BIS panel says fire safety must adhere to building codes

The deregulation panel has asked the BIS to make different sections of the current NBC, including the fire safety section, a manual and remove them from the Code. This is the second time that the Cabinet Secretariat has asked BIS to change the norms. The last item is the withdrawal of notification regarding revision of seismic codes.As part of the government’s deregulation drive, the deregulation group under the Cabinet Secretariat has asked the BIS to keep matters related to administration, development control norms and fire safety sections out of the NBC and leave them to state governments and municipalities as they have the capacity to formulate these norms.However, the BIS technical committee in its last meeting recommended the government to retain the “Fire and Life Safety” section of NBC which is being revised. The minutes of the meeting mentioned: “While taking this decision, the committee also noted that from recent events in the country and around the world, it is clear that fire safety is a vital aspect and buildings that are not planned/designed/maintained for the intended purpose can turn into death traps; therefore, this issue should be seriously addressed in the Code as every life is precious.”The group also recommended that this should become part of the “Building Code rather than a separate manual”.The council has accepted several recommendations from the deregulation panel, including dividing the city into fire zones, removing height restrictions and relaxing sprinkler system requirements for all low-hazard and small industries. “The committee has agreed to amend valuable provisions in the proposals. But any dilution of fire safety norms must be avoided in the interest of public safety,” said a panellist.People aware of the development said this is the second such “direct instruction” issued by the Cabinet Secretariat’s deregulation panel to the BIS, following its recent request for the standards body to “immediately” withdraw notifications related to seismic standards.Some committee members said that when the NBC 2025 draft was ready for release after more than two years of work by experts, the deregulation panel wrote to all states saying NBC was not forcing them to follow it. The letter dated June 25, 2025 stated, “NBC is not legally binding. It is a voluntary code for reference. It is not a ‘code’ in the legally binding sense… The subjects of land and buildings are listed in List-II (List of States) in the Constitution...Consequently, matters such as building and FAR/FSI norms, setbacks, ground cover, parking, green area, fire regulation, and other aspects covered by NBC fall under the exclusive legislative and administrative jurisdiction of the states. “Ajit Kumar SM, president of the Karnataka Professional Civil Engineers Bill Guidance Alliance, said: “Even now, the NBC is voluntary in nature. So, the code can exist and states can tweak it. The government should not forcefully override the expert technical committee set up by a statutory entity.”