by Ar. Abhishek Dutta
NKDA (New Town Kolkata Development Authority, formerly WBHIDCO) has a procedure of online sanction of building plans to save the time and harassment of the plot owners (individuals, cooperative societies, companies) of New Town, Kolkata. Although it is an appreciable effort, still from a technological perspective it’s yet to be simple and convenient. The process is complex and needs the expertise of highly trained and experienced technical staff in the architect’s office. However, definitely, the process is much better compared to the offline building plan sanction procedure of KMC or other counterparts.
Now it is important from an owner's perspective to know the process of the sanctioning.
Firstly, one must select an enlisted architect from the NKDA website (Most importantly, not on the basis of lowest quotation for this as typically an architect’s fees are between 1%-4% of the construction cost depending on size, complexity, and scope of services, which is anyway negligible compared to other expenses. But if one gets proper advice from an experienced and knowledgeable architect, he shall definitely add much more value and save one from unnecessary wastage of time and money during construction, much more than his fees. Therefore, saving Rs.2/- or 3/- for compromising on the experienced and ethical architect of one’s choice may prove to be ‘penny wise, pound foolish’-ness )
Next, the Owner must produce a Deed and Possession Letter. The architect will advise the client to get a Soil Test done for the required depth and number (again select a good, trustworthy Soil Investigation agency, not the one with a lower bid. This typically costs between 15-20 thousand rupees.)
After this, the online process starts.
1. Enrollment of the Applicant/Owner and his authorized Technical Persons (Architect, Engineer et. al.) by filling up proper form. (Owner shall apply for Digital Signature Certificate or DSC at this stage)
2. Selection of already enrolled/NKDA authorized Architect and other Technical people by Applicant login. [ Meanwhile, the architect designs the concept designs and after approval of the same by the client he/she prepares and coordinates all relevant technical documents and drawings for sanctioning including the Structural Calculation and design drawing by Structural Engineer (based on the Soil test Report by the Geotechnical Engineer) ]
3. Applying color code on architectural drawings according to OPS Color Code Instruction.
4. Applicant or technical persons need to submit the Drawings and NOCs from FIRE PREVENTION AUTHORITY (if required) to NKDA Office.
5. By Technical login the Architect and all other engaged Technical person in the plan case needs to provide required details of the plan, run and submit the Color-coded drawing using OPS-Software (only for architect login) and finally upload the digitally signed drawings (applicable for AutoCAD drawing files only) along with the entire required document to complete the submission.
6. Once all the above process is done and all the documents found proper, a Demand Notice will generate and send to the applicant enroll time provided email id.
7. After receiving the payment slip from the concerned bank the ‘Issuance of the sanction of building’ (Building Permit) generates and digitally signed softcopy of that sent to the applicant (and an acknowledgment mail to the architect) by mail.
8. Applicant can collect the hard copy of Sanctioned Plan from NKDA office after certain days of ‘Issuance of the sanction of Building’ After the Technical Personnel physically signs on the hard copies provided by NKDA at NKDA office. And Building Plan is “sanctioned’ for the Next Stage of the Project. (Although, other NoC and/or sanctions from Water Supply, Public Health, Fire & Emergency Services, Airport Authority, Microwaves, etc. may be required on case to case basis)
For Enquiry related to this one can directly contact
NKDA, 03-MAR, New Town, Rajarhat, Kolkata – 700156; Ph. No. (Enquiry) 1800-345-1571 (033-27062301)
Or, alternatively, may also feel free to contact the author for any other help or guidance.
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About the author: The author is one of the leading architects working in New Town, Kolkata for the last 14 years. He is one of the founding Partners of ArcOn Design, an award-winning architectural Firm of Kolkata, India. AD has been awarded National Award by NIASA, Council of Architecture, INDIA, and a Gold Medal for Best Thesis from Jadavpur University. His works have been featured in NDTV Goodtimes‘ “Next Big Thing” TV Programme. AD, a former Senior Research Fellow for DRDO and Visiting Lecturer in Architecture at many Polytechnics and Degree colleges of Architecture in the country, is a noted expert on Sustainable and Environment-Friendly Architecture.