This document provides an overview of principles of building planning and factors affecting site selection for construction projects. It discusses 10 key principles of building planning - aspect, prospect, privacy, furniture requirements, roominess, grouping, elegance, sanitation, economy, and flexibility. It also outlines 10 important factors to consider when selecting a construction site, such as topography, nature of subsoil, groundwater level, available facilities, neighborhood, vegetation, site shape, and availability of materials and labor. Building planning aims to apply these principles and site selection factors to design efficient, comfortable, and hygienic structures.

1. BUILDING TECHNOLOGY
Chapter-1
Principles of Building Planning

2. CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Selection of Site.
 Principles of Building Planning.
 Building Bye-Laws
 Classification Of Buildings
 Planning Of Residential Buildings

3. What is building technology?
It is study of planning for the creation of any residential
or commercial property or any structure.
Building Planning
Building plan or building planning is set of drawing
which consists of site plan, cross-sections , elevations,
landscape, electrical, plumbing, etc. which makes work
easier during construction at site.

4. FACTORS AFFECTING SELECTION
OF SITE
The main factors affecting selection of site are:
I. Topography
II. Nature of sub-soil.
III. Position of ground water table.
IV. Facilities
V. Neighbourhood
VI. Certain things those should not be near site.
VII. Vegetation
VIII. Shape of site.
IX. Availability of men and materials.
X. Proximity of sea shore, river/lake/place of natural beauty.

5. 1) Topography
It includes following-
a) Plain grounds: They offer easy marketing,
excavation and construction. There is necessity of
leveling but major problem is providing drainage
system.
b) Sloping ground: This depends on mode of
construction.
For ex: 1% slope required for effective drainage.
2% - drainage lawns.
5% - parking area, etc.

6. However it always desirable to have road infront of
building at lower level than floor level of
building(Shown in fig. below).
c) Undulating ground: Construction in such ground
is possible only after levelling.
d) Elevated site: Such sites provide good view of
landscape i.e., nature’s beauty & its enchanting view for
inmates, receives fresh air, sunlight and there is no
foundation and drainage problems.

7. e) Low lying areas: Such areas should be avoided as
far as possible because building may not have good air
circulation and may not get sunlight for most part of the
day.
The soil should have good bearing capacity and should
be available at reasonable depth.
2) NATURE OF SUB SOIL

8. 3) POSITION OF GROUND WATER TABLE
We all know that water is basic need for survival of any
form of life and at the same side it is also required for
construction of building. Hence the potable water must
be available at reasonable depth Minimum ground
water table should be 3m below ground level.

9. 4) FACILITIES
It includes-
i. Community service such as street cleaning, fire
protection, police.
ii. Facilities such as protected water supply, gas supply,
electric power, drainage line.
iii. Amenities such as school, recreation, hospital, telephone.
iv. Transport system such as city bus stop, railway station,
etc should be nearer.

10. 5) NEIGHBOURHOOD
Our living environment also depends on neighbourhood,
hence while planning residential buildings in a locality one
has to consider is economical status of the residents in the
locality.
i. Markets, cinema theaters, etc which creates noise.
ii. Industries, sewage farms, garbage disposal & busy
traffic junctions.
iii. Slaughter house & cemeteries.
iv. Brick or lime kilns- gives out heat and dust.
v. Quarries.
vi. Busy highway, railway & aerodromes.
vii. Stagnant pools or running waste water.
6) CERTAIN THINGS SHOULD NOT BE NEAR SITE

11. Trees with fruits and flowers give pleasant atmosphere &
provide shade, oxygen, greenery & act as barrier of
heat, dust and noise.
7) VEGETATION

12. 8) SHAPE OF SITE
Rectangular sites of length 1-2 times its width and
preferable width being parallel to road is ideal. Some
triangular, irregular and narrow sites are avoided.
Materials for construction like brick, stone, etc and
proper availability of labours near construction site has
to be considered.
9) AVAILABILITY OF MEN AND MATERIAL

13. 10) PROXIMITY OF SEASHORE
Usually coastal towns present better climate.
The main principles of building planning are-
1) Aspects
2) Prospect
3) Privacy
4) Furniture requirements
5) Roominess
6) Groping
7) Elegance
8) Sanitation
9) Economy
10) Flexibility
11) Practical consideration
12) Circulation
PRINCIPLES OF BUILDING PLANNING

14. 1) ASPECT
➢ The manner of arrangement of rooms and particularity of
arrangement of doors and windows in the external walls of
building to get max. advantage from sun and wind is termed
as aspect.
➢ A room which receives light & air from a particular
direction is said to have aspect of that direction.
➢ A room must be designed to satisfy all varying aspects and
aspects not only provide comfort but are requisite from
hygienic point of view.

15. Room Recommended
aspect
Influencing factor
Bedroom NW,W,SW To receive plentiful of breeze in summer
Kitchen E, Rarely NE To receive morning sunlight which is
germicidal. It purifies air & well
illuminated & cool in afternoon
Dinning SE,S,SW Proximity of kitchen & should be cool
Drawing SE,S,SW,W Adequate natural light during winter &
obviate sun during summer
Reading N,NW Light from north being diffused & evenly
distributed
Store NW,N,NE Dark & cool

16. 2) PROSPECT
➢ It is to enrich the outside view i.e., elevation &better
looking of created portions.
➢ Prospect must not only make outer appearance attractive but
also maintain qualities such as comfort, cheerfulness,
security, labour saving & up to dateness & also must
provide good investment.
➢ This appearance can be improved by attractive planning,
providing bay windows & utilization of good landscape or
seascape.

17. 3) PRIVACY
➢ It is nothing but screening provided for individuals from the
others which is different from seclusion.
➢ Privacy is one of major important part of principles of
building planning required for construction of different
types of structures.
➢ It includes privacy of sight such as bath rooms, water closet
or urinals, etc.
➢ Privacy of sound needed confidential discussion, study
rooms & both privacy of sound and sight required for
bedroom.

18. Contd..
It is further classified as
a) INTERNAL PRIVACY
Privacy within building. It includes following-
 Proper grouping of rooms.
 Careful planning of entrance & circulation space.
 Better position of doors and windows.
 Proper grouping of rooms.
 Providing buffer area between rooms.

19. b) EXTERNAL PRIVACY
Privacy of whole building. This can be achieved by-
 Having compound wall at height of 1.35-1.5m.
 Planting trees along compound which acts as barrier.
 Providing ground glass windows & ventilations.
 Providing screen walls, curtain walls, dwarf wall on verandah.
 Planting creepers along boundary fencing/growing shurbs.

20. 4) FURNITURE REQUIREMENT
➢The building planner should know how much space
required by each function in a particular building.
➢The room size for particular function can be completed
based on furniture to be used in that room.
➢While planning building furniture arrangement must be
shown to justify the size of the room.
➢The size of room not based on furniture size but on
their arrangement.

21. 5) ROOMINESS
➢ It is feeling created after room is well furnished with
permanent furniture as spacious & well planned.
➢ The dimension of room should be such that maximum use
of room having minimum possible dimensions (economy,
space & avoiding cramping of plan)
➢ Instead of providing square room, rectangular room gives
better look.
➢ Breadth to length ratio 1:1.2 to 1:1.5 is desirable.

22. 6) GROUPING
Grouping is planning 2 or more related rooms in proximity of
each other. The shape of building depends upon grouping of
various individuals.
➢ Verandah adjacent to drawing room has its own advantage.
➢ The dinning room close to kitchen.
➢ The bed room, toilet, dressing room can be grouped
together.
➢ The bathroom, W.C should be nearer.
➢ W.C should be away from dinning.

23. 7) ELEGANCE
 It is grand appreance of building attained mainly owing
to the elevation which in turn depends on plan.
 Better elegance can be obtained by-
i. Selecting superior building materials for finishing
such as polished stone, granite, etc.
ii. Providing projections like sunshades, balconies,
canopies, porch.
iii. Providing bay windows, corner windows, etc.
 Aesthetic utility & easy maintenance has to be
considered.
 Dark pockets & dusty areas should be avoided.

24. 8) SANITATION
It is provision & upkeep of various components of house to
keep inmates cheerful & free from disease.
It includes-
i. Lighting: It can be obtained from sun during day time &
through some artificial such as filamentous bulb or
fluorescent light.
ii. Ventilation: It is replacement of stale, warm and odours
air within room by fresh, cool and odour free air.

25. Ventilation air provides following-
 Supplies fresh air which is rich in oxygen
 Drives out CO2 & odours gas
 Reduces humidity
 Expels smoke and other gas
 Preserves heat balance of human body.
There are 2 types of ventilation
a) Natural ventilation.
b) Mechanical ventilation.

26. Cleanliness
 Besides rendering surface dull which creates some
health problems so, floor which receives dust should be
smooth, impervious, non absorbing and uniformly
sloped.
 Sanitary conveniences such as bath, W.C should be
designed that waste water drains off quickly.
 Walls & floors should be damp proof.

27. 9) ECONOMY
Main aim of this is building should have minimum floor area
with maximum utility and can be achieved by-
 Providing simple elevation
 Dispensing of porches, lobbies & balconies
 Reducing storey height
 Reducing number of steps of stairs by giving more rise to
steps
 By standardization of sizes of various components &
materials.

28. 10) FLEXIBILITY
 Flexibility means, rooms which planned to function be
used for other, if required.
 Ex: Bedroom being used for guests, kitchen as
additional dinning room, etc.
 Independent access to bath & toilet is a basic feature of
flexibility.
 Flexible planning is very important for public &
commercial building.

29. 11) PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
 Strength & stability coupled with convenience & comfort of
occupants should be first consideration
 Provision should be made in planning in first instance so
that some part already built may not be required to be
dismantled.
 The materials of building should be strong & capable of
withstanding adverse effects of environment.
 Room size should be kept large.
 Life of building should be atleast 50years.

30.  Money shouldn’t be spent unnecessarily.
 Use of fabricated elements for chejja, lintels, steps, etc.
 Providing lifts for sick & old people in multistorey
building.
 Number of doors & windows should be minimum &
sufficient number of windows for ventilation & lighting
has to be provided.

31. 12) CIRCULATION
It is access into or out of a room. It is space used for getting
comfortable communication from one room to another.
It includes-
a. Horizontal circulation
 Besides the area before & after doors, central circulation
within building is facilitated by verandah, corridors, hall
& lobbies.
 Passages provided should not be narrow, zigzag or
winding & should be free from obstruction.

32.  Area of horizontal circulation may constitute about 20-25%
of total plan area.
b. Vertical circulation
It is movement from one floor to another floor and made
possible through stairs, elevators, etc.
Lifts are provided when-
 Number of storeys are more than 3
 Number of users are more as in public building
 For old people, sick people & children frequently
Move in & out.

33. Simple 3-D plan showing all principles of building planning

34. Building Bye-Laws
What is building bye-laws?
The rules & regulations framed by town planning
authorities covering the requirements of building,
ensuring safety of public through open spaces,
minimum size of rooms & height and area limitations
are known as building bye-laws.

35. The main objectives of building bye-laws are-
1) They allow disciplined & systematic growth of
building & prevent haphazard development.
2) They protect safety of building against fire, noise,
health hazard & structural failure.
3) They provide proper utilization of space, hence max.
efficiency in planning can be derived.
4) They give guidelines to architect or an engineer in
effective planning & useful in planning activities.
5) They provide health, safety & comfort to people who
live in building.
6) Proper approach for light, air & ventilation is given.
Objectives Of Building Bye-laws

36. ✓ Classify the building with unit as a family & mentioning the
requirements.
✓ Classify rooms according to use & specifying min. standard
for each room with respect to size, height, floor area,
ventilation & light.
✓ Specify height of compound wall & location of gate wall.
✓ Controlling projection in marginal space.
✓ Insisting on suitable FAR or FSI.
Principles underlying building bye-laws

37. ✓ Specify suitable arrangements with respect to drawing &
water supply.
✓ Specify set back, light plan & margin.
✓ Specify minimum size of plots, their dimensions & figures.

38. ✓ FSI = Total covered area of all floors/Plot area.
Floor Space Index (FSI)
Zone Permissible FSI Remark
Residential (scheme area) 1 Max. GF 0.4
Residential (city area) 4 Width of road more
than 12m
Residential (city area) 3 Width of road less than
12m
Industrial (scheme area) 1.5 Max. allowed on GF
1.0
Commercial (scheme area) 1.33 Max. allowed on GF
0.4

39. ✓ It is ratio of area of all floors to total size of the plot.
✓ Both FAR & FSI are same.
✓ Higher value of FAR represents dense construction whereas
lesser indicates a sparse type of construction.
✓ For example: If FAR/FSI is 2.0, it means total floor area is
twice the area of plot which clearly represents multi storey
building.
Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

40. Building can be classified into following categories-
1) Residential building
2) Educational building
3) Institutional building
4) Assembly building
5) Business building
6) Mercantile building
7) Industrial building
8) Storage building
9) Hazardous building
Classification Of Building

41. They include any building in which sleeping
accommodation is provided for normal
residential purpose, with or without kitchen.
➢It includes single/multi-family dwellings,
apartment, houses(flats), lodging, restaurants,
hostels, etc.
1) Residential building

42. These include any building used for school, college or day-care
purposes involving assembly of instruction, educational or
recreation.
 They are used for different purposes like medical, other treatment
or care of person suffering from physical or mental illness,
disease or infirmity.
 They include hospital, sanitaria, custodia, institution or penal
institutions like jail, prisons & mental asylums.
2) Educational buildings
3) Institutional buildings

43.  These are buildings where group of people meet or
gather for amusement, recreation, social, religious,
political, civil, travel & similar purposes.
 Ex: Theaters, assembly halls, city halls, marriage halls,
exhibitions halls, etc.
 They are used for transaction of business, for keeping
of accounts, records & similar purposes.
 Ex: Banks, offices, court house, libraries, professional
establishments, etc.
4) Assembly buildings
5) Business buildings

44. They are used as shops, stores, market, display & sale of
merchandise either wholesale or retail, etc.
They are use where products or materials of all kinds &
properties are fabricated, assembled, manufactured or
processed.
Ex: Laboratories, dry cleaning plants, power plants,
pumping station, smoke house, etc.
6) Mercantile buildings
7) Industrial buildings

45.  These buildings are primarily used for storage or
sheltering of goods, wares or merchandise, vehicles,
animals, etc.
 Ex: cold storage plants, transit sheds, store houses,
garages or machine terminals.
They are used for storage, handling, manufacture or
processing of highly combustible or explosive materials
or products which are liable to burn with extreme
capacity or which may produce poisonous elements or
explosives.
8) Storage buildings
9) Hazardous buildings

46. To cater lighting and ventilation requirements every
human habitation room shall about on an exterior/
interior open space or open verandah.
Requirements-
➢Front open space: Every building should have front
yard of min. width of 3m & incase of 2 or more sides a
width of average 3m but in no case it shall be less than
1.8m.
Open Space Requirements

47. ➢Rear open space: The average width of rear open space
should be 3m & no place measuring less than 1.8m
➢Side open space: It contains semi-detached and
detached buildings.
Detached building shall have min. 3m side open space at
both sides & semi-detached will have min. 3m open
space on one side only.

48. The area covered by the building immediately above
the plinth level. It is also known as covered area.
Built-up Area Limitations
Details to be included Details not to be included
Basement Steps
Building structure Otta
Ramps Kundi
Swimming pool Soak pit
Reservoir Fountain
Chimney Manhole
Water purification plant Water tank

49. The height & no. of storeys for building are related to
FAR & the provisions of open spaces.
The height of building should be limited to width of street
as follows-
1. The max. height of building shall not exceed 2 times
the width of abutting plus the front open space.
2. If a building abuts on 2 or more streets of different
width, the building shall be deemed to face upon the
street has greater width &Height of building is
regulated by width of street ( shown in fig. below).
Height Of Building

50. ➢In the vicinity of aerodromes, the max. height of
buildings is fixed in consultation with civil aviation
authorities.

51. The construction of wall includes-
 Material used
 Their height
 Length
 Thickness
 Exact placement of windows and doors
 Construction techniques
 Use of reinforcement
 Estimate cost
Wall Thickness

52. Material Exterior wall Interior wall
Rammed earth 37.5-45cm 37.5-45cm
Adobe brick 30cm 30cm
Poured concrete(not
reinforced)
12.5-20cm 12.5-20cm
Poured
concrete(reinforced)
12.5cm 12.5cm
Stone 30- 37.5cm 25cm
Block( sand-cement,
stabilized earth, cement)
20cm 10- 15cm

53.  Habitable rooms of residential building shall have
admission of light& air, one or more openings directly
to external air of an open verandah with max. width of
2.4m.
 Door openings are not included in lighting and
ventilation of building.
 If window is partly fixed than only it can be considered.
 No portion of room is assumed to be lighted if it is
more than 7.5m away from opening.
Light And Ventilation Requirements

54.  The max. aggregate area of such openings, excluding
doors inclusive frames shall not be less than,
1. 1/10th of floor area of dry hot climate
2. 1/6th of floor area of wet hot climate
3. 1/8th of floor area of intermediate climate
4. 1/12th of floor area if cold climate
The area of (1) & (4) shall be increased 25% in case of
kitchen.

55. Prior to planning of residential building, it is essential for
planner to consider the following-
1) Size, shape & location of the building
2) Specific requirements of the occupants
3) Fund resources available
4) Locally available materials for construction
5) Metrological conditions of the area.
Planning Of Residential Building

56. To fulfill the needs of human activities, the residence is
divided into three major areas-
i. Living area: Where family meets friends, relax &
entertains.
ii. Sleeping area: Designed for sleeping & relaxing.
iii. Service area: Service function are performed which
includes kitchen, store room, bathroom, W.C &
garage.

57. Sl. No. Name of the room Minimum size
1 Habitable room
a) Bed room
b) Living room
c) Drawing room
d) Dinning room
e) Study room
9.5 Sqm.
2 Kitchen 5 Sqm.
3 Bath room
Water closet
1.8 Sqm.
1.10 Sqm.
4 Store room 3 Sqm.
5 Garage 12.5 Sqm.
6 Staircase 15 Sqm.
Minimum Standards For Various Components Of
Building