (37) FRONT means a space between the boundary line of plot abutting the means of access/road/street and the building line. In case of plots facing two or more means of accesses/roads/streets, the plot shall be deemed to front on all such means of accesses/roads/streets. (38) GALLERY means an intermediate floor or platform projecting from a wall of an auditorium or a hall providing extra floor area, additional seating accommodation etc. and includes structures provided for seating in a stadium or in the open. (39) GARAGE means a building or a portion thereof, designed and used for the parking of vehicles. (40) GROSS PLOT AREA means an aggregate area of a contiguous land holding of an applicant. (41) HABITABLE ROOM means a room occupied or designed for occupancy for human habitation and uses incidental thereto, including a kitchen, if it is a part of living room, but excludes a bath room, a water closet compartment, a laundry, a serving and storage pantry, a corridor, a cellar, an attic, a store room, a pooja room and similar spaces. (42) HEIGHT OF BUILDING means a vertical distance measured from average level of the ground:- (i) In the case of flat roofs : up to the top of finished surface of the roof slab. (ii) In the case of pitched roof : up to the eaves level (iii) In the case of gables : upto the midpoint between the eaves level and the ridge. Architectural features serving no function except that of decoration shall be excluded for the purpose of determining the height of a building. (43) HOLDING means contiguous land in single or joint ownership, irrespective of separate property register cards and/ or 7/12 extracts. (44) HOME OCCUPATION means occupation other than that of operating an eating or drinking place offering services and not affecting safety of the inhabitants and not causing nuisance to the neighborhood. It also includes cottage industries identified by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission / Board. (45) HOUSING FOR ECONOMICALLY WEAKER SECTION means a housing scheme where every tenement has built up area (BUA) not exceeding 25 sq.m, inclusive of independent toilet facilities or a housing scheme undertaken by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority for economically weaker section. (46) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ESTABLISHMENT (ITE) means an establishment which is in the business of developing Information Technology related software, hardware or related services. (47) LIFT means an appliance designed to transport persons or materials between two or more levels in a vertical or substantially vertical direction by means of a guided car platform. (48) LOFT means an intermediary floor between the floor and ceiling of any floor or a residual space in a pitched roof, above normal floor level which is constructed and adopted for storage purposes and includes a ledge or tank. (49) MEZZANINE FLOOR means an intermediate floor not being a loft, between the floor and ceiling of ground floor. (50) MULTI-BUILDING SCHEME means a scheme wherein two or more principal independent buildings are constructed in an undivided parcel of land. (51) MUNICIPAL AREA means the area covered by the jurisdiction of the Vasai Municipal Council, Virar Municipal Council, Nalasopara Municipal Council and Navghar-Manikpur Municipal Council. (52) NET PLOT AREA means an area obtained after the deduction of area under DP reservations and DP roads from gross plot area. (53) NON-COMUSTIBLE MATERIAL means a material which does not burn or add heat to a fire when tested for combustibility in accordance with IS: 3808-1966 - Method of Test for Combustibility of Building Materials. (54) OCCUPANCY OR USE GROUP means the occupancy for which a building or a part of a building is used according to the approved plan. (55) OPEN SPACE means an area forming an integral part of a site left open to the sky. (56) PARAPET means a low wall or railing built along the edge of a roof or a floor. (57) PARKING SPACE means an area enclosed or unenclosed, covered or open, sufficient in size to park vehicles, together with a drive way connecting the parking space with the street or alley and permitting ingress and egress of the vehicles. (58) PARTITION means an interior non-load bearing divider one storey or part storey in height. (59) PLINTH means a portion of a structure between the surface of the surrounding ground and surface of the floor, immediately above the ground. (60) PLINTH AREA means a built up area measured externally at the level of a floor, basement or any storey. (61) PORCH means a covered surface supported on pillars or otherwise for the purpose of pedestrian or vehicular approach to a building. (62) REVAS PROJECTION means a part of a room or rooms or staircase projecting in the open space beyond the building line. (63) ROAD/STREET means any highway, street, lane, pathway, alley, stairway, passageway, carriageway, footway, square, place or bridge, whether a thoroughfare or not, over which the public have a right of passage or access or have passed and had access uninterruptedly for a specified period, whether existing or proposed in any scheme, and includes all bunds, channels, ditches, storm-water drains, culverts, sidewalks, traffic islands, road-side trees and hedges, retaining walls, fences, barriers and railings within the street lines. (64) ROAD/ STREET LEVEL OR GRADE means the officially established elevation or grade of the central line of the street upon which a plot fronts and if there is no officially established grade, the existing grade of the street at its midpoint. (65) ROAD/ STREET- LINE means the line defining the side limits of a road/street. (66) ROAD WIDTH means whole extent of space within the boundaries of road, when applied to a new road, as laid down in the city survey map or Development Plan or prescribed road lines by any law and measured at right angles to the course or intended course or direction of such road. (67) ROOM HEIGHT means the vertical distance measured from the finished floor surface to the finished ceiling/slab surface. In the case of pitched roofs, the room height shall be the vertical distance measured from the finished floor surface upto the midpoint of the sloping roof. (68) ROW HOUSES means a row of houses with only front, rear and interior open spaces. (69) SITE OR PLOT means a parcel/piece of land enclosed by definite boundaries. (70) SITE, DEPTH OF means the average horizontal distance between the front and rear site boundaries. (71) STAIR COVER means a structure with a covering roof over a staircase and its landing built to enclose only the stairs for the purpose of providing protection from weather and not used for human habitation. (72) STILT means a surface of floor immediately above the ground level open on atleast two sides, open on atleast three sides, used for parking of vehicles or for activities permitted as per these Regulations. (Modified as per M-1) (73) STOREY means the portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor above it or if there is no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the ceiling just above it. (74) TECHNICAL PERSONNEL includes a qualified engineer, surveyor, structural engineer, etc. who is licensed by the Competent Authority or who is entitled to practice as an Architect under the Architect’s Registration Act, 1972. (75) TENEMENT/APARTMENT means a built - up premise normally used for residence, containing a cooking place and having an independent access. (76) TO ERECT means – (i) To erect a new building on any site, whether previously built upon or not. (ii) to re-erect any building not covered under reconstruction of dilapidated and unsafe buildings (iii) To change from one occupancy to another and sub-division of occupancy into more than one. (77) TRAVEL DISTANCE means distance from the remotest point on a floor of a building to a place of safety - be it a vertical exit, horizontal exit or an outside exit measured along the line of travel. (78) THEATRE means a place of public entertainment for the purpose of motion pictures and/or dramas and other social or cultural programs. (79) WATER CLOSET (W.C.) means a privy with arrangement for flushing the pan with water. It does not include a bathroom. (80) WATERCOURSE means a natural channel or an artificial channel, which may be formed by training or diversion of a natural channel, meant for carrying storm and wastewater. (81) WINDOW means an opening, other than a door, to the outside of a building, which provides all or part of the required natural light, ventilation or both to an interior space. (82) WING of a building is that part of the building which is accessible through a lift/ staircase/ entry. 1.4 INTERPRETATION: Terms and expressions not defined herein. Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms and expressions not given herein shall have the same meaning as indicated in the following legislations and codes: i)The Maharashtra Municipalities, Nagar Panchayat and Industrial Township Act, 1965, ii) The Maharashtra Regional & Town Planning Act, 1966, iii) The Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, as the case may be, iv) The National Building Code. 1.5 APPLICABILITY: 1.5.1. In the case of development for which ‘Commencement Certificate’ has been issued prior to enforcement of these Regulations, revalidation shall be done under Section 48 of the Act without reference to these regulations. 1.5.2. However any additional development proposed shall conform to these Regulations. 1.5.3. Any revision, modification or alteration to the development proposals, which have been approved by the Competent Authority, shall be permitted under these Regulations. However, revision, modification or alteration of such proposals considering Regulations prevailing earlier may be permitted subject to the following conditions: a) FSI already permitted or was permissible shall remain the same. b) Development work has already been commenced and carried out substantially as per approved plan. (Modified as per M-2) 1.5.4. If there is a conflict between the requirements of these Regulations and those of any other rules or bylaws, these Regulations shall prevail. However in respect of areas included in a Town Planning Scheme, the Scheme Regulations shall prevail. 1.6 DELEGATION OF POWERS: Any of the powers, duties or functions conferred or imposed upon or vested in the Competent Authority by any of these Regulations may be delegated as per the Act. 1.7 DISCRETIONARY POWERS: 1.7.1 The Competent Authority will exercise its discretion in the following ways in conformity with the intent and spirit of these Regulations, in order to mitigate a demonstrable hardship or to subserve public interest. (i) Decide on matters where it is alleged that there is an error in any order, requirement, decision, determination, interpretation made by it, under delegation of powers; while applying these Regulations. (ii) Interpret these Regulations in various contexts not covered in it. In situations where more clarity is required, the Competent Authority’s decision will be final and binding on the concerned. (iii) Decide upon the nature and extent of concessions in respect of marginal distances, room heights, etc.. However reasons for granting such concessions shall be recorded in writing. Further such relaxation shall not affect the health, safety and hygiene of the inhabitants of the building and the neighborhood and the structural stability of the building. Provided further that while granting concessions as above, the Competent Authority may impose conditions as may be necessary. These may include a payment of deposit and its forfeiture for non-compliance, and other obligations, etc. No concessions in respect of the floor space index shall be given. (iv) Decide upon the relocation of D.P. Reservation as provided in Regulation no. 5.14.3. (v) Modify the limit of a zone where the boundary line of a zone divides a parcel of land or where a layout street or a survey no. actually on the ground, varies from its location shown on the Development Plan. (vi) Authorise the erection of a building or the use of a premises for a public service undertaking or a public utility purpose where such an authorisation is reasonably necessary for the convenience and welfare of the public, even if such erection or use is not permitted as per these Regulations. (vii) Determine and establish the location of zonal boundaries in case of doubts or controversies. 1.8 POWER TO PRESCRIBE THE PROFORMAS: The Competent Authority shall have the powers to prescribe PROFORMAS and/or make amendments in the contents of such proformas and in the general procedure for grant of development permission.