CHANDIGARH, September 7 — After adopting the Haryana Fire Safety Act for the city, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) is preparing to relax provisions of the National Building Code (NBC) to make it easier for heritage and high-rise buildings to obtain fire safety certificates.
At present, Chandigarh follows the Delhi Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act, 1986, which requires clearances only for buildings taller than 15 metres. The Haryana Act, yet to be formally notified in the city, lowers that threshold to 9 metres for educational and institutional buildings and extends the requirement for fire safety no-objection certificates (NOCs) to a wide range of special buildings such as hotels, business centres, industrial units, storage facilities and hazardous structures.
MC officials noted that the existing Delhi law has already been repealed in the capital and replaced by the Delhi Fire Service Act, 2007. They said Chandigarh needed a framework more suited to its unique mix of modernist heritage and densely used public buildings.
“The stringent provisions under the current Act have often resulted in non-compliance with fire safety norms,” one official said. The civic body’s fire and rescue services committee, after reviewing fire laws in Punjab and Haryana, recommended adopting the Haryana Act.
Clash with National Building Code
All states and UTs are also required to follow the NBC, which prescribes detailed safety measures such as multiple fire extinguishers on each floor, automated sprinklers, unobstructed escape routes, natural ventilation and flame-resistant furniture. But officials said such requirements are unrealistic for Chandigarh’s many heritage buildings, which cannot be structurally altered.
There are around 420 high-rises in the city, including key heritage structures at PGIMER, Panjab University, the UT Secretariat and police headquarters. Most lack fire safety certificates because they cannot comply with NBC rules, leaving thousands at risk.
Developers, traders and government departments have repeatedly complained that retrofitting features such as extra exits or heavy rooftop water tanks is technically unfeasible in older structures.
Draft relaxations in the works
Councillor Maheshinder Singh Sidhu, chairman of the MC fire committee, said a group of fire officers is preparing proposed relaxations in NBC requirements.
“The changes would include reducing the installation of individual overhead water tanks for fire systems, encouraging establishments to keep more portable fire extinguishers and giving fire training to them. The relaxation will also allow people to get NOCs more easily while still meeting essential safety norms,” Sidhu said.
The draft proposals will be placed before the MC’s Fire and Emergency Services Committee for approval before final implementation.
