Welcoming the revolutionary move - the New Model Building Bylaws: Vineet Relia.

There couldn’t have been a better time to introduce the New Model Building Bylaws (MBBL) by the Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, considering that this was a long pending reform after the Real Estate Regulator Act. This new set of guidelines will reduce the human interface and provide a structural framework to create an online single-window system.

Also, MBBL makes it mandatory for states to provide all building clearances within 30 days. There isn’t a need to visit Delhi anymore to get green clearance for the projects involving built up area of up to 1.5 lakh square meter. Right now, over 35 different kinds of clearances are required from various agencies before initiating any new project.

Besides getting clearances from the state-based agencies, the developers in many projects require clearances from Central ministries, including Defence, Civil Aviation, Environment and Forests, Culture and Consumer Affairs.

The MBBL provides for integration of various types of environmental considerations. It consists of three categories of buildings based on the built-up area — 5,000 to 20,000 square meter; 20,000 to 50,000 square meter and 50,000 to 150,000 square meter — and each category has a different set of environmental conditions. A risk-based matrix for different types of buildings has been introduced in the bylaws. The objective of this analysis is that small buildings with low-risk criteria should be approved on a fast track basis and the high-risk buildings like mall, multi-storey or big commercial complexes should be examined in absolute detail.

We welcome the decision as this will streamline approvals and enable time-bound clearances for construction projects. It will also ensure ease of doing business by making the application process much faster and transparent and also lend responsibility and accountability to the whole system. A simple and uniform process like this will help reduce project costs by cutting down on project execution delays.

The new bylaws look promising and will work in the interest of both the developers as well as the homebuyers.