Fire exit rules in India: how many exits, how wide, which way the doors open, signs and lighting under NBC 2016

Fire exit rules in India at a glance: 10 numbers

Fire exit rules by building type under NBC 2016

How to check your building's fire exits in 7 steps

1. 1

   Confirm Part 4 applies

   Check the building against clause 1.2: 15 m or more, any assembly use, a floor over 500 m², or a school or hospital of 9 m or more. If none fits, your state's bye-laws still set exits.

2. 2

   Count the people on each floor

   Divide the gross floor area by the Table 3 factor for its use, or take the declared number if higher. Fixed seats count as seats times 1.2.

3. 3

   Work out the width

   Multiply the people by the Table 4 factor (6.5 mm a person on level routes in most uses) and round up to whole or half 500 mm units.

4. 4

   Split it across exits

   Provide at least 2 stairs, as far apart as possible, each at least the Part 4 minimum width for the occupancy. The narrowest part of each route sets its capacity.

5. 5

   Walk the travel distance

   From the most remote point on the floor, along the real path round furniture and partitions, to the door of an exit: 30 m in most buildings.

6. 6

   Test every door

   Each exit door opens in the direction of travel, without a key, is at least 1,000 mm by 2,000 mm, and fire doors close by themselves.

7. 7

   Check signs, lights and clear paths

   Green lit signs within 30 m of every point, escape lighting that holds 90 minutes, and nothing stored in corridors or stairs.

What counts as a fire exit: the NBC's 3-part escape route

NBC 2016 splits the way out into 3 parts. "Fire exit" and "emergency exit" mean the same thing in practice; the code's word is exit.

How wide must a fire exit be? The numbers

Width follows the number of people, using clause 4.4.2.3 and Table 4. Minimum door sizes apply on top.

• 500 mm

  One unit of exit width; 250 mm more counts as half a unit, less than 250 mm is ignored 1NBC 2016, Part 4

• 6.5 mm

  Width a person needs on doors, corridors and ramps in homes, schools, offices, shops, assembly, industry and storage 1NBC 2016, Part 4

• 10 mm

  Width a person needs on stairs in the same uses; 15 mm in hospitals and 18 mm in hazardous buildings 1NBC 2016, Part 4

• 13 mm

  Width a person needs on level routes in hospitals, where patients may be moved on beds or chairs 1NBC 2016, Part 4

• 150

  People a 1,000 mm exit door serves at 6.5 mm each (1,000 / 6.5 = 153, rounded down) 1NBC 2016, Part 4

• 2,000 mm

  Minimum height of every exit doorway, and minimum width in assembly buildings 1NBC 2016, Part 4

How many fire exits does a building need? Width by occupant load

Flamekite’s working from the official rules; no government publishes this figure.

Flamekite's working from Table 3 and Table 4 for a 1,000 m² floor of each use. The 1,000 mm minimum door and 2-stair rule still apply on top of these widths.

Counts are rounded up to whole people. Upper shop floors use 6 m² a person and hospital outpatient areas 10 m²; dormitories in homes for the aged use 7.5 m². Required exits are counted floor by floor, and their capacity may never fall along the way out (4.4.2.3). 1NBC 2016, Part 4

Fire exit door rules: 9 things the NBC asks

Doors are where most exits fail. Clauses 4.2.9 and 4.4.2.4.1 set these, and a fire officer tests them by hand.

Fire exit signs and emergency lighting: dos and don'ts

Clause 3.4.7 makes the way out visible in smoke and darkness. These are its numbers.

Does the NBC fire exit chapter apply to your building?

Clause 1.2 decides. If your building is outside it, the state bye-laws still set exits, usually by the same numbers.

1. IfIt is 15 m or taller

   Yes: every high-rise, whatever its use (1.2(a), 2.38). High Rise Building Height as per NBC 5NBC 2016, Part 4

2. IfIt is an assembly building: hall, cinema, banquet, place of worship

   Yes, at any size (1.2(b)(4)), and doors are 2,000 mm wide. Cinemas and theatres 5NBC 2016, Part 4

3. IfIt is a school or hospital of 9 m or more

   Yes (1.2(b)(2), (3)). Schools and colleges 5NBC 2016, Part 4

4. IfIt is a hotel, office, shop, factory or warehouse with any floor over 500 m²

   Yes (1.2(b)(1)). A floor with more than 300 m² of assembly use also brings it in. Commercial buildings 5NBC 2016, Part 4

5. IfIt has 2 or more basements, or 1 basement over 500 m²

   Yes (1.2(b)(6)), and the basement needs its own stair. 5NBC 2016, Part 4

6. IfNone of these, for example a small house or a 2-storey shop

   Part 4 does not bind it, but your municipal bye-laws set stairs and exits; the owner may still choose to follow Part 4. Do I need a fire NOC? 5NBC 2016, Part 4

Do the NBCS 2026 fire exit rules change anything?

NBC 2016 was withdrawn on 30 April 2026 and replaced by the voluntary NBCS 2026 (SP 7:2026). It gives more travel distance to sprinklered buildings; base distances are unchanged.

State fire exit rules that adopt or add to the NBC

States write Part 4 into their fire rules and bye-laws, sometimes with their own numbers. Seven examples from official texts.

KKerala, KMBR (amended 2025)

Travel distance to an exit of 30 m, or 45 m in a fully sprinklered building; apartments of more than 16 units need at least 2 staircases, one a fire escape stair. 8KMBR amendment 2025

LLadakh, Fire Rules 2025

In every class of building: glow-in-the-dark exit signs within 30 m, emergency lights on a second power source, exit doors 1 m by 2 m, and a fire drill a year. 9Gazette notification S.O. 140

LLadakh, Building Bye-laws 2024

Travel to an exit of no more than 22.5 m on residential, educational and institutional floors. 10Ladakh Gazette

DDelhi, DFS nursing home sheet

Nursing homes of ground plus 2 storeys or more need 2 staircases, the main one 2.0 m wide. 11DFS

GGujarat, Regulations 2023, Regulation 14

Pandals and temporary structures keep 4.5 m margins all round and make every exit at least 2.5 m wide. 12Gujarat Fire Safety Compliance Portal

OOdisha, cinema rules of 1964

Exit doors in cinemas open outwards and are never bolted during a show. 13Kandhamal district

MMaharashtra, Form B guidelines 2026

An owner who certifies Form B while exits are blocked or refuge areas misused risks criminal action under section 36 of the 2006 Act. 14MFS Form B guidelines

Fire exit violations inspectors find, and the fix

Most exits are built right and then undone in use. Clause 4.2.6 bars any change that cuts the number, width or protection of exits.

Fire exit myths owners repeat

Five beliefs that fail an inspection, against what Part 4 says.

• You may have read

  The lift is our second way out.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  Lifts and escalators are not exits (4.2.2). Part 4 buildings need at least 2 staircases. 3BIS, NBC 2016 Part 4

• You may have read

  Every door in the building must open outward.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  Exit doors open in the direction of exit, but room doors onto a central corridor open inward so they do not block it, except in assembly rooms (4.2.9; 4.4.2.4.2(b)). 3BIS, NBC 2016 Part 4

• You may have read

  A curved or spiral stair can be the fire exit.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  Curved stairs are not part of the means of egress, and spiral stairs are only for low occupant loads in buildings up to 9 m, at least 1,500 mm across (4.4.2.4.3.3, 4.4.2.4.3.4). 3BIS, NBC 2016 Part 4

• You may have read

  A wider corridor makes up for a narrow stair.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  The route carries only what its narrowest part carries: a stair for 150 behind doors for 153 gives 150 (4.4.2.3(d)). 1NBC 2016, Part 4

• You may have read

  Exit signs are needed in every building.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  The lit sign rule does not apply to houses and flats (A-2 and A-4) under 15 m, though bye-laws may still ask for them (3.4.7.4 note). 2BIS, NBC 2016 Part 4

Fire exit rules worked through for 4 buildings

Flamekite’s working from the official rules; no government publishes this figure.

Flamekite's own working from Tables 3, 4 and 5 and the minimum widths. Your architect and fire officer have the final word.

1. Case 1

   An office floor of 1,200 m²

   Business use, any floor over 500 m², so Part 4 applies.

   What applies 120 people need 780 mm of door width and 1,200 mm of stair width. The minimums govern: 2 stairs of at least 1.50 m each and 1,000 mm doors, with every desk within 30 m of a stair door. 1NBC 2016, Part 4

2. Case 2

   A school floor of 600 m²

   A 3-storey school, 10 m high.

   What applies 150 pupils at 4 m² each need 975 mm of doors and 1,500 mm of stairs. Two stairs of at least 1.50 m, dead ends no longer than 6 m, travel within 30 m. 1NBC 2016, Part 4

3. Case 3

   A banquet hall of 400 m² with no fixed seats

   Crowded assembly use, ground floor.

   What applies 400 / 0.65 gives 616 guests and 4,004 mm of exit width. Two 2,000 mm doors fall 4 mm short, so the hall needs wider doors or a third exit. 1NBC 2016, Part 4

4. Case 4

   A hospital ward floor of 900 m²

   Indoor patients, 20 m high.

   What applies 60 patients at 15 m² each need 780 mm at 13 mm a person, but the institutional minimum is a 2.00 m stair, 2 of them, with doors opening onto landings, not flights. 1NBC 2016, Part 4