KMBR and construction of commercial buildings in Kerala

A commercial building can be broadly defined as a building that is not constructed solely for residential purposes. The objective of constructing such a building is to supplement your family income through rental income. You can let out commercial buildings either on monthly rent or lease it out for a certain fixed period. There are different types of commercial buildings.

Types of Commercial Buildings

A few of the different types of commercial buildings are

• Low or mid rise structures
• High rises
• Shopping complexes/Office spaces

These are usually three or four storied buildings (Ground+2 or Ground+3) which can be constructed in plots of small sizes. These buildings can be put to own use or can be rented out as hostels or paying guest accommodations. The advantage of these structures is that each portion can be rented out independent of the other. You may also retain a portion for your own use; while getting rental income from the rest.

Advantages of a low or mid rise structure

• A single building can be rented out in full or in parts.
• A rental building is an easy source of passive rental income during the post corona period.
• You can avail loans for construction purposes; thereby claiming income tax deductions.
• Rental properties have other tax benefits like the ability to deduct insurance.

Points to note while you build a low or mid rise structure

• Never go for a sloped roof, as this would completely cut off any prospects of further expansion. Always go for a flat roof structure for such buildings.
• The choice of foundation for the building is very important. Even if you are planning to build only a 2 storied building for the time being, provide a foundation strong enough for 3 floors. You never know; if the rental model works out well for you, you can always go for an expansion.
• It is better to place the staircase outside the building for non-intrusive access. Also steel is a cost effective option for building staircases.
• It will be cost effective to go for framed structures using steel and reinforced concrete.
• G+2, G+3 structures can be built in stages for easy budget planning. For instance, if your budgets allow for the construction of only two out of the planned three floors, you may plan to do your construction in a phased manner.
• Several non-branded, high quality materials are now available for finishing. Usage of those will help you keep the cost of construction low.
• GI grid, aluminium windows can be used.
• Reduce the usage of wood to keep costs under control.

Read more on Steel Structures

These include multi storied offices, hotels, apartments, hospitals, educational institutions, storage spaces etc

The third category is shopping complexes, office spaces or malls. They are basically a series of rooms built as simple civil structures, which can be let out for independent use. You do not generally not use it for residential purposes.

For the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on the third category and the KMBR rules governing the same.

In this section let’s look in detail at the regulations that you need to follow while constructing a commercial building in Kerala.

Definition of a Commercial Building

According to the Kerala Municipality Building Rules, (KMBR), a commercial or mercantile building is one that can be used for the display and sale of merchandise such as shops, stores or markets.

This includes both wholesale and retail stores. Banking and financial institutions, business houses and professional establishments of doctors, dentists, engineers, architects, lawyers, pathological laboratories, tailor shops, video shops, barbershop, beauty parlours, newsstands, milk booths, restaurants and non-nuisance type of small establishments using power motor or machine of capacity not exceeding 3 horse power are also included in this group. Furthermore buildings those are smaller than 200 sq m in built up area and used as Hospitals, Assembly, Offices and Storage houses can also fall under the category of commercial buildings.

You cannot use the entire plot area for the construction of a building. The FSI or Floor Space Index determines the maximum possible size of a building in a particular plot.

The definition of FSI is as follows

FSI = Total built up area on all floors/ Plot area

In the case of commercial buildings, the maximum permissible FSI is 3.  i.e the sum of built up areas on all the floors of your building should not be greater than 3 times the plot area. However there are provisions to increase this up to 4 by paying additional fees of Rs 500/- per sq m of the additional area. Furthermore, the maximum permissible coverage of a commercial building is 65%.

There are well defined rules in KMBR governing the width of the approach roads to commercial buildings. The minimum width of access to a building depends on the proposed size of the building and is as given below. Moreover the width of the main street shall not be less than the minimum width of access to the building and plot as well as width of street giving access to the plot.

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Whenever you construct a commercial building in Kerala that has a built up area greater than 75 sq m, it is mandatory to earmark some space for parking.

As per the KMBR, there should be one parking space for every 90 sq. metres of built-up area for buildings having a total built-up area upto 1260 sq. metres.

If the total built up area is above 1260 sq m, there should be one parking for every 60 sq metres of built-up area.

In addition to the parking space mentioned above, there should also be a loading and unloading space of size 30 sq m within the plot. The loading and unloading spaces are mandatory for buildings above 700 sq m of built up area. Furthermore there should be one such space for every additional 1000 sq m of built up area.

In addition to the normal standard approvals required for the construction of a building, you need the following additional approvals for the construction of commercial buildings.

The plot development and land sub division for commercial purposes are governed by the following KMBR rules.

• The minimum size of the plot for the construction of commercial buildings in Kerala should be 60 sq m or 1.48 cents.
• The frontage of the plot abutting the street should have a minimum width of 6m.
• You need to obtain the approval of the District Town Planner for the layout of all new Commercial Street and land sub-division exceeding five plots.

There are fixed guidelines pertaining to the number of occupants in the building per unit exit width. The exits can either be horizontal or vertical type. It could either be a doorway corridor or passageway to an internal or external staircase. You can also direct the exit to a ramp which has access to the street or roof of a building.

Please note lifts and escalators are not considered as exits.

The unit of exit width is 50cms. The number of occupants per unit exit width of the stairway is 50. Similarly the number of occupants per unit exit width of doors is 75.

The KMBR has defined certain rules that allow you to construct commercial buildings in small plots. By small plots, it means a maximum plot area of 125 sq m or 3.08 cents. The following are the special provisions for construction in small plots. However please note that these special provisions are not applicable for an individual owner who plans to construct commercial buildings in adjacent small plots created by the division of a large plot.

• The maximum number of floors that can be constructed is 3. In addition you can also have a stair room. Also the maximum height of the building, excluding the stair room, should not exceed 10m.
• For buildings constructed under this provision, the above mentioned provisions regarding FSI, coverage, access, parking etc will not be applicable.

• The height of the Ground floor of the building is important. This is because most of the businesses that have display sales will opt for ground floor. When the ground floor of the building is high, it can be used for constructing a mezzanine floor also if required.
• The height of each floor is especially important in commercial building if you plan to go for false ceiling and centralized air conditioning; which reduces the effective height of the room.
• Reduce the number of pillars as it might be a compromise on the width of the building.
• Moreover, do not always go for the lowest cost of construction, as it might affect your future expansion plans. It is always advisable to invest in stronger foundations and flat roofs that will keep your expansion plans open.
• For buildings that are over 15m, approval from the Fire and Rescue department is required. So design your building accordingly.
• With larger height, mezzanine floor can be done

Hope we have been able to give you some clarity on the construction of commercial buildings in Kerala and the applicable KMBR rules, through this article. If you have a plot suitable for commercial buildings and are looking for a suitable construction contracting company for the execution, do drop us a note.