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State of West Bengal - Section

Section 2 in West Bengal Municipal (Building) Rules, 2007

2. Definitions.

— (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(1)"the Act" means the West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993 (West Bengal Act 22 of 1993);
(2)"addition to a building" means addition to the cubic content or to the floor area of a building;
(3)"area", in relation to a building, means the superficies of a horizontal section thereof made at the plinth level, inclusive of the external walls and such portion of the party-walls as belongs to the building;
(4)"advertising sign" means any surface of a structure with characters, letters, illustrations or illuminations applied thereto and displayed in any manner whatsoever to public view for the purposes of advertising or giving information regarding, or for attracting the notice of the public to, any place, person, public performance, article or merchandise whatsoever, and which surface or structure is attached to, forms part of, or is connected with, any land/or building, or is fixed to a wall, hoarding, frame, post, kiosk, structure, ground or fence, or is displayed in space or on screen;
(5)"air-conditioning" means the process of treating air so as to control simultaneously its temperature, humidity, cleanliness and distribution to meet the requirement of conditioned space;
(6)"alteration" means change from one occupancy to another, or a structural change, such as an addition to the area or height, or the removal of part of a building, or any change to the structure, such as, the construction of, cutting into or removal of any wall, partition, column, beam, joist, floor or other support, or a change to the fixture or equipment;
(7)"apartment" means part of a property having a direct exit to a street or a passage or to a common area leading to such street or passage which together with its undivided interest in the common areas and facilities forms an independent unit;
(8)"applicant" means Owner of the land and includes authorised representative of the owner or anybody having construction right in accordance with law and shall also include the transferee; -.,
(9)"architect" means a person who is registered as an Architect by the Council of Architecture under the Architects Act, 1972 (20 of 1972);
(10)"balcony" means a semi open space including horizontal projection with a handrail or balustrade to serve as passage or sitting out place;
(11)"basement or cellar" means the lower storey of a building partly or wholly below the ground level or the abutting road level, whichever is higher;
(12)"boundary wall" means a wall constructed along the property line not exceeding permissible height as specified in these rules;
(13)"building plan" means a plan accompanying a notice for sanction, or provisional sanction for erection, or re-erection, or addition to, or alteration of, a building;
(14)"building services" or "services Y, in relation to a building, means lighting and ventilation, electrical installations, air-conditioning and heating, acoustics and sound insulation, installation of lifts, travelators and escalators, water supply, sewerage and drainage, gas supply, fire fighting arrangements, solid waste management, electronic, telecommunication and telephone installations;
(15)"chajja or cornice" means a sloping, horizontal or structural, overhung usually provided over openings on external walls to provide protection from the sun and rain;
(16)"chimney" means the construction by means of which a flue is formed for the purpose of carrying the products of combustion to the open air, and includes chimney stack and flue-pipe;
(17)"commencement of work", in relation to a building, means the actual commencement of a building foundation work or erection or re-erection or alteration of a building including foundation, but does not include mere excavation of earth;
(18)"courtyard" means a space permanently open to the sky, enclosed fully or partially by building, whether or not at ground level or any other level within, or adjacent to, a building, or a courtyard enclosed on all sides (being•an inner courtyard) or a courtyard where one of the sides is not enclosed (being an outer courtyard);
(19)"covered area" means the ground area covered by building immediately above plinth level considering all the floors at all levels, but does not include.the spaces exempted under these rules and the space covered by—
(b)drainage, culvert, conduit, septic tank or soak pit,
(c)compound wall and gate, and area covered by chajja;
(20)"cul-de-sac" means a public or private street or passage closed at one end with provision for turning of cars;
(21)"dangerous", in relation to a building which, by reason of its age, inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, abandonment or by any other reason, has become structurally unsafe or is not provided with adequate means of egress or which constitutes a fire hazard, dangerous to human life;
(22)"depth", in relation to a plot, means the distance from the front to the rear line of the plot;
(23)"drain" includes sewer, a house drain, or a drain of any other description, a tunnel, a culvert, a ditch, a channel and any other device for carrying off sullage, sewage, offensive matter, polluted water, rain water or subsoil water;
(24)"drainage" means the removal of any liquid by a system provided for the purpose;
(25)"dwelling unit" means an independent housing unit with separate living, cooking and sanitary facilities;
(26)"engineer" means a person having minimum Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering or in Construction Engineering of a recognised University or Institute;
(27)"escalator" means a mechanical device to transport persons between two or more levels in an inclined direction by means of guided moving steps:
(28)"floor" means, unless otherwise specifically provided in these rules, the lower surface in a storey, after the finishing of which one normally walks in a building;
(29)"floor area" means the covered area of a building at any floor level;
(30)"Floor Area Ratio" or "F.A.R." (being the abbreviation of the whole words "Floor Area Ratio") means the quotient obtained by dividing the total floor area of all the floors of a building by the area of the plot, the formula being as follows :
F.A.R = Total floor area of all floorsArea ofthe plot
(31)"form" means a standard format for application to the Authorities appended to these rules;
(32)"framed building' means a building where the dead load and superimposed load are transferred to foundation through framed members with rigid joints, which may be of R.C.C., prestressed concrete, steel, timber, or the like, such members at the transfer of loads being not only experienced with directional stress but also bending stress and sheer stress as well;
(33)"Geo-technical Engineer" shall mean a person who having a minimum bachelors degree in civil or construction engineering from a recognized university, institute or an equivalent engineering qualification recognized by the Government and having not less than fiv`,, years' experience in soil investigation work and formulation of base for design and construction of different types of foundation,
(34)"Ground coverage" is the percentage of the largest covered area per roof plan of building/buildings against the area of the p3ot including the area of the water bodies, if any, within the plot;
Ground coverage = The area of the plot covered by buildingTotalarea of the plot
(35)"ground level" means the level at a height of 15 cm. above the, average level of the centre line of the street or passage to which the plot abuts;
(36)"habitable room" means a room occupied or designed for occupancy by one or more persons for study, living, sleeping, eating, cooking, if it is used as a living room, but not including bath-rooms, water-closet, compartments, laundries, serving and storage pantries, corridors, cellars, attics and spaces that are not used frequently or during extended period clause;
(37)"height of a building" shall mean vertical distance measured from the ground level, as defined in clause (35), to the highest point of the building, in case of flat roofs and in the case of sloped roofs, the mid-point between the eave's level and the ridge;Note :—For hill areas, the vertical distance shall be measured from the lowest floor level instead of average ground level as applicable in case of plains;
(38)"house" includes any hut, shop or warehouse;
(39)"Khatal" means a place where cattle are kept or maintained for the purpose of trade or business in cattle or business in milk;
(40)"ledge" or land" means a shelf-like projection, supported in any manner except by means of vertical supports, within a room itself but not having projection wider than 0.60 metre, for being used only as storage space;
(41)"Licensed Building Surveyor (LBS.)" means a qualified surveyor who has been licensed under these rules;
(42)"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 guided car platform; as specified in these rules;
(43)"loft" means an intermediary floor between two floors or a residual space in a pitched roof above normal floor level which is constructed or adopted for storage purposes;
(44)"masonry" means an assemblage of masonry units properly bonded together with mortar;
(45)"means of access" means a public or private street or passage open to the sky, as shown in the survey map or other records of the Municipality and includes a passage which may not be open to the sky in the case-of partition of an existing building;
(46)"Mezzanine floor" means an intermediate floor between any two floors;
(47)"Municipal authorities" means the municipal authorities specified in section 12 of the Act;
(48)"open space" means an area, forming an integral part of the site, at the ground level open to the sky;
(49)"Parapet" means a low wall or railing built along the edge of a roof or a floor;
(50)"Parking space" means an area enclosed or unenclosed, covered or open, sufficient in size to park vehicles with a driveway connecting the parking space with a street or alley and permitting ingress and egress of vehicle;
(51)"partition wall" means an interior non-load bearing wall of storey or part storey height;
(52)"Party wall" means one wall forming part of a building and used or constructed to be used for the supports and separation of adjoining buildings to different owners or constructed or adopted to be occupied by different persons;
(53)"passage" means a means of access which is not a private or public street and which provides access to not more than three plots, and includes footway and drains attached to the passage and also includes all lands up to the property line of the plots abutting the passage;
(54)"plinth" means the part of a wall or structure between the ground level and the level of the lowest floor of a building above ground level;
(55)"principal occupancy" means highest occupancy among the different use of a building/buildings but not less than 50% of the total usable area;
(56)"purchaser" means any person who, enters into an agreement with the Promoter for the purchase of a dwelling unit;
(57)"Registrar' means the Registrar as defined in the West Bengal Co-operative Societies Act, 1983;
(58)"row housing" means a row of house with only front open space and rear open space and interior open space where applicable;
(59)"Salt Lake township' means the Salt Lake Township, within the limits of the Bidhannagar Municipality, and Nabadiganta Industrial Township owned and developed by the Government of West Bengal;
(60)"schedule" means the schedule to these rules;
(61)"section" means a section of the Act;
(62)"service rooms" means rooms and covered spaces meant primarily for purposes other than human habitation such as for the purpose of using it for parking, air-conditioning plant room or room for the other machines used for any building service or for other purposes such as space for a stand-by generator for power supply, storage space for household or other goods on non-inflammable nature, strong room or bank celler, and dark room;
(63)"set back line" means a line usually parallel with the centre line of a road or street, laid down by a competent authority beyond which nothing can be constructed towards the road:
(64)"shed" means a light or temporary structure for shade or shelter;
(65)"single building" means a building having single block or multiple blocks connected at any level including basement where mandatory open spaces are considered in respect of the tallest block;
(66)"site" or "building site" means the entire area covered by a building with out-houses, and includes the land at the front or in the sides of, and pertaining to, such building and the land required by rules to be left open;
(67)"storey" means the portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there be no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the top of roof next above it;
(68)"smoke-stop door" means a door for preventing or checking the spread of smoke from one area to another;
(69)"stair cover" means a structure with a covering roof over a staircase and its landing built to enclose only the stair for the purpose of providing protection from weather and not used for human habita-tion;
(70)"structural engineer" shall mean an engineer having a minimum bachelor degree in civil engineering or structural engineering from a recognized University or an equivalent engineering qualification recognized by the Government having at least five years experience in the field of design and construction of structure of the building of different types with at least 5 years experience in structural designs;
(71)"to construct a building with its grammatical variation means—
(i)to construct a new building, or
(ii)to re-construct a building, or
(iii)to convert a building or any part of a building, not being a flat or block, into a flat or block;
(72)"tenement" means an independent dwelling unit with a kitchen;
(73)"Water closet" or the letters "W.C." (being the abbreviation of the whole words "water closet") means a privy with arrangement for flushing the pan with water and does not include a bathroom;
(74)"Width of a street" means the whole extent of space, including the roadway over any public bridge or flyover, footway and drains attached to such street, within the boundaries of the street as specified in the survey map or other records of a Municipality. (2) Words and expressions used but not otherwise defined shall have the same meaning as in the Act.[Part IA] [Inserted by Notification no. 479/MA/O/C-4/3R-8/2002(Pt. I), dated 10.9.2007, w.e.f. 10.9.2007.]