Types of Buildings

Buildings are generally classified on the basis of occupancy and type of construction. Since Development Control Rules and Building Bylaws are based on occupancy criteria, such a classification is essential for planning and design. The National Building Code of India (NBC,1983) has classified buildings as outlined below :

Group A : Residential Buildings

Residential buildings include any building in which sleeping accommodation is provided f a normal residential purposes, with or without cooking or dining or bathing facilities.

subgroups have been identified as follows :

(A1) Lodging or rooming houses

(A2) One- or two- family private dwellings

(A3) Dormitories

(A4) Apartment houses (flats)

(A5) Hotels

Group B : Educational Buildings

These buildings include any building used for a school, college or day-care purposes, involving assembly for instruction, education and recreation.

Group C : Institutional Buildings

These buildings shall include any building which is used for medical treatment or care of persons suffering from physical or mental illness, disease or infirmity, care of infants, convalescents or aged persons and for penal or correctional detention. Institutional Buildings ordinarily provide sleeping accommodation for its occupants. Sub-groups are as follows :

(Cl) Hospitals and Sanatorium

(C2) Custodial institutions.

(C3) Penal and mental institutions

Group D : Assembly Buildings 

This group shall include any building where groups of people congregate or gather for amusement, recreation, social, religious, civil, travel and similar purposes;

examples are theaters, motion-picture houses, assembly halls, auditoriums, exhibition halls, museums, skating rinks, gymnasiums, restaurants, places of worship, club-rooms, passenger stations and terminals of air, surface and marine transportation services, recreation halls and stadiums.

Group E : Business Building

Such buildings are used for transaction of business, for keeping of accounts and records, professional establishments, service facilities etc. Examples of this group are city halls, town halls, court houses and public libraries. Business buildings shall be further subdivided as under :

(El) Offices, banks, professional offices of architects, engineers, doctors, lawyers and other consultants etc.

(E2) Laboratories, research establishments and test houses (E3) Computer installations

Group F : Mercantile Buildings

These shall include buildings which are used as shops, stores, markets for display and sale of merchandise, either wholesale or retail. Sub-groups are as follows :

(Fl) Shops, stores, a market with an area upto 500 m2

(F2) ,Underground shopping centers, departmental stores with areas more than Group C; : Industrial Building

These are buildings in which products or materials of all kinds and properties, excepting those which are hazardous, are fabricated, assembled, manufactured or processed; 

examples under this category are assembly plants, laboratories, dry-cleaning plants, power plants, pumping stations, laundries, gas plants, refineries, dairies and saw-mills.

Group H : Storage Buildings

Such buildings are primarily used for the storage or sheltering (including servicing, processing or repairs, incidental to storage) of goods, wares or merchandise, vehicles, or animals; examples are warehouses, cold storage \s, freight depots, transit sheds, store houses, truck and marine terminals, garages, hangers (other than aircraft repair hangers), grain elevators, bars and stables. Storage buildings are characterized by the presence of relatively small number of persons in proportion to the area.

Group J : Hazardous Buildings 

These shall include ally building or part of a building which is used for the storage, handling, manufacture or processing of highly combustible or explosive materials or products which are liable to burn with extreme rapidity and/or which may produce poisonous fumes or explosions; for storage, handling, manufacturing or processing which involves highly corrosive, toxic or noxious alkalis, acids, or other liquids or chemicals producing flame, fumes, and explosive, poisonous, irritant or corrosive gases; and for the storage, handling or processing of materials producing explosive mixtures of dust which results in the further division of matter into fine particles subject to spontaneous ignition.

Other Classifications While the above classification is based on the nature of occupancy, which is important for the functional design of buildings, it is also necessary to have sub-classifications on the basis of fire-resistance characteristics.

The selection of site for a particular building depends not only on its functional use and fire-rating but also on climate (global and local), topography, and the developmental needs of the site. In addition, socio-political aspects may also have to be considered. In the various sections that follow, you will learn about the relevant rules and/or requirements.