What happened

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) published Model Building Bye-laws (MBBL), 2016, with Chapter 6 focused on Provisions for Structural Safety. The provisions lay down guidelines and standards for structural safety and seismic resilience of buildings. The MoHUA release also connects seismic resilience to Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) earthquake-resistant design and seismic evaluation/repair and strengthening standards, and to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) earthquake management guidelines.

Background and earlier position

Urban planning functions related to building plan approvals and enforcement of building bye-laws are assigned to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Urban Development Authorities through the Constitution’s functional distribution for urban planning (12th Schedule). Government of India supplements States and Union Territories using model regulations, technical standards, guidelines and advisories, while States/Union Territories and ULBs retain regulation and enforcement, including building inspection regimes and compliance requirements.

What changed now

The current update is the publication of Model Building Bye-laws (MBBL), 2016 by MoHUA, with Chapter 6 explicitly addressing structural safety and seismic resilience. MoHUA’s framework places earthquake safety in a regulatory pathway that can be implemented through ULB/State building regulations, drawing support from BIS standards for earthquake-resistant design and from NDMA earthquake guidelines for risk reduction and safer construction, structural strengthening and retrofitting—especially for lifeline and critical infrastructure.

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