Fire safety in a housing project is usually discussed as a feature, somewhere between the gym and the landscaping. It is not a feature. It is a set of requirements with numbers attached, and a buyer standing in a finished flat can check several of them without any technical help at all.
Key takeaways
- At least one lift is required above 15 m of building height, and at least two above 24 m.
- The code states directly that lifts shall not be considered a means of escape in an emergency, and requires a grounding switch so the fire service can bring the cars down.
- Fire lifts are required generally in buildings of 15.0 m and above, with a minimum capacity of eight passengers.
- Refuge areas begin immediately above 24 m, sized at 15 sq m or 0.3 sq m per person for two consecutive floors, whichever is higher.
- Balcony and terrace parapets must be between 1.0 m and 1.2 m from the finished floor.
- No building may be altered so as to reduce the number, width or protection of its exits.
The lift, and what it is not for
Chapter 9, Regulation 9.27, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025# sets the count by height.
Banded by height of the building
- More than 15 mAt least one lift
- More than 24 mAt least two lifts
- Retirement home or senior citizen housingA lift is required irrespective of the height of the building
- One floor added to an existing building with a liftIt is not necessary to raise the existing lift to the additional floor
Source: Chapter 9, Regulation 9.27.1, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025
Then four requirements that are easy to verify and easy to lose.
- All floors shall be accessible for 24 hours by the lifts. A lift switched off at night, or a floor locked out of service, is not what the regulation contemplates.
- The lifts provided shall not be considered as a means of escape in case of emergency. The code says it in terms.
- A grounding switch at ground floor level must be provided so the fire service can ground the lift cars in an emergency.
- Lift machine rooms shall be separate, and no other machinery may be installed in them.
That third point is the one worth carrying into a flat purchase. The building's escape route is the staircase, and the lift is expressly excluded from that role by the regulation itself.
It follows that the condition of the staircase is not a housekeeping matter. Regulation 9.28.1 requires every exit, exit access and exit discharge to be continuously maintained free of all obstructions or impediments to full use in case of fire, and requires exits to be clearly visible with the route marked and signs posted. A stairwell used for storage, or a fire door propped or locked, is a defect in the only escape the code recognises.
The fire lift is a different thing
Chapter 9, Regulation 9.29, Other Requirements of Individual Exit at Each Floor* carries the fire lift requirement separately, and it is not the same as the passenger lifts above.
Fire lifts must have a minimum capacity for eight passengers and be fully automated with an emergency switch at ground level. In general, buildings 15.0 m in height or above shall be provided with fire lifts. In a fire only a fireman operates it, though in normal use others may. Each fire lift must be equipped with intercommunication equipment connecting to the control room on the ground floor.
So a tall building has passenger lifts that are not escape routes, and a fire lift that is not for residents to use in a fire either. Both facts point the same way: the staircase is the route out.
Refuge areas, and the incentive not to over-provide
Chapter 9, Regulation 9.29.6, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025 applies to buildings more than 24 m in height.
The refuge area must be 15 sq m, or an area equivalent to 0.3 sq m per person sufficient to accommodate the occupants of two consecutive floors, whichever is higher. It must sit on the periphery of the floor, preferably on a cantilever projection, and be open to air on at least one side, protected with suitable railings.
| Building height | Where the refuge area goes |
|---|---|
| Floors above 24.0 m and up to 39.0 m | One refuge area on the floor immediately above 24.0 m |
| Floors above 39.0 m | One on the floor immediately above 39.0 m, and then after every 15.0 m |
The regulation's last sentence explains something a buyer might otherwise find strange. Refuge area provided in excess of the requirement is counted towards FSI, though excess arising from planning constraints is not counted, provided it does not exceed 100 percent of the required area.
In other words, a developer who builds a larger refuge floor than required is spending development potential to do it. That is not a reason to suspect anyone; it is a reason to check that the refuge area exists, is on the right floors, is open to air on a side, and has not been enclosed or absorbed into something else after possession. A refuge area is a floor that is meant to look empty.
The parapet, which you can measure today
Chapter 9, Regulation 9.22, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025 is the single most checkable provision in this article.
Parapet walls and handrails provided on the edges of roof terraces, podiums, balconies, verandahs and recreational floors shall be not less than 1.0 m and not more than 1.2 m in height from the finished floor level. For occupancies such as educational and health buildings, a parapet up to 2.00 m may be permitted.
Both ends of that range are deliberate. Below 1.0 m a railing stops being a barrier. Above 1.2 m, in a residential setting, it stops being something you can see over, and the code treats that as a loss rather than a gain, which is why the taller allowance is confined to school and hospital occupancies.
A tape measure and thirty seconds on the balcony will tell you whether a finished flat complies. It is worth doing before the flooring is laid over, because finished floor level is what the measurement is taken from, and a later layer of tiling reduces the effective height.
Fire protection, and the two documents behind it
Chapter 9, Regulation 9.32, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025 does not itself set out fire requirements. It routes them.
All special buildings shall be planned, designed and constructed to ensure fire safety in accordance with the regulations of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006. For provisions not included in UDCPR or in that Act, Part IV of the National Building Code of India, as amended, is referred to and prevails.
Names and numbers in this story are illustrative. When Priya and Arjun asked their builder for the fire NOC, what they received was the provisional one issued at the plan stage. The one that matters for occupation is the final NOC issued after the installations are in and tested.
Asking which of the two you are holding is a fair question and a short one, and it is a better use of a site visit than counting light fittings.
What to check yourself
- Count the lifts against the height, one above 15 m and two above 24 m, and ask whether all floors are served around the clock.
- Walk the staircase from your floor to the ground, looking for storage, locked doors and missing signage. That is the escape route the code recognises.
- Find the refuge floor in any building above 24 m, and check it is open to air on a side and not enclosed.
- Measure the balcony parapet against 1.0 m to 1.2 m from the finished floor.
- Ask which fire NOC the project holds, the provisional one or the final one.
Where the filings come in
Fire NOCs, structural certificates and the sanctioned plan sit outside the public register, but the register does record something related and useful: the certifying professionals a project named, and its complaint and litigation history.
Every MahaRERA filing at reragenie.com is free to read and lists the architect, engineer and chartered accountant on the project, the buildings and their floors, the promoter's extensions with the reasons given, and any complaints with case numbers.
ReraGenie's buyer report, Rs 499, reads one project's full filing and the documents behind it, sets the promoter's record against the rest of the register, and states plainly what the filings do not contain. It includes a project watch for 90 days, so a new complaint or a changed completion date reaches you by email.
For how tall the building is allowed to be in the first place, see the height rules, and for what the code guarantees inside the flat, room sizes, light and ventilation.
Source: Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations for Maharashtra, UDCPR as updated 30 January 2025. Sanctioned under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966.
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