Fire NOC for a residential building or house: the height line, the rules below it and the fees

Fire NOC for a residential building at a glance: 10 facts

Residential fire NOC lines in 32 states and UTs: height, storeys and area

Getting a fire NOC for a residential building in 7 steps

1. 1

   Fix the class the authority will record

   A house of one or two families sleeping 20 or fewer is A-2 in NBC 2016; 3 or more families with their own kitchens is an apartment house. Letting rooms to more than 3 a room, or to strangers, moves it to lodging, PG or guest-house rules.

2. 2

   Measure height the rule's way, then count storeys

   Read your state's row above: "more than 15 m" misses a 15.0 m house, "15 m or more" catches it. Delhi counts a stilt floor as a storey, Andhra Pradesh counts it in its 24 m, and Punjab allows 17.5 m with parking stilts.

3. 3

   Add up the floor area and the basements

   Kerala tests 1,000 m² of all floors together; Bihar and Haryana make 2 basements, or 1 over 500 m², enough on their own; West Bengal's UDMA page asks clearance for any residential building with a basement.

4. 4

   Check every non-residential use inside

   A shop, clinic or office on the ground floor can make the house mixed use, with lines of 500 m² in Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim and 9 m or ground plus 2 in Gujarat.

5. 5

   Fit what the state asks even below the line

   Extinguishers and a 5,000 litre terrace tank above ground plus 1 in Maharashtra; an Appendix L self-declaration in Kerala between 300 and 1,000 m²; stairs at least 1.00 m wide in a one or two family home.

6. 6

   If caught, file with the plans, then before occupancy

   Most states give a plan-stage recommendation and a final certificate before the occupancy certificate. Apply on the state portal with the drawings and ownership papers listed on the documents page.

7. 7

   Diary the term and the yearly filings

   Homes usually run 5 years: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur, Odisha for 15 m and above, and Delhi until 20 May 2027. Rajasthan issues generally every year; West Bengal's self-certified homes file every year.

House, dwelling or flat: the residential classes a fire officer records

The class decides which line and which table apply to a home. These 9 terms come from the two national codes and the state laws that split residential use.

AA-2 One or two-family private dwelling (NBC 2016)

A private home for one or two families, sleeping not more than 20 persons, with no room let to more than 3. Over 20 persons it becomes A-1 lodging or A-4 apartments. 1BIS, NBC 2016 Part 4

AA-4 Apartment house (NBC 2016)

Housing for 3 or more families living independently with their own cooking: apartments, mansions and chawls. The apartment page covers this class. 1BIS, NBC 2016 Part 4

NNBCS 2026 residential groups

A-I lodging, A-II dormitories, A-III apartment houses of 3 or more families, A-IV and A-V hotels. The 2016 one or two-family subdivision is gone; only the note on lodging houses with not more than 3 a room survives. 2BIS, SP 7:2026

AA1 Residential (Kerala)

Kerala's own KMBR group for homes, beside A2 lodging houses and special residential; rule 5(4) tests both at 1,000 m² or 15 m. 11KMBR amendment 2025

RR3 Group housing (Jammu and Kashmir)

Group housing, flats, high-rise apartments and multi-level parking: the residential use clause 2.18(2) sends for a fire NOC. 21J&K H&UDD

IIndependent floor (Punjab)

A residential floor in a plotted building. Up to 17.5 m with stilts used only for parking it is low-rise for fire norms under s.24(2). 22Punjab Gazette

SStilt floor

An open parking floor at ground level. Delhi's Rule 27 counts it as a storey; DERC and the Supreme Court allow 17.5 m with it against 15 m without. 7DFS

GGround plus n (G+n)

The ground floor plus n upper storeys: Manipur and Nagaland catch ground plus 4, which is a 5-storey house. 23Government of Manipur

RResidential risk grade (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur)

Building plans are graded very low below 105 m², low from 105 to 500 m², moderate above 500 m², and high at 15 m or more, which needs fire clearance. 24AP Building Bye-Laws 2019

Delhi houses with stilt parking: what the Supreme Court held in 2022

Delhi's plotted houses may rise to 15 m without stilt parking and 17.5 m with it. In Vikas Singh v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi, decided on 11 August 2022, the Supreme Court read the fire rule the same way.

The Court held that a stilt house of 17.5 m or less is not a high-rise, that DFS clearance was "not mandatory" for its plan, and that the owner must still meet the fire requirements for buildings that are not high-rise (paras 94, 95 and 103). Where the corporation still seeks fire clearance, it may not be refused for high-rise rules, and the fire service must answer in 15 days or it is deemed granted (para 105). Delhi's power regulator draws the same line: DERC's order of 15 April 2021 bars discoms from asking a fire clearance for homes up to 15 m, or 17.5 m with stilt parking. The judgment read the 2010 wording of Rule 27; the amendment gazetted on 26 May 2026 adds a 5-storey test that counts the stilt, and how DFS applies it to a stilt plus 4 house is not published.

Fire systems for a house by height: NBC Table 7 against Maharashtra's Schedule-I

The national table and Maharashtra's 2023 Schedule-I put a one or two-family house in different places. These are the minimum installations each sets, read off the page images of Rajasthan's annexed NBC table and Maharashtra's gazette.

Maharashtra's Note 3(d) bars A-1 and A-2 above 45 m, where the national table stops them at 15 m. Tripura's 2026 Table 7 and Manipur's Schedule I copy the national "not required" row for A-2. Both codes are paraphrased here, not quoted.

What a house below the fire NOC line still owes: 7 rules

No NOC does not mean no fire rule. These 7 apply to homes that sit under their state's line.

• Kerala, 300 to 1,000 m²

  Appendix L self-declaration

  Homes between 300 and 1,000 m² up to 15 m file Appendix L with an architect's or engineer's certificate and copy it to the nearest fire station. If the fire arrangements later prove ineffective, the owner pays Rs 100 per m² of built-up area, up to Rs 1,00,000. 10KMBR 2019

• Kerala, over 3 storeys

  A fire escape staircase

  Rule 35(2) as substituted in 2025 asks a fire escape stair for residential buildings of more than 3 storeys above the lowest floor, basements and stair cabins excluded. 11KMBR amendment 2025

• Maharashtra, under 15 m

  Extinguishers and a terrace tank

  Schedule-I row (a) asks extinguishers of an A-2 house, sprinklers in a basement over 200 m², and a 5,000 litre terrace tank once it has more than ground plus 1. 25MH Act 2023 Schedule-I

• National codes

  Stairs of 1.00 m

  NBC 2016 sets 1.00 m stairs and risers of at most 190 mm for A-2 homes; NBCS 2026 keeps 1.00 m for one or two family homes and allows 0.75 m in 2-storey row housing, with risers of at most 175 mm. 3BIS, NBC 2016 Part 4

• Tamil Nadu

  Fire-safe design

  Rule 64(1) of the 2019 building rules asks every building to be designed for fire safety, though a house below 18.3 m needs no Fire Service NOC. 27TNSWP

• Mizoram

  Safe arrangements by law

  Section 13(4) of the 2013 Act ties building fire safety to Aizawl's building clauses 28, 29 and 35 for every building, house included. 28Mizoram Act 7 of 2013

• Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

  Fire tax with property tax

  A house pays the fire service through its tax bill: 1% of house tax in Uttar Pradesh (rule 72) and 2.5% of property tax in Bihar (rule 26). 9UP Rules 2024

Fire safety checklist for an independent house, villa or row house: 10 items

These 10 points come from the codes and state rules on this page. None needs a fire NOC; each is what an officer or engineer would look for in a home.

Shops below the flats: how a mixed-use residential building meets the line

A shop, clinic or office in a house can turn it into a mixed occupancy with a lower line. These 7 stops run from an incidental use to a full mixed-use NOC.

Does your house or residential building need a fire NOC? 11 cases

Match your home's state, height and size to one line. Where a state names apartments but not houses, the answer is Flamekite's reading of its residential row.

1. If A 2-storey house anywhere, under 10 m and 300 m², no basement, no shop

   No NOC line found catches it. West Bengal offers stand-alone homes up to 500 m² a yearly self-certificate, Tripura lets a 500 m² house self-certify, and Maharashtra still asks for extinguishers. Do I need a fire NOC? 18Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services, Tripura

2. If A stilt plus 4 house in Delhi, 17 m

   Under Vikas Singh (2022) it is not a high-rise, but the amended Rule 27 counts the stilt, making 5 storeys. Ask DFS in writing through the sanctioning body. Fire NOC Delhi 4Supreme Court 2022

3. If A house in Kerala over 1,000 m², even of 2 floors

   Yes: rule 5(4) catches A1 residential over 1,000 m² of built-up area at any height. Fire NOC Kerala 11KMBR amendment 2025

4. If A house in Uttarakhand of 12 m or more

   Yes: section 15(4) as amended in 2022 covers all residential buildings from 12 m, with a 5-year certificate. Fire NOC Uttarakhand 31Uttarakhand Gazette 2022

5. If A house in Haryana or Chandigarh up to 16.5 m

   No, unless 2 basements, or 1 over 500 m², make it a special building. Chandigarh also exempts A-2 homes from its charges. Fire NOC Haryana 32Government of Haryana

6. If A house in Karnataka of 16 to 20 m

   The Act's line is 21 m, but Seva Sindhu still lists above 15 m: ask KSFES in writing before you build. Fire NOC Karnataka 15Government of Karnataka

7. If A tall independent house in Telangana between 18 m and 24 m

   The 24 m change of 7 October 2026 is for residential apartments only, and the 2016 table has no house row. Flamekite reads the house with the 18 m residential rows; ask TGFD in writing. Fire NOC Telangana 33TGFD circular 3455

8. If A house in West Bengal with a basement

   UDMA's pre-construction page asks fire clearance for a residential building with a basement at any height; without one, the stand-alone self-certification route runs to 14.5 m and 500 m². Fire NOC West Bengal 6WB UDMA

9. If A house in Maharashtra of any height

   No NOC below 15 m on its own, but Schedule-I applies: extinguishers, and a terrace tank above ground plus 1. Above 70 m a home becomes a section 45 building. Fire NOC Maharashtra 34Amendment Act 2023

10. If A house with a ground-floor shop in Uttar Pradesh

    Mixed occupancy with more than 500 m² covered is listed in section 26(3); a smaller one below 15 m is not. Fire NOC UP 17UP Act 16 of 2022

11. If A house let as rooms to students or tourists

    It leaves A-2: test it against the PG, homestay or guest-house line instead, such as Rajasthan's 9 m and 250 m² for PGs. Fire NOC for PG 16Rajasthan UDH

Fire NOC fees for residential buildings in the official schedules

Residential rates are the lowest in every schedule that has one. These are the lines an Act, rule or order sets for homes; a consultant's quote is a private price.

Residential fire NOC lines, dated: 2003 to 2026

Fourteen dated steps that moved the line for homes, in both directions.

1. 8 July 2003

   West Bengal notifies housing of more than 8 flats as a high-risk occupancy. 47West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services

2. 23 September 2013

   Delhi's Master Plan allows plotted houses 15 m without stilt parking and 17.5 m with it (S.O. 2894(E)). 4Supreme Court 2022

3. 6 March 2019

   Odisha drops its 5-floor test; homes are caught by height alone, from 15 m. 48Odisha Rules 2019

4. 19 November 2019

   Odisha's Order 50908 gives residential buildings of 15 m and above a 5-year term. 49Order 50908 of 2019

5. 20 March 2021

   Bihar's Rules set 15 m and a 5-year term for residential buildings. 20Bihar Rules 2021

6. 15 April 2021

   DERC tells Delhi discoms not to ask homes up to 15 m, or 17.5 m with stilts, for a fire clearance. 5DERC order 2021

7. 8 April 2022

   Haryana's Act excepts homes up to 16.5 m from the high-rise list. 50Haryana Gazette

8. 20 July 2022

   Uttarakhand's Act 06 of 2022 lowers the residential line from 15 m to 12 m. 31Uttarakhand Gazette 2022

9. 11 August 2022

   The Supreme Court rules a Delhi stilt house of 17.5 m is not a high-rise (Vikas Singh). 4Supreme Court 2022

10. 1 March 2024

    West Bengal lets stand-alone homes up to 500 m² self-certify every year. 51WB notification 1930

11. 29 October 2025

    Kerala restates rule 5(4): homes over 1,000 m² or 15 m need the NOC; a fire escape stair above 3 storeys. 11KMBR amendment 2025

12. 26 May 2026

    Delhi gazettes Rule 27 with the 5-storey test, stilt counted. 7DFS

13. 2 June 2026

    Tripura's Rules let homes up to 10 m and 500 m² self-certify. 18Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services, Tripura

14. 7 October 2026

    Telangana's 24 m line for residential apartments applies to fresh Provisional NOC files. 33TGFD circular 3455

Penalties a homeowner faces for fire lapses, by state

Few laws fine a house owner who was never inside the line. These are the amounts that do reach residential buildings.

Every state's fire NOC penalty, sealing power and compounding fee is on the penalties page.

Where residential buildings trip the fire NOC line, and the fix

Most homes that end up needing a NOC were not planned as tall buildings. These 8 traps come from the rules and the reported cases.

Turning a house into a PG, homestay or shop: 5 dos and 4 don'ts

A family home that takes paying guests or a shop leaves the A-2 class, and the new use has its own line.

Residential fire NOC worked cases: 8 homes

Flamekite's reading of the rules for 8 example homes; the buildings are illustrations, the figures are the instruments'.

1. Case 1

   A ground plus 2 bungalow in Pune

   11 m, 280 m² on all floors, no basement.

   What applies No NOC below 15 m, but Schedule-I row (a) applies: extinguishers and, at more than ground plus 1, a 5,000 litre terrace tank. 25MH Act 2023 Schedule-I

2. Case 2

   A stilt plus 4 house in South Delhi

   17.5 m with stilt parking, one family per floor.

   What applies Not a high-rise under Vikas Singh, and DERC lets every floor take power without a fire clearance. The 2026 Rule 27 counts 5 storeys, so ask DFS through the corporation. 4Supreme Court 2022

3. Case 3

   A 2-floor villa of 1,200 m² in Kochi

   8 m, A1 residential.

   What applies Over 1,000 m², so a Kerala fire NOC though the villa is under 15 m. 1,200 x Rs 12 is Rs 14,400, so the Rs 20,000 minimum applies. 37Kerala Fire and Rescue Services

4. Case 4

   A 650 m² house in Thiruvananthapuram

   3 floors, 10 m.

   What applies Between 300 and 1,000 m², so Appendix L and a copy to the fire station; Rs 100 per m², up to Rs 65,000 here, if the arrangements later fail. 10KMBR 2019

5. Case 5

   A 13 m house in Dehradun

   4 floors, one family.

   What applies Over 12 m, so section 15(4) needs a NOC, valid 5 years. 31Uttarakhand Gazette 2022

6. Case 6

   A 16 m independent floor in Gurugram

   Stilt plus 4.

   What applies Up to 16.5 m and no special use, so outside Haryana's clause (a); a second basement would bring it in. 32Government of Haryana

7. Case 7

   A 14 m house in Howrah with a basement

   450 m², stand-alone.

   What applies Under 14.5 m and 500 m² it could self-certify, but UDMA's page asks clearance for any residential basement. Ask the fire service which applies. 6WB UDMA

8. Case 8

   A ground plus 2 house in Lucknow with 2 shops

   10 m, 600 m² covered, shops on the ground floor.

   What applies Mixed occupancy over 500 m², listed in section 26(3) whatever the height. Without the shops, a 10 m family house would not be listed. 17UP Act 16 of 2022

Residential fire NOC rules in numbers

• 20 persons

  Most a one or two-family A-2 dwelling may sleep 1BIS, NBC 2016 Part 4

• 10 m

  Tripura's line for homes, the lowest found 18Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services, Tripura

• 12 m

  Uttarakhand's line for all residential buildings since 2022 31Uttarakhand Gazette 2022

• 16.5 m

  Homes up to this height are excepted in Haryana and Chandigarh 32Government of Haryana

• 17.5 m

  Delhi house height with stilt parking that is not a high-rise 4Supreme Court 2022

• 1,000 m²

  Kerala's area line for homes, at any height 11KMBR amendment 2025

• 8 flats

  West Bengal housing above this count is a notified occupancy 47West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services

• 70 m

  Maharashtra homes above this are section 45 buildings 34Amendment Act 2023

Residential fire NOC myths, from "every house needs one" down

• You may have read

  Every house needs a fire NOC.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  No state NOC list found catches a 2-storey family house below its line. Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Assam do not list it, and Manipur's Schedule I asks nothing of a private dwelling; West Bengal offers a self-certificate, not a NOC. 17UP Act 16 of 2022

• You may have read

  A house under 15 m owes the fire service nothing.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  Maharashtra asks extinguishers and a terrace tank above ground plus 1, Kerala a self-declaration from 300 m², and Uttarakhand a NOC from 12 m. 25MH Act 2023 Schedule-I

• You may have read

  Telangana moved every home's line to 24 m.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  Circular 3455 of 2026 moves residential apartment buildings only and says "No change for other occupancy types". 33TGFD circular 3455

• You may have read

  The national code sets 15 m for every state.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  NBC 2016 was withdrawn on 30 April 2026 and NBCS 2026 is voluntary; the lines are state law, from 10 m to 24 m. 12Gazette of India

• You may have read

  A stilt floor never counts.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  Delhi's amended Rule 27 counts it as a storey, Andhra Pradesh counts it in its 24 m, and Punjab's relief ends if the stilts hold shops. 7DFS

• You may have read

  A home's fire NOC must be renewed every year.

  Myth

  What the sources say

  Homes get 5 years in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Odisha; Rajasthan's general yearly term and West Bengal's yearly self-certificate are the exceptions. 58Uttarakhand Home notification

Residential fire clearance in the courts and news, 2022 to 2026

From news reports, not yet an official source.

Where a residential building's fire NOC or self-certificate is filed

These 7 official portals took residential fire applications or self-certificates on 25 October 2026.

• Uttar Pradesh

  UP Fire Service: Apply for NOC

  Provisional, final and renewal certificates for homes over 15 m; no portal fee 59UP Fire FAQ

  upfireservice.gov.in/upfire/user/login ↗

• Kerala

  Kerala Fire NOC portal

  Site and Final Clearance for homes over 1,000 m² or 15 m 60Kerala NOC manual

  noc.fire.kerala.gov.in/applicant_controller/signup ↗

• Gujarat

  GujFireSafety CoP

  Fire Safety Plan and Certificate for residential buildings of 15 m and above 61Gujarat FSCOP

  fscop.gujfiresafetycop.in ↗

• Karnataka

  Seva Sindhu: high-rise NOC

  Karnataka's high-rise fire NOC at Rs 35 per m² for homes 36Seva Sindhu

  sevasindhu.karnataka.gov.in/category/Application%20for%20No%20Objection%20Certificate%20(High%20rise%20Building)%20-%20Fire%20&%20Emergency.html ↗

• Delhi

  Delhi Fire Service

  Fire Safety Certificate and its 5-year renewal; plans come through the sanctioning body 62DFS

  dfs.delhi.gov.in ↗

• Telangana

  Telangana Fire Services

  Provisional and Occupancy NOCs, the 24 m apartment line 63TGFD contact

  fire.telangana.gov.in ↗

• Rajasthan

  Rajasthan LSG online: fire service

  Fire NOC registration and certificate verification 64Local Self Government Department, Rajasthan

  lsgonline.rajasthan.gov.in/fire_service.aspx ↗

What Flamekite could not confirm about fire NOCs for homes

Four sets of gaps remain on 25 October 2026. Each is a place where a reader would expect a rule and none was found or could be read.