Requirements for lighting and ventilation in a group housing society

Most of the building bye laws of local authorities refer to National building code of 2005 for requirements of lighting and ventilation in a group housing society.

Lighting and ventilation is covered as part of section 8 of National building code (hereby referred to as NBC).

As per NBC, following are the major things to take care of while provisioning for Lighting and Ventilation for a residential building:

• Sufficient windows and ventilators should be provisioned for ensuring adequate day-lighting and ventilation within homes.
• In the daytime, the primary source of lighting has to be the Sun. Hence, sufficient ventilation and open spaces shall exist inside and between two residential buildings. This is covered at length within the section 8 of NBC.
• For lighting in the evenings and at night, uniform lighting at open spaces shall be ensured to illuminate the region without impacting the general home owner’s privacy. Hence, lights facing inside the flats shall be avoided.
• The areas such as passages, corridors, stairways, lobbies and entrances within the building have to be properly lit. The lighting of all these areas should be properly correlated to give safe movement within the building at all times.
• Planting of trees in streets and in open spaces should be done carefully to take advantage of both shades and sunshine without handicapping the flow of natural winds.

NBC also has a complex calculation in section 8 of the code for illumination through lighting and for air flow and ventilation.

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Last Updated on July 1, 2015 by Go4Reviews