A General Introduction to Buildings as per KTU, Kerala syllabus

2.  According to the National Building Code (NBC) of India,
buildings are classified into 9 groups based on their
occupancy.
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1 Group A Residential Buildings
2 Group B Educational Buildings
3 Group C Institutional Buildings
4 Group D Assembly Buildings
5 Group E Business Buildings
6 Group F Mercantile Buildings
7 Group G Industrial Buildings
8 Group H Storage Buildings
9 Group I Hazardous Buildings

3.  Buildings which are provided with sleeping accommodation
for normal residential purposes, with or without
cooking/dining or both the facilities.
Sub divisions of Group A
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1 Sub group A-1
Lodging or rooming houses
(not more than 15 persons)
2 Sub group A-2
One or two family private dwellings
(not more than 20 persons)
3 Sub group A-3 Dormitories
4 Sub group A-4 Apartment houses (Flats)
5 Sub group A-5
Hotels
(more than 15 persons)

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Lodges Family Dwellings Dormitories
Apartments Hotels

5.  Educational buildings include all buildings for educational
purpose like schools, colleges, research institutions, day-
care centers etc.
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Schools Colleges
Research Institutions Day-care centers

6.  These include any building which is used for purposes like
medical or other treatment/care of persons suffering from
physical or mental illness, diseases, care of infants, aged
persons etc.
Sub divisions of Group C
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1 Sub group C-1 Hospitals, clinics, sanitaria etc.
2 Sub group C-2 Orphanages, old age homes etc.
3 Sub group C-3 Jails, prisons, mental sanitaria etc.

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Hospitals Orphanages
Jails Mental Sanitaria

8.  Buildings where a group of people gather for amusement,
recreation, social, religious or other similar purposes.
 Theatres, assembly halls, restaurants, places of worship,
dance halls, club house, sports stadium, gymnasium etc.
Sub divisions of Group D
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1 Sub group D-1 Fixed no. of seats over 1000 persons
2 Sub group D-2 Seating capacity of less than 1000 persons
3 Sub group D-3
More than 300 persons without
permanent seating arrangement
4 Sub group D-4
Less than 300 persons without
permanent seating arrangement
5 Sub group D-5
Outdoor assembly of people
(not covered by sub groups D-1 to D-4)

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Theatres Restaurants
Places of Worship Sports Stadium

10.  Any building or part of a building which is used for the
transaction of business, for keeping of accounts and
records, barber shops, lunch counters serving less than 100
people etc.
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Business Buildings Barber Shops

11.  Any building or part of a building which is used as shops,
offices, stores, markets, showrooms for display and sale of
merchandise either whole sale or retail.
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Mercantile Buildings

12.  Any building in which products or materials of all kinds and
properties are fabricated, assembled or processed.
 Assembly plants, smoke houses, gas plants, refineries,
diaries, textile mills, saw mills etc.
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Refineries Textile Mills

13.  Any building or part of a building which is used for storage
or sheltering of goods, wares or merchandise except which
are highly combustible / explosive products, vehicles or
animals.
 Warehouses, cold storages, store houses, transit sheds,
freight depots, truck and marine terminals, garages etc.
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Warehouses Cold Storages

14.  Any building which is used for storage, handling,
manufacture or processing of highly combustible or
explosive materials or products which may produce
poisonous fumes or which are highly corrosive or toxic or
acids and other chemicals producing flames / fumes,
irritant gases or which require any material producing
explosive mixtures.
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Hazardous Buildings

15.  For good planning and designing of buildings, site selection
is one of the most important factors.
 The requirements of site for buildings of various purposes
are different.
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16. The following general principles should be kept in mind
while selecting a site for a building.
1) Purpose of the building and extend of privacy is desired.
2) The site should be located in fully developed or fast
developing locality.
3) Location should be calm, but reasonably developed.
4) Plot area should be sufficient for future development.
5) Plot should have a regular shape with sufficient frontage.
6) The site should have good natural ventilation and lighting.
7) The site should be leveled with good quality soil and should
have a general slope for easy drainage.
8) Water logged and flood prone areas should be avoided. 16

17. 9) Good communication and transportation facilities should
be available.
10) Electricity, water supply etc. should be available.
11) Amenities like school, hospital, market etc. should be
available at reasonable distances.
12) Community services like police and fire protection, clearing
of waste, street cleaning etc. should be available.
13) The site should be away from quarries, factories and
hazardous industries.
14) Construction materials for the building should be locally
available.
15) Before selecting a site, one should study the bye-laws of
the local authority. 17

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Superstructure
Substructure
Plinth

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Superstructure
 Part of the building constructed above the plinth level.
 Consists of wall, door, window, lintel, roof slab, stair etc.
Plinth
 Portion of the building between the ground level and floor level.
 Helps in transmitting loads from superstructure to substructure.
 Protects the building from moisture, rainwater, dust, insects,
termite etc.
Substructure (Foundation)
 Part of the building constructed below the ground level and
which is in direct contact with the soil.
 Supports the superstructure and transmits all the loads to the
sub-soil safely.

20. 1) Wall: The vertical component of a building which enclose
the space and divide the space into various rooms.
 Protects the building against heat, cold, rain, noise, fire etc.
 Provides partition, privacy and safety.
 Supports beams and slab & transmits the loads to plinth.
2) Door: The openings provided in the walls for entry and exit
to the building and to connect interior rooms.
 Permits light and ventilation to the building.
 Imparts safety and privacy.
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21. 3) Window: The openings provided in the outer walls of the
building to permit light and ventilation and to give a nice
scenic view to the building.
4) Ventilator: The openings provided in the outer walls of the
building for the escape of foul gases.
5) Lintel: The component provided over the openings to give
support to the wall above the openings in wall.
6) Sun shade: The horizontal projection from the exterior wall
just above the doors, windows and verandah which
protects the wall from direct effect of sun, heat and rain.
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22. 7) Floor: The component of building over which the occupants
move. It gives a plane and leveled surface for the
occupants, furniture, equipment etc.
8) Roof: The uppermost part which covers the top of the
building. It gives protection against rain, heat, snow, wind,
sound etc.
9) Parapet: It is constructed over the roof to provide
boundary to the terrace. It gives better appearance and
safe usage of the roof surface
10) Step: The component provided for access in building from
ground level to upper floors. 22

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 Carpet Area
 Plinth Area
 Built-up Area
 Floor Area

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 Carpet area is the area that can be covered by
a carpet inside the building.
 It is the net covered area of the usable spaces of rooms at
any floor level.
 It is measured between walls to walls within the building.
 Carpet area is usually around 70% of the built-up area.

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 Plinth area is the covered built-up area measured at the
floor level of basement.
 It is the entire area occupied by the building including
internal and external walls.
 It is calculated by taking external dimensions of the
building at the floor level.
 Plinth area is generally 10-20% more than carpet area.

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 Built-up area is the total area measured on the outer line
of the building, including balcony, terrace etc.
 It refers to the carpet area plus the area occupied by the
walls and columns plus a little more.

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 Floor area is the area taken up by a building or part of it.
 It is the sum of the area of each floor of the building.
 The ways of defining floor area depend on what factors of
the building should or should not be included, such as
external walls, internal walls, corridors, lifts, stairs etc.

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 It is the ratio of a building’s total floor area (gross floor
area) to the total area of the plot on which the building
stands.
Floor Area Ratio (FAR) =
𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭
 A higher FAR indicates a dense or urban construction.
 The maximum permissible FAR for a residential building
as per Kerala Municipality Building Rules (KMBR) is 3.

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 Building codes are a series of ordinances enacted by a
state or local governmental entity, establishing minimum
requirements that must be met in the design,
construction and maintenance of buildings.
 The government establishes requirements and standards
to protect people from unsafe living and working
conditions.
 Codes express all aspects of construction including
structural integrity, fire resistance, safe exits, energy
conservation, lighting, ventilation, electrical, plumbing,
sanitary facilities, landscaping, seismic design, correct use
of construction materials etc.

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 A national instrument providing guidelines for regulating
the building construction activities across the country.
 It serves as a model code for adoption by all agencies
involved in building construction works be they Public
Works Departments (PWD), other government
construction departments, local bodies or private
construction agencies.
 NBC was first published in 1970 at the instance of
Planning Commission and then revised in 1983.
 Thereafter three major amendments were issued, two in
1987 and the third in 1997.

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 The code mainly contains
 Administrative regulations
 Development control rules
 General building requirements
 Fire safety requirements
 Stipulations regarding materials
 Structural design & construction
 Building & plumbing services

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 The building construction activities in an area are
monitored by municipal authorities.
 There are building rules and bye laws laid down by
municipal or town planning authorities.
 In Kerala also building bye laws are framed and it is
known as Kerala Municipality Building Rules (KMBR).
 The contents of these building bye laws are formed by a
committee of experts consisting of civil engineers,
lawyers, traffic, health & general administration officers.

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 KBR govern the following important aspects
 General requirements regarding plots
 Exterior and interior open air spaces
 Built-up areas of buildings, coverage and floor area
 Water supply and sanitary provisions
 Size, height and ventilation of rooms
 Specifications of parts of the building

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 Areas immediately next to the sea are extremely delicate,
home to many marine and aquatic life forms (both
animals and plants) and are also threatened by climate
change.
 So they need to be protected against unregulated
development.
 CRZ rules govern human and industrial activity close to
the coastline, in order to protect the fragile ecosystems
near the sea.
 The rules, mandated under the Environment Protection
Act (1986), were first framed in 1991.

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 They sought to restrict certain kinds of activities like;
large constructions, setting up & expansion of industries,
storage or disposal of hazardous materials, mining etc.
within a certain distance from the coastline.
 The regulation zone has been defined as the area up to
500m from the high-tide line.
 Several kinds of restrictions apply, depending on criteria
such as the population of the area, the ecological
sensitivity, the distance from the shore and whether the
area had been designated as a natural park or wildlife
zone.

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 CRZ along the country has been placed in four categories.
CRZ-1:
These are ecologically sensitive areas essential in
maintaining the ecosystem of the coast.
They lie between low and high-tide line.
Exploration of natural gas and extraction of salt are
permitted.
CRZ-2:
These are urban areas located in the coastal areas.

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CRZ-3:
These are rural and urban localities which fall outside
CRZ-1 and CRZ-2.
Only certain activities related to agriculture and some
public facilities are allowed in this zone.
CRZ-4:
This lies in the aquatic area up to territorial limits.
Fishing and allied activities are permitted in this zone.
Solid waste should be let off in this zone.