201.1. Scope of buildings covered under informal and vernacular housing
201.1.1 The Regulations cover single storey developments in urban informal areas and rural developments. They are to be applied as follows:
- a) Mandatory application in urban informal areas;
- b) Mandatory application in all vulnerable areas, urban and rural, so declared according to approved vulnerability maps, e.g. floods, earth movements, landslides, provided for in these regulations.
- c) They are applied as guidelines for development in traditional and rural areas.
201.2. Temporary and Minor Buildings
201.2.1 No application is necessary for any repair works.
201.2.2 Any building operation defined as minor building work shall comply with those parts of these Regulations specified by the officer in charge of housing in the city, municipality or town and approvals given upon request.
201.2.3 Any incremental house in urban informal settlements and rural areas shall, in any intermediate stage of erection, be regarded as a temporary building for the purpose of assessing compliance with these Regulations.
201.3. Vernacular Buildings
201.3.1 Sites as intended for the erection of such dwelling purpose vernacular buildings and located in rural areas, as not being vulnerable rural areas shall comply with these Regulations to such an extent where no such exemptions have been so provided.
201.3.2 Vernacular buildings shall not be erected without prior consultation with any such traditional authority as determined by the approving authority.
201.3.3 Vernacular buildings shall be sited and erected as to comply with any such type plan as recommended by the traditional authority (approving authority) including type plans.
201.3.4 Type plans for the siting and erection of such vernacular buildings shall be so prepared as per any such minimum standards as determined by the approving authority.
201.3.5 Any such type plans as provided for the construction of such vernacular buildings shall be obtained free of charge, to the extent where such printing cost has been met.
201.3.6 Erection of such vernacular building shall be undertaken by the owner, and overseen by such builder as determined by the traditional authority/approving authority.
201.3.7 Sites located in vulnerable rural areas and intended for erection of such dwelling purpose vernacular buildings shall be required to comply with such hazard requirements as per ABC – AAC, ASC and AUDC.
201.3.8 Any such renovations and/or repairs undertaken on such vernacular building as built with a type plan shall not require any other approvals.
201.3.9 Where existing vernacular building is to be demolished and re-erected on such same site, no such new type plan shall be required, to the extent that such type plan had been so acquired.
201.3.10 No such vernacular building works shall be so permitted by the approving authority to be undertaken in any urban area.
201.3.11 In designated hazard prone areas shall comply with such hazard requirements as per these Regulations to such an extent as to reduce and/or eliminate risk to human life and damage to buildings.
201.4. Informal Settlement Areas
201.4.1 Any such building works undertaken in informal settlement areas shall comply with these Regulations, to the extent where no such exemptions have been so applied.
201.4.2 Sites located in any informal settlement, and in any such hazard area shall comply with any such hazard requirements as per these Regulations.
201.4.3 The approving authority shall prepare such type plans for the siting and erection of such dwelling purpose building or group of buildings on any such plot in informal settlements areas as not being more than 500 square meters in size, to the extent that such plot is located as not being in designated hazard areas.
201.4.4 Such type plans as intended for such dwelling purpose building works in informal settlement areas shall be prepared as per such minimum requirements in these Regulations as determined by the approving authority.
201.4.5 The approving authority shall inspect such dwelling purpose building works so sited and erected to ensure compliance with any such issued type plans.
201.4.6 Notwithstanding 201.4.5 any such dwelling purpose building or group of buildings as undertaken on such a site as being no more than 500 square meters in area, and/or being of more than 1 storey high shall be subjected to full standards.
201.4.7 Minor building works including proposed alterations to doors, windows, removal, addition or alteration of non-load bearing partition walls, minor alterations to the plumbing, drainage or other service installations, planting of trees, construction of unroofed terraces or minor landscaping, shall be exempt from these Regulations, to the extent that:
(a) Such minor building works do not materially affect the stability of the building, or its external appearance.
(b) Such minor building works do not contravene these Regulations and the Safer House Construction Guidelines in Appendix 1 of these regulations.
(c) Such design, installation and alteration of any electrical, mechanical, plumbing or drainage minor building works shall be undertaken by an approved person.
201.5. Type Plans
201.5.1 Any such alterations, modifications and updates to any such type plans shall be the responsibility of the approving authority, and shall not be undertaken by any other such persons or approved persons.
201.5.2 Notwithstanding any such type plan, the approving authority may recommend any such alterations and modifications for the siting and erection of any such vernacular and informal building works to promote safety of human life, protect such environment and eliminate such damage to any such adjacent sites and buildings.
201.5.3 Any such type plan as prepared by the approving authority for any such dwelling purpose vernacular and buildings in informal areas shall include such:
(a) Title of type plan;
(b) Zone and location coverage of type plan;
(c) Site plan layout and dimensions including such width of access, open space, setbacks and any such easement and way leave;
(d) Plan of such vernacular or building in an informal area, including any such roof plan;
(e) Simple 3-D drawing of such vernacular or informal building;
(f) Sketch drawings of any such elevating components for such vernacular buildings as located in vulnerable rural areas;
(g) Sketch drawings of any such building components including thickness and height of walls, foundations, doors, windows and thickness of walls;
(h) Sketch drawing of section of such vernacular or building in an informal area showing such materials to be so used for foundation, floor, wall and roof;
(i) Explanation notes indicating any such construction methods to be applied, and any other such requirements as not included in such sketches and drawings; and
(j) Map scale, legend, measurement units and north arrow.
201.6. Planning Requirements for Urban Informal Settlements
201.6.1 The approving authority shall determine such planning requirements as appropriate for such a site in an urban informal settlement to the extent that such requirements promote safety, reduce hazard risk, and are not equal or higher to those in this part of the standards.
201.7. Planning Requirements for Vernacular Rural Buildings
201.7.1 Any such temporary or permanent building, built structure or part thereof so sited as to occur in a rural area shall be exempt from Regulations in this part, to the extent that such buildings are sited within a determined low to medium risk hazard area as per hazard maps in these Regulations.
201.7.2 Any building, built structure or part thereof so erected as to utilize vernacular construction methods and such known traditional construction materials shall be exempt from these Regulations, to the extent that such building or part thereof is located in a rural area.
201.8. Planning Requirements for Building in Vulnerable Rural Areas
201.8.1 Any such building or built structure located on a rural site and occurring in a high to extreme flood, earthquake and ground movement risk area as determined by hazard maps in these Regulations, shall comply to planning regulations as set out in Section 202.
201.8.2 Any such building, built structure or part thereof as occurring within a rural area, and complying with planning requirements in this Volume shall not be more than 1 storey high, except such buildings are so erected as not for dwelling purpose, and that such hazard risk and structural requirements are so met as determined by the approving authority and any such approved person.
201.8.3 To the extent that such compliance as per Regulation 201.8.2 does not eliminate or reduce risk to human life, building inundation, building collapse, building damage and/or property damage, such building, built structure or part thereof shall not be permitted.
201.9. Location
201.9.1 Sites as intended for dwelling and non-dwelling building works shall be located not more than 200 metres from an existing major road, access or connection to a major road or access.
201.9.2 Any such building works, as intended for dwelling and non-dwelling purposes shall be so sited as to comply with any such zoning regulations as determined by the approving authority.
201.9.3 Building works as intended for dwelling and non-dwelling purposes shall be located so as to comply with any such hazard zoning regulations, to the extent that location of building works shall not be permitted in any such high to extreme hazard risk areas as per these Regulations.
201.9.4 Notwithstanding Regulation 201.9.3 no such building works shall be located on such a site as determined unsuitable for such building works by the approving authority and any such other agency, approved person, act or policy.
201.9.5 No new or existing building shall be so located so as to obstruct from any such main or common access any building, site or part thereof as occurring immediately to its rear, front and sides. That shall apply to all situations including informal and rural settlements.
201.9.6 Building works as intended for dwelling and non-dwelling purposes shall not be permitted on any such site as having a determined slope gradient as being greater than 15% without being subjected to approvals as provided for in the architectural code.
201.9.7 Proposed building works shall not be so located and erected as to occur within any such road reserves, railway reserves, sewer reserves and drainage reserves as determined by the approving authority, and any such approved agency.
201.9.8 No new or existing building, group of buildings or part thereof shall be permitted to be located on any such site as principally intended for such use as public open space, public recreation space or hazard assembly site.
201.9.9 No new building works shall be located on such a site as composed or used for the holding or disposal of refuse, carcass of dead animals, excrementious material, or any other such unsanitary and offensive material, unless such a site has been so cleaned, disinfectant and rendered hygienic to the satisfaction of the approving authority.
201.9.10 No new building works shall be located on such a site as to cause any public annoyance or nuisance to any such other user of such location, or such neighbouring plots, buildings or group of buildings.
201.9.11 To the extent of apparent or increased risk to human life, property damage and/or economic loss, no new building or built structure intended for dwelling purposes shall be so sited and erected on such a site as sitting in a functional floodplain, or any such location having 100% chance of flooding.
201.9.12 Any new building, built structure, mechanical structure or part thereof not principally intended for dwelling purposes, but whose location within a functional floodplain or any such location having 100% chance of flooding, increases risk of flooding on the site, neighbouring sites, upstream or downstream as determined by the approving authority, such development shall not be permitted.
201.9.13 To the extent that any new building, built structure or part thereof is so designed, proposed and sited as for dwelling purposes, and occurring within an existing flood risk area as per these Regulations, such a development shall be so designed, sited and erected above the flood hazard level.
201.9.14 Any such building, built structure or part thereof as per Regulation 201.9.13 shall not increase the risk of flooding or any other hazards to its occupants, adjacent buildings, adjacent sites and any such nearby sites and locations as determined by the approving authority.
201.9.15 No new buildings shall be approved for construction on a site occurring within a designated flood hazard or earthquake hazard zone, unless as determined by the approving authority and any such agency, that such proposed buildings and their erection is permitted within a flood hazard area.
201.9.15 No existing or new building, built structure or part thereof intended for dwelling purposes or otherwise shall be permitted inside a watercourse, or on any such area of land along a river, stream, canal and any floodwater conveyance channel principally intended as a watercourse buffer zone, setback, riverbank or riparian reserve area, unless such building or permanent structure is permissible for development.
201.9.16 No new development permitted on a site in a flood risk zone as set out in section (permissible land uses) of this regulations shall be allowed for location in such a site to the extent that such development increases flood rise upstream or downstream or poses significant risk of inundation to neighbouring sites as determined by the approving authority and any other approving agency.
201.9.17 No new development shall be sited in a flood plain on such a site or portion of a site considered as falling within a high-risk flood hazard zone as determined by the existing flood hazard zoning map and the approving authority and any such other agency.
201.9.18 Notwithstanding that a site falls outside a flood risk area as per these Regulations, no development that increases risk of people, building and property, crops, livestock and livelihoods to floods and related hazards as determined by the approving authority, shall be permitted for development.