Tamil Nadu Land Regulations Search API
Yes. The LandLens regulations API searches Tamil Nadu land and building law for the passages that answer a question: the Combined Development and Building Rules 2019 with their amendments, CMDA and planning government orders, master plans, coastal zone notifications, state Acts and Rules, revenue manuals and approval checklists, with recent land news kept apart. You get up to twelve passages, ordered by legal authority and then relevance, each with its document, page, effective date and a citation link. The first answer each day is free; after that it costs 1 credit per answer, and a search that finds nothing is not charged.
https://verified.realestate/api/v1/tools/knowledge_search- Price
- 1 credit per answer
- Source
- Tamil Nadu land and building law library
- Coverage
- Acts, rules, orders, plans and checklists
- Answers in
- Usually about 3 seconds
What it returns
One call, one answer. found is false (status not_found) when no passage matches, and the answer says plainly that the library has no source for it.
| Field | What it holds |
|---|---|
results[] | Up to twelve passages: document, page, effective_date, category, authority, tier, passage (up to 900 characters) and citation_url. |
authority | primary_law (an Act or statutory rule), official_guidance (government orders, circulars, plans, checklists), case_law (decided orders), explanatory (guides) or news. |
tier | C marks a press report: attribute the outlet and date, never state it as a rule. |
has_primary_source | false when only explanatory or news passages matched, so no Act, rule or order speaks to the point. |
authority_mix | How many passages came from each band. |
note | How to build an answer from the passages: the newest effective_date governs, cite document and page, and do not fill gaps from general knowledge. |
Inputs
The JSON body of the POST is the arguments.
| Argument | Type | What to send |
|---|---|---|
queryrequired |
string | The question or topic in English, e.g. "side setback for a 14 m building on a 9 m road". |
category |
string: tncdbr, cmda_go, master_plan, crz, acts_rules, state_rules, revenue, rera, dtcp, case_law, checklist, news | One part of the library: tncdbr, cmda_go, master_plan, crz, acts_rules, state_rules, revenue, rera, dtcp, case_law, checklist or news. Use news only for recent developments. |
Code
Set LANDLENS_KEY to your key. In an AI app, connect https://verified.realestate/mcp once and ask in plain words instead. In Postman, download this API's collection, import it (File, Import) and set apiKey.
curl -X POST https://verified.realestate/api/v1/tools/knowledge_search \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $LANDLENS_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{}'
import os, requests
r = requests.post(
"https://verified.realestate/api/v1/tools/knowledge_search",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['LANDLENS_KEY']}"},
json={},
timeout=30,
)
body = r.json()
print(body["status"], body["credits_charged"], body["data"])
const res = await fetch("https://verified.realestate/api/v1/tools/knowledge_search", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.LANDLENS_KEY}`,
"Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({}),
});
const body = await res.json();
console.log(body.status, body.credits_charged, body.data);
What side setback does a 14 metre residential building need on a 9 metre road in Chennai? Cite the rule and any amendment.
Your AI searches the building rules and their amendments, and quotes the rule number with the document and page.
Responses
Every answer has the same envelope. What status can say for this call:
| status | What it means |
|---|---|
ok | At least one passage matched. The day's first answer is free; after that it is charged. |
not_found | No passage matched, or no query was sent. Not charged. |
insufficient_credits | HTTP 402 once the free daily answer is used, with the credits needed, your balance and where to top up. |
free_limit_reached | While the answer is free, the account's hourly or daily allowance of free calls applies. retry_after says when it comes back. |
error | The search could not be run. Nothing is charged. |
Where the data comes from
A library of the law and official guidance on land and buildings in Tamil Nadu: Acts and statutory rules, the gazette, the building rules and every amendment, department government orders and circulars, master plans, coastal zone notifications, approval checklists and revenue manuals, with tribunal orders, explanatory guides and press reports held in their own bands.
Tamil Nadu, with central Acts that apply here. Superseded text is excluded from the search, so an amended rule answers with the amendment. The library is a curated selection, not every order a department has ever issued.
Government order sources are swept every day and new orders added as they are published; the state Acts and Rules are reconciled with the national legislation repository about every three months.
Searched by words and by meaning together, then re-ordered so that among passages on the point, an Act or rule comes before official guidance, then decided orders, then explainers, then news. The order of the bands is fixed in code, so a new kind of document can never rank as a statute.
Who uses it
Architects and developers
Check a setback, FSI or road width rule with the latest amendment before a drawing goes in.
Advocates
Find the government order or rule that governs a point, with the page to cite.
AI assistants
Answer "is this allowed" from the text of the rule, cited, instead of from memory.
Limits and good practice
- Rule tables are often amended. Search again for the rule number plus "amendment" before quoting a setback, height or FSI figure from the 2019 text.
- A news passage is a report, not law. tier C and authority news say so.
- The library is a curated selection of orders, not the complete archive of every department.
- For court judgments use caselaw_search; for the meaning of a land term use glossary.
- Queries are read in English.
Pricing
The first answer each day is free, counted across the chat and the API. After that, an answer that returns passages costs 1 credit; a search that finds nothing is not charged. Credits come from the same LandLens wallet as the chat and the minis. How billing works.
For thousands of calls a month, a portfolio sweep or a platform built on these registers, we quote a customised bulk price, with invoicing to match.
Questions
Is there an API for Tamil Nadu building rules (TNCDBR)?
Yes. LandLens searches the Combined Development and Building Rules 2019 with every amendment, plus government orders, master plans and Acts, and returns the passages with document and page citations, over plain HTTPS or as an MCP tool.
How much does it cost?
The first answer each day is free. After that each answer that returns passages costs 1 credit, and a search with no match is not charged.
Does it give the amended rule or the original?
Superseded text is left out of the search, and every passage carries its effective date. Where two passages speak to the same rule, the newer one governs.
Can it answer questions about news, like a metro corridor or an airport?
It holds recent land news from established outlets as a separate band. For where a topic stands today, live_tracker gives a dated timeline with sources.
What if the rule is not in the library?
It answers not_found and says it has no source, rather than guessing. Ask the planning authority or the sub registrar office for that point.
Updated 22 Oct 2026 · OpenAPI description