Unit III Housing standards
Standards and Regulations
DCR relevant to Housing
Methodology of formulating Standards
Performance Standards.
Housing
• All places in which a group of people reside and pursue their life goals”
• The size of settlement varies from a single family to millions of people.
Standards and Regulations
Housing Standards
“Housing” - modern concept includes not only the physical structure'
providing shelter but also immediate surroundings, related community
surroundings and related community services and facilities.
Human Settlement
Social Goals of Housing
Role of Govt. in Housing
Human Settlement
"All places in which a group of people reside and pursue their life goals; the size of the
settlement may vary from a single family to millions of people".
A WHO Expert Group (1961) prefers to use the term “Residential environment” which is
defined as The physical structure that man uses and the Environs of the structure including
all necessary services, facilities, equipment and devices needed or desired for the physical
and mental health and the social well-being of the family and the individual.
Social Goals of Housing
Shelter: That the house should provide a shelter, which is a basic need.
Family life: house should provide adequate space for family life and related
activities, viz preparation and storage of food, relaxation, recreation etc
Access to community facilities; health services, schools, shopping areas,
places of worship etc.
Family participation in community life
Economic stability: Housing is a form of investment of personal savings. It
provides for economic stability and well being of the family.
Criteria for healthful housing-:
•Provides physical protection and shelter
•Provides adequately for cooking, eating, washing and other functions
•Is designed, constructed, mantained and used to prevent the spread of communicable
diseases.
•Provides for protection from hazards of exposure to noise and pollution.
•Is free from unsafe physical arrangements due to construction or maintenance, and from toxic
or harmful materials
•Encourages personal and community development, promotes social relationships, reflects a
regard for ecological principles and finally promotes mental health.
Housing Standards - Role of Govt. In Housing
•Introduce social housing schemes;
•Establish both minimum and maximum standards;
•Create financial and fiscal institutions geared to helping low income
people obtain credit for building or improving their houses.
Housing Standard-:
• The standards in India
- Family income
- Family size and composition
- Standard of living, lifestyle
- Stage in life cycle
- Education and cultural factors
Standard of housing varies from country to country and from region to
region.
• In short-there cannot be rigid, uniform standards.
Site-:
- Elevated from its surroundings
- Independent access to a street of adequate width
- Away from breeding places of mosquito and flies
- Away from nuisances such as dust, smoke, smell, excessive, noise, and
traffic.
- should be in pleasant surrounding
- soil should be dry and safe for founding the structure and hould be well
drained.
Set Back-:
-To ensure all buildings receive adequate natural light & ensure sufficient ventilation
To protect entities such as water bodies located close to a building from being adversely
affected by the construction and human inhabitation
To protect one building from the shadow of another, which would otherwise obstruct adequate
provision of ventilations and sunlight
To protect buildings from noise-causing elements, such as nearby industries, airports or
highways
To ensure easy access to the buildings.
To ensure one building does not infringe on another building’s right to sunlight, ventilation,
greenery and vehicular access.
The last is made extremely important by the fact that rising building density makes it harder for
emergency services, such as fire engines to move around during a mishap.
Floor-:
-Should be Pucca and satisfy the following criteria-:
- should be impermeable
- must be smooth and free from cracks and crevices
- it should be damp-proof
- the height of the plinth should be 2-3 feet(0.6 t o 1 mtr)
Walls
•Reasonably strong
•Should have a low heat capacity
•Weather resistance
•Unsuitable for harbor of rats and vermin
•Not easily damaged
•Sooth ( 9 inch brick with wall plastered smooth and colored cream or white)
Roof-:
-Should not be less than 10 feet (3 mtr) in the absence of air-conditioning for comfort.
- should have a low heat transmittance co-efficient.
Rooms-:
- should not be less than two, atleast one of them can be closed for security
- the other may be open on one side if that side is a private courtyard
- No. should be increased as per the family members
Floor Area-:
- should be at least 120 sq ft for more than one person and at least 100
sq ft for single person - floor area per person should not be less than
50sq mtr
Cubic Space-:at least 500 c.ft per capita preferably 1000 c.ft
Windows
- Every living room should be provided with at least 2 windows and one of
them should open directly on to an open space - the windows should be
placed at a height of more than 3 feet(1 m) above the ground in living
rooms
- windows area should be 1/5th of the floor area doors and windows
combined should have 2/5th the floor area.
• Lighting-:the daylight factor should exceed 1 % over half the floor area
Kitchen-:
- Must have a separate kitchen
- Must be protected against dust and smoke
- adequately lighted
- provided with water supply
- provided with a sink for washing utensils
- fitted with arrangements for proper drainage
Privy-:
- A sanitary privy is a must for every house, belonging exclusively to it and readily
accessible.
Garbage and refuse-:
- Should be removed from the dwelling at least daily
- disposed of in a sanitary manner
Bathing and Washing-: house should have facility for bathing and washing belonging
exclusively to it and providing proper privacy.
Water Supply-: House should have a safe and adequate water supply available at all
times.
Indicators related to comfort
• Thermal comfort
• Acoustic comfort
• Visual comfort
• Spatial comfort
