Thiruvananthapuram: Fire No Objection Certificates (Fire NoCs) for high-rises and buildings with hazardous occupancy will be valid for more than a year, but at a higher price. The State Home Department has issued an order revising the validity of the fire NoC for various buildings. In case of occupancies other than hazardous industries and storage of hazardous goods, the validity of the fire NoC shall be fixed as five years, subject to payment of five times the applicable annual fee.

The applicant shall have the liberty to opt for a validity of four years or lesser periods, on payment of the proportionate fee. For hazardous industries and buildings used for storage of hazardous materials, the validity of the fire NoC shall be limited to two years, subject to payment of twice the annual fee.  The extended validity shall be subject to continued compliance with fire safety norms. This shall be effective from the next NoC renewal date for each licensee/applicant.

The NoC is required for buildings with a plinth area above 1000 sqm and a height above 15m. The Home Secretary noted in the order that at present, fire NoCs are being issued for a period of one year as a matter of practice. In the context of improving Ease of Doing Business and reducing compliance burden, the Government is of the view that mandatory annual renewal of fire NoCs for all occupancies causes avoidable hardship, repeated documentation and leads to unnecessary procedural delay, particularly for buildings and establishments with minimal fire safety risks, the order said.

The government has taken note of the fact that there is a need to ensure continued fire safety in buildings with hazardous occupancy, such as those involving hazardous industries or buildings having multiple integrated electric circuits or buildings with storage of hazardous materials, where longer validity without reassessment may pose safety risks.

The fire and rescue services department hiked the fees for building NoC, annual renewal and other services in December 2024. The rates were earlier hiked in 2022.

For buildings under the residential category, the minimum fee was hiked by 9.9 per cent. The revised minimum fee for issuing NoC to flats is ₹20,000. There was a 15 per cent hike in the revised fee per square meter for hotels (up to 16 metres in height) to obtain fire safety NoC, as per the new rates. The rate was revised from ₹34.73/sqm to ₹40/sqm. The fee for NoC of institutional and assembly buildings was hiked by 7 per cent.