New Delhi, March 2026 – A public conflict has broken out between India’s deregulation machinery and the country’s building safety establishment, as the Bureau of Indian Standards faces formal pressure from the Cabinet Secretariat’s Deregulation Cell to delete or downgrade multiple provisions of the National Building Code – the document that governs structural and fire safety standards across Indian construction. The Deregulation Cell has reportedly pushed for the removal of Parts 0, 1, 2, 10, and 11 of the NBC, for the downgrading of Parts 4, 7, and 12 from mandatory standards to optional guidelines, and for the removal of development control norms from Part 3. BIS committee members have mounted a formal resistance, describing the proposed changes as technically indefensible.
What the NBC Governs and Why Dilution Matters
The National Building Code is India’s primary technical reference document for all building design, construction, and occupancy safety. Though recommendatory in nature at the national level, the NBC forms the basis for building bylaws across states and urban local bodies. Part 4 covers fire and life safety, Part 7 covers constructional practices and safety, and Part 12 addresses energy efficiency – all areas where the Deregulation Cell has sought downgrading. Critics note that the NBC has just completed a two-year revision process and is ready for publication, making the timing of the intervention particularly disruptive.
The Deregulation Cell’s Rationale and Its Gaps
The Deregulation Cell has cited concerns including the constitutional position of building regulation as a state subject, the compliance burden on small-scale industries, and the cost implications of NBC provisions. Fire safety professionals and BIS committee members counter that the NBC’s provisions are not administrative formalities but technical minimums derived from decades of failure analysis including post-disaster investigations of building collapses and fire incidents across Indian cities. Experts have noted that removing or downgrading these provisions does not reduce compliance costs; it shifts the cost from developers to building occupants and rescue services.
Location Context: The Stakes Across India’s Construction Market
India’s urban construction sector is adding tens of millions of square feet of residential and commercial space annually, with high-rise residential development accelerating in cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Bengaluru. Weakening the NBC at this moment of peak construction activity would have the largest impact on markets with the highest density of new high-rise supply.
