The setback is the open strip that must be left between the building and each boundary. What sets it varies by state — usually the size of the plot, the height of the building, or the width of the road outside.
3.0 m minimum front open space, for a residential building up to 12.5 m in height. MP sets the front by the width of the street the plot faces.
MP Bhumi Vikas Rules 2012, Rule 56(1)(a) — and 23 related rules below.
3.0 m minimum front open space, for a residential building up to 12.5 m in height. MP sets the front by the width of the street the plot faces.
| Road width up to (m) | 9 |
| Front setback (m) | 3 |
3.6 m minimum front open space.
| Road width from (m) | 9 |
| Road width up to (m) | 12 |
| Front setback (m) | 3.6 |
4.5 m minimum front open space.
| Road width from (m) | 12 |
| Road width up to (m) | 18 |
| Front setback (m) | 4.5 |
6.0 m minimum front open space.
| Road width from (m) | 18 |
| Front setback (m) | 6 |
In existing developed areas where the street is less than 6.0 m wide, the building line is set 6.0 m from the CENTRE line of the street, not from the plot boundary. On a narrow lane that can take considerably more land than the front open space table suggests.
| Road width up to (m) | 6 |
None required. The rear open space is set by the area of the plot, not by the street.
| Plot area up to (m²) | 40 |
| Rear setback (m) | 0 |
3 m on both sides. For a detached residential building up to 7 m in height on a plot with a frontage under 12 m, one of the side open spaces may be reduced to 1.5 m.
| Side setback 1 (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 3 |
3.0 m on one side. For a semi-detached building up to 10 m in height on a plot with a frontage up to 10 m, it may be reduced to 2.5 m.
| Side setback 1 (m) | 3 |
None required — that is what makes it row type. A garage may in any case be permitted at the rear end of the side open space.
| Side setback 1 (m) | 0 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 0 |
The width of the means of access is set by its length: 7.5 m for up to 150 m, 9.0 m up to 250 m, 12.0 m up to 400 m, 18.0 m up to 1,000 m and 24.0 m beyond that. The means of access must be clear of the marginal open spaces, and where development is only on one side the required width may be reduced by 0.5 m.
| Road width from (m) | 7.5 |
For industrial buildings, theatres, cinema houses, assembly halls, stadiums, educational buildings, markets and other buildings attracting large crowds: 12.0 m width for up to 200 m of length, 15.0 m up to 400 m, 18.0 m up to 600 m and 24.0 m beyond.
| Road width from (m) | 12 |
In already built-up areas where plots face a street or means of access less than 4.5 m wide, the plot boundary is shifted from the central line so that the street reaches a width of 4.5 m.
| Road width up to (m) | 4.5 |
For buildings above 12.5 m the rules stop treating plot size, frontage, FAR, height and marginal open spaces as separate questions. One row of Table 4 or 5 fixes all of them together, keyed on the width of the road — so a narrow road does not merely reduce your height, it disqualifies the plot from the band entirely however large it is.
1.50 m minimum.
| Plot area from (m²) | 40 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 150 |
| Rear setback (m) | 1.5 |
2.50 m minimum.
| Plot area from (m²) | 150 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 225 |
| Rear setback (m) | 2.5 |
3.00 m minimum. The rear open space must be co-extensive with the entire face of the rear wall, and where a building abuts two or more streets it must run the whole length of that wall.
| Plot area from (m²) | 225 |
| Rear setback (m) | 3 |
Minimum plot 1,000 m², minimum frontage 18 m, FAR 1.5, height up to 18 m, front marginal open space 7.5 m and sides and rear 6.0 m.
| Plot area from (m²) | 1000 |
| Road width from (m) | 12 |
| Front setback (m) | 7.5 |
| Rear setback (m) | 6 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 6 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 6 |
| Base FAR | 1.5 |
| Height limit (m) | 18 |
Minimum plot 1,500 m², minimum frontage 21 m, FAR 1.75, height up to 24 m, front M.O.S. 9.0 m and sides and rear 6.0 m.
| Plot area from (m²) | 1500 |
| Road width from (m) | 18 |
| Front setback (m) | 9 |
| Rear setback (m) | 6 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 6 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 6 |
| Base FAR | 1.75 |
| Height limit (m) | 24 |
Minimum plot 2,000 m², minimum frontage 30 m, FAR 2.0, height up to 30 m, front M.O.S. 12.0 m and sides and rear 7.5 m.
| Plot area from (m²) | 2000 |
| Road width from (m) | 24 |
| Front setback (m) | 12 |
| Rear setback (m) | 7.5 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 7.5 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 7.5 |
| Base FAR | 2 |
| Height limit (m) | 30 |
Minimum plot 2,500 m², minimum frontage 30 m, FAR 2.25, ground coverage 30%, height up to 45 m, front M.O.S. 15.0 m and sides and rear 7.5 m. Unlike Table 4, the high-rise table retains its coverage column at a flat 30% throughout.
| Plot area from (m²) | 2500 |
| Road width from (m) | 30 |
| Front setback (m) | 15 |
| Rear setback (m) | 7.5 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 7.5 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 7.5 |
| Ground coverage (%) | 30 |
| Base FAR | 2.25 |
| Height limit (m) | 45 |
Minimum plot 3,000 m², minimum frontage 40 m, FAR 2.50, ground coverage 30%, height up to 60 m, front M.O.S. 18.0 m and sides and rear 9.0 m.
| Plot area from (m²) | 3000 |
| Road width from (m) | 36 |
| Front setback (m) | 18 |
| Rear setback (m) | 9 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 9 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 9 |
| Ground coverage (%) | 30 |
| Base FAR | 2.5 |
| Height limit (m) | 60 |
Minimum plot 3,500 m², minimum frontage 45 m, FAR 2.75, ground coverage 30%, height up to 75 m, front M.O.S. 21 m and sides and rear 9 m.
| Plot area from (m²) | 3500 |
| Road width from (m) | 45 |
| Front setback (m) | 21 |
| Rear setback (m) | 9 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 9 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 9 |
| Ground coverage (%) | 30 |
| Base FAR | 2.75 |
| Height limit (m) | 75 |
Minimum plot 4,000 m², minimum frontage 50 m, FAR 3.0, ground coverage 30%, height up to 90 m, front M.O.S. 24.0 m and sides and rear 10 m.
| Plot area from (m²) | 4000 |
| Road width from (m) | 60 |
| Front setback (m) | 24 |
| Rear setback (m) | 10 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 10 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 10 |
| Ground coverage (%) | 30 |
| Base FAR | 3 |
| Height limit (m) | 90 |
Minimum plot 4,500 m², minimum frontage 60 m, FAR 3.0, ground coverage 30%, height ABOVE 90 m with no stated ceiling, front M.O.S. 30.0 m and sides and rear 12 m. FAR stops rising at 3.0 from the 60 m road band onward — beyond that the road buys height and open space, not floor area.
| Plot area from (m²) | 4500 |
| Road width from (m) | 75 |
| Front setback (m) | 30 |
| Rear setback (m) | 12 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 12 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 12 |
| Ground coverage (%) | 30 |
| Base FAR | 3 |
Official text: Madhya Pradesh Bhumi Vikas Rules, 2012 ↗
Rules change and we would rather hear it from you than have somebody build to a stale number. No account needed.
Trace your tatima to get the real area, side lengths and a dimensioned plan. Automatic compliance checking runs on Himachal rules today — for Madhya Pradesh the 41 rules published here are the reference, and the check is yours to make.
Trace your tatima → All Madhya Pradesh rules →