Deregulation push may dilute critical fire safety provisions in NBC

NEW DELHI: Govt has asked Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to do away with and amend some key provisions of the National Building Code (NBC) by April end. These include changes to sections dealing with fire safety, which experts said will “water down” conditions key to public safety.

TOI has learnt that the changes are being made following directives from the deregulation cell under Cabinet Secretariat, which had flagged that regulations governing land and buildings are state subjects and state govts and urban local bodies deal with these issues. People aware of the development said the cell is also of the view that fire safety and its regulation fall within state authority and the provisions of NBC, along with requirements of consultants, push up costs.

Recently, the Cabinet Secretariat intervened to withdraw the revised 2025 BIS seismic zoning map after housing and urban affairs ministry flagged the increase in cost of Metro rail projects, technical complexity and lack of stakeholder consultation. Sources said that there was a directive to BIS from Cabinet Secretariat to “immediately” withdraw the draft standards.

“In the case of NBC, most changes sought by the deregulation cell have been proposed in the updated NBC. However, submissions are also being made over why there is a need to continue with the provisions dealing with fire safety since it is directly linked to life and public safety. There is no scientific data to prove that any dilution is required in this area. There is scope for improvement rather than dropping the entire chapter, which is an easy reference point for all authorities and stakeholders,” said a member of the technical committee dealing with the subject.

He added that the revised NBC, which was ready for printing around June last year, was prepared with the involvement of over 1,300 professionals. “How many urban local bodies and municipalities have the capacity to come up with a detailed code? Withdrawing it suddenly will force them to go to the drawing board,” said another member.

Several members of the committee said the revised NBC was prepared after more than two years’ work and just when it was about to be published, the Cabinet Secretariat wrote to all chief secretaries stating that it is not mandatory to follow the NBC. This was followed by directives to BIS to delete some parts of the NBC 2016, including the ones that deal with “integrated approach”, “administration” and “fire safety”.

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