- In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the expression-(1) "to erect a building" means-(a)to erect a new building on any site, whether previously built upon or not,(b)to re-erect-(i)any building of which more than one-half of the cubical extent above the level of plinth have been pulled down, burnt or destroyed, or(ii)any building of which more than one-half of the superficial area of the external walls above the level of plinth has been pulled down, or(iii)any frame-building of which more than half of the number of posts or beams in the external walls have been pulled down,(c)to convert into a dwelling-house any building or any part of a building not originally so constructed for human habitation or, if originally so constructed for human habitation, subsequently appropriated for any other purpose,(d)to convert into more than one dwelling-house a building originally constructed as one dwelling-house only,(e)to convert into a place of religious worship or into a sacred building any place or building, not originally constructed for such purpose,(f)to roof or cover an open space between walls or buildings to the extent of the structure formed by the roofing or covering of such space,(g)to convert two or more tenements in a building into a greater or lesser number of such tenements,(h)to convert into a stall, shop, office, warehouse or godown, workshop, factory or garage any building not originally constructed for use as such, or to convert any building constructed for such use, by subdivision or addition, into greater or lesser number of such stalls, shops, offices, warehouses or godowns, workships, factories or garages,(i)to convert a building, which, when originally constructed, was legally exempt from the operation of any building Regulations or any Rules made under this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, into a building which, had it been originally erected in its converted form, would have been subject to such building Regulations,(j)to convert into, or use as, a dwelling-house any building, which has been discontinued as, or appropriated for any purpose other than, a dwelling-house,(k)to make any addition to a building, and(l)to remove or reconstruct the principal staircase of a building or to alter its position;(2)"occupancy" or "use-group" means the principal occupancy for which a building or a part of a building is used or intended to be used,-and the occupancy classification shall, unless otherwise spelt out in any development plan or any other improvement scheme under any law for the time being in force, include-(a)residential buildings, that is to say, any building in which sleeping accommodation is provided for normal residential purposes with or without cooking facility or dining facility or both, and such building shall include one or two or multi-family dwelling, lodging or rooming houses, hostels, dormitories, apartment houses and flats, and private garages,(b)educational buildings, that is to say, any building used for school, college or day-care purposes involving assembly for instruction, education or recreation incidental to educational use,(c)institutional buildings, that is to say, any building or part thereof ordinarily providing sleeping accommodation for occupants and used for the purposes of medical or other treatment or care of persons suffering from physical or mental illness, disease or infirmity, care of infants, convalescents or aged persons and for penal or correctional detention in which the liberty of the inmates is restricted, and such buildings shall include hospitals, clinics, dispensaries, sanatoria, custodial institutions, and penal institution like jails, prisons, mental hospitals and reformatories,(d)assembly buildings, that is to say, any building or part thereof where groups of people congregate or gather for amusement or recreation or for social, religious, patriotic, civic, travel, sports, and similar other purposes, and such buildings shall include theatres, motion picture houses, drive-in-theatres, city halls, town halls, auditoria, exhibition halls, museums, skating rinks, gymnasia, restaurants, eating-houses, hotels, boarding-houses, places of worship, dance halls, club rooms, gymkhanas, passenger stations and terminals of air, surface and other public transportation services, recreation piers, and stadia,(e)business buildings, that is to say, any building or part thereof used for transaction of business or for the keeping of accounts and records or for similar purposes and such buildings shall include offices, banks, professional establishments, court houses, and libraries for the principal function of transaction of public business and keeping of books and records, and shall also include office buildings (premises) solely or principally used as an office or for office purpose,(f)mercantile buildings, that is to say, any building or part thereof used as shops, stores or markets for display or sale or merchandise, either wholesale or retail, or for office, storage or service facilities incidental to the sale of merchandise and located in the same building, and such building shall include establishments wholly or partly engaged in wholesale trade, manufacturer's whole-sale outlets (including related storage facilities), warehouses, and establishments engaged in truck transport (including truck transport booking agencies),(g)industrial buildings, that is to say, any building or structure or part thereof in which products or materials of all kinds and properties are fabricated, assembled or processed as in assembly plants, and such buildings shall include laboratories, power plants, smoke houses, refineries, gas plants, mills, dairies, factories, workships, automobile repair garages and printing presses,(h)storage buildings, that is to say, any building or part thereof used primarily for the storage or sheltering of goods, wares or merchandise as in warehouse, and such buildings shall include cold storages, freight depots, transit sheds, store houses, public garages, hangars, truck terminals, grain elevators, barns and stables,(i)hazardous buildings, that is to say, any building or part thereof used for the storage, handling, manufacture or processing of highly combustible or explosive materials or products, which are liable to burn with extreme rapidity or which may produce poisonous fumes or explosions during storage, handling, manufacture or processing or which involve highly corrosive, toxic or noxious alkalis, acids or other liquids or chemicals producing flames, fumes, explosions or mixtures of dust or which result in the division of matter into fine particles subject to spontaneous ignition;(3)"alteration" means the change from one occupancy to another, or the structural change, such as the addition to any area or height, or the removal of a part of building, or the change to the structure, such as the construction, or cutting into, or removal of, any wall, partition, column, beam, joint floor, or other support, or the change to, or closing of, any required means of ingress or egress, or the change to any fixture or equipment;(4)"plan" means a plan prepared by a surveyor, or a draughtsman, or an engineer holding a degree of Bachelor of Engineering, or an Architect registered under the Architects Act, 1972.Explanation. - For the purposes of classification of a building according to occupancy under clause (2),-(a)an occupancy shall be deemed to include subsidiary occupancies, which are contingent upon such occupancy, and(b)building with mixed occupancies shall mean those buildings in which more than one occupancy are present in different portions thereof.
