In Guwahati the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) issues the planning permit and Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) the building permit, under Assam’s unified building byelaws. The byelaws allow 30 days for the planning permit and 45 for the building permit. Residential buildings up to G+2 on plots up to 670 sq m can get an instant permit.
Guwahati’s rules have changed in recent years. GMDA’s byelaws page lists the Guwahati Building Construction (Regulation) Bye-laws, 2014, then the Assam Unified Building Construction (Regulation) Byelaws, 2022, with amendments in 2024, July 2025 and August 2026. This post uses the 2022 byelaws and the 2026 amendment as read from GMDA’s copies on 13 November 2026, and the 2014 text only where the later one repeats it. The 2024 and July 2025 amendments could not be read. Check the current text and the portal with GMDA before you file.
Who gives building permission in Guwahati?
Two authorities give it in sequence. The 2022 byelaws (byelaw 5) provide for:
- Planning permit (Part I of the application): granted by GMDA on the recommendation of the Town Planner.
- Building permit (Part II): granted by the urban local body, which for Guwahati is GMC, on the basis of the issued planning permit.
Every plan must be signed by the owner and a registered architect or a registered graduate civil engineer, who must be registered with the Directorate of Town and Country Planning, Assam. The byelaws allow the application to go to the Chief Executive Officer of GMDA at a counter, in hard or soft copy, or through the online building permission system. GMC’s Mayor said on 3 December 2025, as reported by the Assam Tribune, that the planning permit is not the final go-ahead, and that GMC verifies documents and gives the actual building permission. He also said GMC can issue permissions only for miyadi (permanent) land, and none for non-arable or hilly land. That is a statement reported by a newspaper, not byelaw text.
What is Assam OBPS?
OBPS is the Online Building Permission System, launched by the Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, and it handles applications online. The Sentinel reported on 14 February 2025 that all applications for construction permits would be processed exclusively through the online portal, together with construction intimation, plinth level inspection, under-construction inspection and completion-cum-occupancy certificates. The report says it covers 32 master plan areas. The Sewa Setu page for the GMC area also lists the service and its document list. Portal addresses and availability change, so check the current one with GMDA and GMC.
How many sq ft is a katha in Assam?
A katha in Assam is about 2,880 sq ft, according to the byelaw’s own tables. The 2022 tables give 5 katha as 1,337.8 sq m, 2 katha as 535 sq m and 3 katha as 804 sq m, which makes one katha about 267.6 to 267.8 sq m. The instant permit cap of 2.5 katha matches the byelaw’s 670 sq m. That is four times a Kolkata cottah of about 720 sq ft. The post on what you can build on 2, 3 and 5 cottah in Kolkata covers the Kolkata unit. This derivation comes from the byelaw tables and not from a revenue department definition, so confirm the unit in your land papers.
What documents does Guwahati ask for?
The Sewa Setu list for the GMC area is the clearest. The set is:
| Document | Notes |
|---|---|
| Building plan | Floor plan, elevation, site plan, service plan, rainwater harvesting system, key map, location plan |
| Land holding certificate | Plus jamabandi, mutation order, registered sale deed or government allotment order |
| Up-to-date trace map and land revenue receipt | Trace map shows dag number, patta number, revenue village and mouza |
| Area statement | Form 20 |
| Photographs | Applicant, and the registered technical person’s photograph and signature |
| Affidavit, structural safety certificate, indemnity bond | If required |
| NOCs | Fire, Airport Authority, Army, Archaeology, Forest, National Highway Authority and others, if required |
The byelaws add a site plan at a minimum scale of 1:200 and a building plan at 1:100, a specification and FAR calculation sheet signed by the technical person, and, for buildings of ground plus three floors and above, a certificate of undertaking for hazard safety from the structural engineer on record. The applicant also gives an undertaking to surrender land for road widening free of cost, and an affidavit that no one will occupy the building without an occupancy certificate.
How long does it take?
The byelaws set time limits and a deemed permit. They allow 30 days for the planning permit from receipt, and 45 days for the building permit from receipt of the planning permit. If the authority fails to act within the period, the permits are deemed granted. The applicant may proceed with written intimation, with the permit fee deposited at least ten days before work starts, and the authority issues a deemed permit within seven days. Sewa Setu lists 30 days for the online GMC service, with fees shown as nil, but the page was under maintenance when read. Treat these as limits on paper and ask the authority for the current practice.
What is the instant permit for a G+2 house?
The Mukhya Mantrir Sohoj Griha Nirman Achoni scheme gives an instant planning and building permit to small residential buildings. Under the 2022 byelaws, all proposals up to Ground plus 2 storeys, residential, up to a plot area of 670 sq m within the Guwahati Metropolitan Area, get an instant planning permit and building permit if they follow the byelaws and Master Plan with all enclosures and fees. Its steps:
- An empanelled architect or engineer, with at least five years’ experience, verifies the site and the documents.
- The professional submits online, with Form 7(A).
- The system auto-scrutinises the proposal, and on payment of fees it generates both permits. A non-conforming proposal is returned.
- The authorities inspect after approval, and discrepancies are treated as unauthorised, with the permits withdrawn.
- The owner gets an instant occupancy certificate on documents certified by the empanelled professionals.
NE Now reported the scheme’s launch on 19 October 2020 for residential buildings up to the second floor and up to 2.5 katha, and The Sentinel reported its extension to 29 towns with notified master plans. The owner must be the rightful owner with a clear title. The studio’s listed empanelments are with KMC, NKDA and Rajpur Sonarpur Municipality, so ask any architect for the GMDA or Directorate of Town and Country Planning registration that Guwahati requires.
Is Guwahati in seismic zone V, and what does that change?
Guwahati is in Zone V, the highest zone, in the IS 1893 (Part 1): 2002 table, with a zone factor of 0.36, against 0.24 for Darjeeling (Zone IV) and 0.16 for Kolkata (Zone III). A 2025 draft map with a new Zone VI was reported withdrawn in March 2026, with the 2016 standard restored, and no official Assam statement was found. Guwahati stays in the highest existing zone in the table read.
The byelaws reflect that. The 2014 text says all construction except RCC load-bearing buildings up to three storeys is carried out under the supervision of a construction engineer on record or a construction management agency on record, who gives a structural safety certificate at completion. It asks for quality auditing of buildings above seven storeys, public buildings and special structures in zone V, and for structural design that takes the seismic load of the region into account. The post on earthquake zones for houses in Kolkata and Assam covers the design side, and the post on soil tests and foundation types covers foundations.
What are the rules on hills and floods?
The byelaws limit cutting and building on slopes and in flood-prone sites. From the 2014 text, repeated in the 2022 version:
- Hilly areas need a detailed topographic survey and the least disturbance to natural terrain.
- Slopes greater than 10 degrees need special protection measures.
- The maximum cut height is generally 4 to 6 m, and cutting over 6 m is not ordinarily permitted. A scheme with earthwork calculations and a slope stability analysis is vetted by an approved third party.
- Rainwater harvesting is mandatory in hilly areas, with a dry sump on individual plots.
- No building is allowed on a site liable to flood, or on a slope steeper than 45 degrees, unless the owner proves safety to the Authority.
- The plinth is 0.5 to 0.75 m above ground and 0.3 m above the highest recorded flood level for ordinary buildings, and 0.6 m for lifeline buildings.
The Sentinel reported on 16 May 2026 that the Kamrup (Metropolitan) District Commissioner barred hill cutting and earth filling in hilly terrain, water bodies and low-lying areas from 1 May to 31 October 2026. The Gauhati High Court has heard a case on rampant hill cutting, and the sources read do not say whether a permanent ban exists. For hill sites, the post on resort design in hill and tea regions sets out the West Bengal slope rules for comparison.
What happens after the permit?
The occupancy certificate comes next. The byelaws say the Authority issues it on receipt of the completion certificate, allow a part occupancy certificate against an indemnity, and say a new trade licence follows the certificate. APDCL charges permanent electricity only after the occupancy certificate is received. The GMC Mayor said a building without occupancy cannot legally be sold, and that holding tax is processed after it, but that is reported speech. The post on completion and occupancy certificates in Kolkata shows the parallel West Bengal process.
What to do next
Before you buy or design on a Guwahati plot, confirm the land type, the plot area in sq m, the road width and the slope, then ask a professional with the Guwahati registration to confirm which route, instant or standard, applies. The studio’s work in Assam is at Bongaigaon and Udalguri, and its Guwahati and Assam page describes it. The building plan approval and contact pages are the places to start a conversation.
