Role of an Architect in Constructing a

Habitable Building by following 'Imarat

Nirman Bidhimala 2008

MEHEDI HASAN EMON _201632008

EMEHE
Role of an Architect in Constructing a Habitable Building by
following 'Imarat Nirman Bidhimala 2008'

A person or entity registered, licensed or otherwise authorized to use the title "architect" and to practice
architecture in a province or territory.

The most basic definition of an architect is a professional who is qualified to design and provide
advice - both aesthetic and technical - on built objects in our public and private landscapes. But
this definition barely scratches the surface of an architect's role. Architects serve as trusted
advisors, their role is holistic, blending diverse requirements and disciplines in a creative
process, while serving the public interest and addressing health and safety matters.

Perhaps, it would be best to describe architects as conductors who orchestrate and take the lead
in reconciling all the goals for a building or other structure. Architects do this by providing
solutions through the use of:

 artistic imagination and creative vision to design spaces where their ideas and
techniques-represented through form, light, textures, materials, and colours-combine to fulfill
our aesthetic, spiritual, and cultural needs;
 practical and technical knowledge to create spaces that are safe, efficient, sustainable,
and meet economic needs; and
 Interpersonal skills, psychological understanding and ethical practice to craft spaces
that fulfill the complex, and sometimes conflicting, needs of clients, users, and the
community.

Habitable building

habitable building means a permanent or temporary structure on land that: —

(a) is fully or partially enclosed; and
(b) has at least one wall of solid material and a roof of solid
material; and
(c) is used for a purpose that involves the use of the interior of
the structure by people for living, working, studying or being
entertained.

A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the
standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must
conform to the code to obtain planning permission, usually from a local council. The main
purpose of building codes is to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to
the construction and occupancy of buildings and structures. The building code becomes law of a
particular jurisdiction when formally enacted by the appropriate governmental or private
authority.

In  1993  the  Bangladesh  National  Building  Code  (BNBC)  was  made  to  regulate  the 
technical  details  of  building  construction  and  to  maintain  the  standard  of  building 
construction with the following two main objectives; 
ƒTo provide safe and healthy habitat by regulating all activities related to buildings such as plan
ning, design and construction. 
ƒTo provide guidance for a uniform start of practice in planning, design, construction aspects as 
well as service facilities such as electrical, mechanical, sanitary and other services. 

The  Code  has  been  notified  by  gazette  of  the  Government  of  Bangladesh and  is  a 
comprehensive document that can be used for legally binding codes of development in 
urban areas of Bangladesh. It covers planning administration and enforcement, general building c
ontrols and regulations, requirements for different uses, fire protection, building materials, desig
n and services. Importantly, it also considers building use (occupancy classes), density and buildi
ng height.

BNBC a brief review of the various laws, Acts, specifications which are relevant and related to u
rban development and also to the BNBC are briefly discussed here;  
a.   The Building Construction Act, 19525  
b.   The Town Improvement (TI) Act 1953 
c.    Building Construction Rules 20086
D.    Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) 2006 
e.   Land Development Rules for Private Housing 2004  

Building Construction Rules 2008
These rules superseded the previous Building Construction (BC) rules of 1984. These rules seek 
to control development plot‐by‐plot and case‐by‐case. 
It controls 5 EB Act II of 1953. After independence of Pakistan in 1947 the cities were growing r
apidly. The 1932 Bengal Municipal Act, 1932 was the only regulation for building control. 
To address the situation the government promulgated the EBBC ordinance, 1951 which was later 
re‐enacted as the EBCC Act, 1952.  
6 Amended in 1952, 1984, 1996, 2006, 2007Created an efficient, autonomous agency which was 
Dhaka Improvement Trust (DIT) in 1956 and became RAJUK through an amendment in 1987.     
8 Amended in 1952, 1984, 1996, 2006, and 2007. 
development  by  imposing  conditions  on  setbacks,  site  coverage,  construction  of 
garages, access to plot, provision of lift, land use of that particular plot and height of 
building. Restricting the height of a building in BC Rules 1996 helps to control the density of an 
area and manage the growth of the city in some way.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Building Construction Rules 200810 superseded the earlier set 
of rules issued in 1996 for the Dhaka Metropolitan Area and provided more authority to 
RAJUK in the following way;   ƒ Clear‐
cut responsibility to monitor the development of the city,  ƒ
Spread out the responsibilities to various actors,   ƒ Spelled  out  responsibilities  of  building 
designers,  structural  engineers,  site  supervisors and their penalties etc.    
One of the most significant improvements is the introduction of Floor Area Ratio (FAR). 
To manage the growth of the city it provides rules of building coverage area, allowable floor spa
ce and relation among building height ‐ road width and plot size.    
Effectiveness of the new BCR rules will depend on how successfully implementation of these rul
es can be effected by RAJUK in a transparent way and keeping themselves away from corruption
. 

Imarat Nirrman Bidhimala ‗Dhaka Mohanagar Imarat Nirman Bidhimala 2008‘ basically came
into action in the year 2006, later there were some corrections in the code which now is in
practice from 2008 as cited below in table 1

According to ‗Dhaka Mohanagar Imarat Nirman Bidhimala 2008‘ the focus has been given on
FAR (floor area ratio), M.G.C. (maximum ground coverage) and the front road width of the
respective plots rather than building heights. The chart given above has been restricted to 10
storey buildings. So this paper focuses buildings up to 10 storey structures.

The building construction by-law that was in practice from 1996 to 2006 was known by ‗Imarat
Nirman Bidhimala, 1996‘ as quoted below in table 2.
According to this law the height of the buildings were depended upon the front road width. If the
front road width were 75‘ or above then the height of the building could be unlimited or else in
most cases the height of the buildings, especially the residential buildings were restricted up to
six stored (5+1) structures.

Architects Role

When an architect is designing an apartment or any other form of housing for that matter, he
wants it to be your safe haven for all. But how can you be sure that it is safe? In every country,
there are Government laws related to construction rules and regulations which a real estate
developer must adhere to for a building to be safe. In Bangladesh the regulatory body (RAJUK)
RAJDHANI UNNAYAN KARTRIPAKKHA monitors if a project has been constructed
according to Bangladesh National Building Code and Building Construction Act in Bangladesh
Gazette 2008.

Here you will find the basic rules and regulations that a building design and construction must
comply with to get a general idea:

What Is The FAR Value?

The FAR value of your building refers to ratio of total building area to the total land size upon
which it is built. FAR helps to control building size and urban planning. The FAR value is fixed
depending on the size of the land or the adjacent road. When you multiply the value with the
land area, you will get the area of the land over which you can construct your building. For
example, consider a 5 katha (334.57sqm) residential land with FAR 3.50; the total area of land
where you can have your building is 1171sqm.
Property’s Setback

In land use, a setback is the distance which a building is set back from street or road. Your
homes have setbacks so that no two properties are too close. There is a minimum setback rule
which cannot be violated when designing a building. For instance, if you own a 5 Katha land, the
front setback for your property will be 1.5m, the back setback will be 2m and side setback will
be 1.25m for your building.

Is The Building Height Safe?

The building height is of paramount importance in design and construction for any structure to
be stable and safe, especially in a country as prone to earthquakes like Bangladesh. It helps to
minimize loss of your property and saves lives in case of untoward incidents such as
earthquakes. In Bangladesh, building height is set according to location and size of land. It is
determined by air funnel and aircraft route of Dhaka city and its surrounding areas.
Building’s Maximum Ground Coverage

The maximum ground coverage of your building is the maximum percentage of a land which can
be occupied or covered for construction. For instance, for a 5 Katha land with FAR 3.50, the
MGC according to Bangladesh Gazette 2008 is 62.5% of the land area which means 209.11sqm
is the acceptable building area for each floor.
 Who Are The Users Of The Building?

In Dhaka city, all lands are divided and marked according to occupancy type, such as whether
you can use a land for commercial purpose or residential or industry etc. You cannot simply
erect a commercial shopping mall in a residential area or vice versa. This helps to create
sustainable urban development and also provide you with a comfortable and healthy lifestyle.
For instance, having an apartment beside a factory can be harmful if it handles chemicals or
releases toxic fumes.

Building’s Surroundings Matter Too!

Road width is another factor of consideration when building any structure. Living in Dhaka city
we are all aware of the traffic congestions in narrow roads. To make it easier for you, there is a
set road width adjacent to which you can construct your building for ease of transport and public
use. According to Ministry of Housing and Public works, your constructed building space must
have an adjacent road width of at least 20’-0”. For private housing projects, there are similar
given road widths which vary according to location. For instance, for Bashundhara, the set road
width is 25’-0”. If your constructed building space does not fulfill this criterion, then landowners
on both road side has to surrender portion of land, but they will be compensated in FAR value
and enjoy additional area for construction.

What About Building’s Internal Space?

The purpose of a home is not just to provide shelter but also to be functional so you can live
comfortably within its confine. For that you would need a minimum amount of space to live in
and the minimum size is provided in Bangladesh Gazette 2008 for individual apartment rooms
such as bedrooms, kitchens and so on. For example, your kitchen can never be less than 4sqm
and the minimum width should be 1.50m or more.

Does Building Provide A Healthy Environment?

To ensure that your home provides you with a healthy environment, it is imperative that your
building is designed and constructed in a way which allows ample light and ventilation. For
instance your apartment layout and openings need to meet minimum requirements in Bangladesh
National Building Code, such as when designing a bed room, the window must be at least 15%
of the room area. if the room is 100sft, your window area must be at least 15sft.

Building’s Staircase

Even your building’s staircase needs to meet specific rules and regulations specified in building
code. If you ever wondered about the number of stairs you have to climb, that too is determined
based on numbers of people living in your apartment, apartment location and function of the
stairs. For instance in residential apartments, the width has to be at least 1.15m.

Does Your Building Have Adequate Parking Space?

The parking of your constructed structure has different requirements based on its usage, such as
whether it is commercial or residential. Moreover, the size of parking area for 01, 02 or 03 cars
in a row have also been mentioned along with the size of driveway for one car or two cars facing
parallel.  For example, for parking of one car, the parking space is width 2.4m and length 4.6m
minimum and for parking of two cars both length and width will be 4.6m. This ensures that all
building users have allocated parking space which they can use for their convenience.

Does Building Ensure Fire Safety?

In a city as densely populated as Dhaka, the provision for fire safety cannot be stretched enough.
This is also mentioned in the Bangladesh National Building Code to ensure proper construction
of your building. It mentions location, size and distance of fire exits such as emergency doors
and fire staircase of your building. For instance, the distance of two fire exits cannot be more
than 33m. If the catchment area of a dedicated fire staircase exceeds 33m, then another fire stair
has to be provided.

What are Special Projects?

RAJUK regards a project to be special only if it meets its special project specifications. The
considerations for such a project are as follows:

1. If your building construction area is equal to or more than 7500sqm (FAR included).
2. If the number of units are more than 40 in a single building.
3. Your project site is directly adjacent to any national or zonal highway.
4. If there is any natural landscape within 250m radius area of the site, like lake, river, hill
etc.
5. If there is any historically or architecturally important building or settlement within 250m
radius area of the site, like National Parliament building or any heritage site etc.

For a special project, an extra clearance has to be taken from the special project committee of
RAJUK along with RAJUK’s approval.

What Approvals are Require before Construction of a Building?

Before starting the construction of any building, your real estate developer is required to get
approvals from relevant Government authorities, these are:
 1. Ward councilor
2. City corporation
3. Civil aviation
4. DTCB (Dhaka Transport Co-ordination Bureau)
5. WASA
6. DESA
7. Traffic
8. Fire department
9. Environment

In addition to these, a clearance from land department is needed before constructing building.
For lease hold properties it needs state clearance and for free hold properties it needs TP
clearance.

After completion of the project, an occupancy certificate must be collected from RAJUK which
gives the clearance that the building is ready to use and is built as per the regulations of
government. This certificate is very important for utility connections like electric connection etc.

When an architect is aware of the basic rules and regulations of Bangladesh National Building
code in constructing a building, it will make it easier for him to know that the apartment he is
designing is safe and secure for all.