Building permission: getting the city's approval to build your house

To build a house on your plot in Indore you need the city's written permission before any work starts. The application goes online on the state's ABPAS portal, through a licensed architect or engineer, with your title, the colony's approved layout and signed drawings. The plan is checked against open spaces, coverage, floor area and height.

Two papers: owning it and building on it

The sale deed records whose land it is, and says nothing about what may stand on it. The building permission records what may be built: where on the plot, how much floor, how high. It is granted in writing, before work begins.

Nobody may erect, re-erect or alter a building without prior written permission; within IMC's area the Municipal Corporation Act says the same. Repairs such as plastering, painting and re-flooring are exempt.

One portal, three doors by plot size

Applications go online on ABPAS 3.0, the state's Automated Building Plan Approval System, where software checks the drawing against the rules.

Six steps, and the first one is yours

1. Check the plot. Its master-plan zone, the colony's sanctioned layout, and whether it lies inside IMC limits.
2. A licensed professional draws it, signing with name, qualification and licence number.
3. It is filed on ABPAS, with the drawings, the papers, and the latitude and longitude of every corner of the plot.
4. Objections come all at once. They are listed in the first round; the plan is corrected and resubmitted.
5. Fee paid, plan sanctioned. The portal raises a fee memo, and the sanction is digitally signed.
6. Build to it. Give notice when work starts, and again at plinth level for inspection.

The architect draws and files, but the permission does not relieve the owner of responsibility for building to the rules. If the house departs from the plan, it is yours that is in breach.

What goes in the file

The four numbers on every drawing

Up to 12.5 metres high, the plan is checked against open spaces, ground coverage, FAR and height.

Side open spaces depend on whether the house is detached, semi-detached or in a row. The rules' residential FAR is 1.25, unless the city's development plan sets its own. So a plot of 9 by 15 metres on a 9-metre road keeps 3.0 metres in front and 1.5 metres behind, and at 1.25 carries about 169 sq m of floor across all storeys. Above 12.5 metres a stricter table applies (plots of at least 1,000 sq m on a 12-metre road).

The fee is small. The clock is not.

Add an application fee of ₹1 per sq m of proposed built-up area, never refunded, and whatever else the fee memo lists. Development charges are separate.

The permission lapses. Unless a longer period is allowed, work must start within one year of sanction and finish within two. Revalidating costs 10 per cent of the permission fee. Read the validity printed on your own sanction.

The cost of building first

A building put up without sanction, against it, or after it lapsed can be served a notice to show cause. If the answer fails, the Commissioner may have it altered or pulled down at the owner's expense. Some excess can be compounded for a fee linked to the Collector's land rate, but never on a road line, a parking area, a talab or the building line. Work that departs from the sanctioned plan can be stopped.

The paper follows the house

SBI's home-loan document list asks for the permission for construction and a copy of the approved plan, and a future buyer's lender will want the same, so keep the sanction with the deed. Outside IMC limits the gram panchayat grants it, under the same rules; see Inside or outside municipal limits.

Confirm the current procedure and fees with the Indore Municipal Corporation and your architect. This is not legal advice.

Questions people ask

How to get building permission in Indore?

Through a licensed architect or engineer, who files the drawings and papers on the state's ABPAS portal. A house on a residential plot up to 186 sq m in an approved layout may get deemed approval on the owner's application and affidavit.

How much is the building permission fee for a house in MP?

From ₹750 for up to 75 sq m of built-up area to ₹4,000 for 301 to 400 sq m, plus ₹1 per sq m as application fee. Development charges are separate.

How long is building permission valid in Indore?

Unless a longer period is allowed, work must start within one year of sanction and finish within two. Revalidation costs 10 per cent of the permission fee.

Where the facts come from. The facts and figures in this post come from verified government sources and verified RERA-registered brokers.

Indori Zameen is a private platform. It is not a government body and is not affiliated with one — always confirm a record with the concerned authority before you commit money.