CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS SET BY BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS : At the construction stage itself, the design of the laboratory buildings should be made in accordance with safety norms. You may be aware that at the time of construction of buildings, the building plan has to be approved by the local bodies like municipalities, corporations etc. Till recent times, the regulations followed in our country for building plan approval varied from place to place.

The Planning Commission decided to evolve uniform building regulations for the entire country. The Planning Commission requested Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) - earlier known as Indian Standards Institution (ISI) - at Delhi to prepare the uniform building code. You may know that Bureau of Indian Standards decides the standards for quality of materials and products. The building code prepared by BIS is known as National Building Code of India.

The first version of National Building Code was prepared by BIS in 1970. Later it was revised and amendments were made.