Setbacks and other Tamil Nadu building rules, worked out
Pick a rule, enter the figures it needs, and get the answer with the rule it comes from. Setbacks from the road width and floors, whether a building is ordinary or special, open space, EWS plots, passage and street widths, and nine more from the Tamil Nadu building rules.
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- Front
- 1.5 m
- Rear
- 1.5 m
- Each side
- 1.5 m
Freeevery run
What we need
One thing at a time. Fill it in and press Run.
The answer
Worked out from the figures you gave, with the rule behind each number.
Nothing run yet. The answer appears here with everything this mini adds:
- Thirteen rules, one form
- The rule cited with the figure
- Free
The rules, briefly
The Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules 2019 set how land may be built on or divided across the state: setbacks, heights, open space, road widths and the approvals each needs.
- Rules covered
- 13
Setback, OSR, EWS reservation, public purpose land, sub-division or layout, passage width, street width, splay, service road, scrutiny fee, self certification, building class and the Chennai approval tier.
- Special building
- Over 2 floors or 6 homes
A building with more than 2 floors, more than 6 dwelling units, or over 300 sq.m of commercial space is a special building, with stricter scrutiny.
- Units
- Metres and sq.m
Every figure goes in metres and square metres. One ground is about 223 sq.m, one cent about 40.5 sq.m.
How to work out a building rule
- 1
Pick the rule
Setback, building class, OSR, passage width or any of the others.
- 2
Fill only what it needs
A setback needs the road width and the floors, with the frontage. OSR needs the total area. Leave the rest empty.
- 3
Read the figure and its rule
The answer gives the figure and the rule line it comes from, so an architect or the authority can check it.
When it helps with land
Planning a house
Know the setbacks your plot must leave before the architect draws, and whether the building stays ordinary.
Checking a builder's plan
See whether a flat block with its floors and units is a special building, which brings stricter approval.
Dividing land
Find the passage width, the street width and whether the cut is a sub-division or a layout.
These are figures from the rules for the inputs you give, not an approval. The planning authority reads your plan against the rules and any local relaxations, so confirm with it before you build or buy.
Questions people ask
What is the setback for a residential building in Tamil Nadu?
It depends on the road width, the frontage and the number of floors. Pick setback, enter those three, and you get the front, rear and side setbacks in metres under rule 35 of the 2019 rules.
Which fields matter?
Setback needs the road width and floors, with the frontage; OSR and the scrutiny fee need the total area; passage width needs the plots served and the passage length. The answer says what it used.
When is a building a special building?
When it has more than 2 floors, more than 6 dwelling units, or more than 300 sq.m of commercial space. Pick building class to test yours.
Can I get FSI and parking here?
No. This answers one rule at a time. FSI, floors and parking for a whole building need the full plot and road details together.
My area is in acres or cents.
Convert it to square metres first: one acre is about 4,047 sq.m, one ground about 223 sq.m and one cent about 40.5 sq.m. The unit converter mini does it exactly.
Is this free?
Yes.