Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Wednesday said those who want to construct 'low-risk category' buildings in the state can do it without visiting offices seeking permits.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said his government has decided to take the people into confidence by empowering them for obtaining a building permit through self-attestation for building foundations in the 'low-risk category'.

This includes residential buildings with a built-up area of less than 300 sq mtrs, commercial buildings having a built-up area of 100 sq mtrs and hostels, religious buildings and old age homes having built-up area of less than 200 square metres, he said.
Site inspection will be carried out when the foundation of the building is completed.

If there is a violation in the construction, it can be detected at the beginning. Empanelled licensees have to take steps for this, Vijayan said in a Facebook post.

If all laws are abided by, the local body secretary should give his sanction for the project within five working days, the chief minister said.

According to the government, municipalities in Kerala handle about 80,000 building applications a year while Grama Panchayats about 1,65,000 building applications.

The government estimates that about 2,00,000 of these buildings can be built through the self-certification process.