Building height in Tamil Nadu

Height is capped twice over: by the regime the plot falls under, and by the width of the road that reaches it. The lower of the two governs.

How tall am I allowed to build?

The maximum height of a Non High Rise building is 18.30 m. Water tanks, chimneys and architectural features such as flag masts, gopurams, minarets, steeples and other ornamental structures not intended for human habitation may go above it, subject to a ceiling of 30.5 m from ground level.

TNCDBR 2019, Explanation 2(iii) — and 4 related rules below.

The rules — all 5

Non High Rise buildings stop at 18.30 m

verbatim

The maximum height of a Non High Rise building is 18.30 m. Water tanks, chimneys and architectural features such as flag masts, gopurams, minarets, steeples and other ornamental structures not intended for human habitation may go above it, subject to a ceiling of 30.5 m from ground level.

TNCDBR 2019, Explanation 2(iii)
Height limit (m) 18.3

Minimum road width for larger Non High Rise buildings

verbatim

A minimum road width of 9.0 m is required for Non High Rise buildings exceeding 16 dwelling units or 300 m² of commercial area. Below that width the category is not available at all.

TNCDBR 2019, Non High Rise development control table, item A
Road width from (m) 9

The Non High Rise line moved from 12 m to 14 m in March 2024

verbatim

G.O. Ms. No. 69 of 11.03.2024 substituted 14 m for 12 m throughout the rules, and 10 m for 9 m in two places. It reaches rule 8(5) (who may sign the plans — a Registered Architect or Registered Engineer now up to 14 m), rule 9(2), rule 20(1), rule 35 (the planning-parameter tables, Explanations 1 and 2, and sub-rule 21), rule 39(12), rule 44(2), rule 51(1), (4) and (6), Annexure IV Part-I and Annexure XVII Appendix-A. The practical effect is that the whole lighter-touch regime — self-certification, simpler passages, shallower setbacks — now extends two metres higher, which for most schemes is one more storey.

G.O. Ms. No. 69, H&UD Department, 11.03.2024
Height limit (m) 14

Height in CBA and EWS areas — capped at 14 m

verbatim

Ground floor plus two floors, or a stilt plus three floors, subject to a maximum of 14 m. The same cap applies in Continuous Building Areas and in Economically Weaker Section Areas. This is the figure as amended in March 2024; the February 2019 base text said 12 m.

TNCDBR 2019, rule 35(1)(a) item B, as substituted by G.O. Ms. No. 69 dated 11.03.2024
Height limit (m) 14
Storeys (max) 3

Height in other areas — 10 m on a narrow road, 14 m once the road reaches 6 m

verbatim

In other areas the cap still turns on the 6.0 m road threshold, but both figures rose in March 2024: GF+1F or Stilt+2F subject to a maximum of 10 m on a road of 3.0 to 6.0 m, and GF+2F or Stilt+3F subject to a maximum of 14 m on a road of 6.0 m and above. The base text said 9 m and 12 m. Note that the front setback in other areas does not follow this split — it follows the separate abutting-road-width ladder, which the amendment did not touch.

TNCDBR 2019, rule 35(1)(a) item B, as substituted by G.O. Ms. No. 69 dated 11.03.2024
Road width up to (m) 6
Height limit (m) 10
Storeys (max) 2
Work it out for your own plot

Permissible floor area, coverage and height for your plot — straight from the HP slabs.

FAR & ground coverage calculator →
Sources on this page
  • TNCDBR 2019, Explanation 2(iii)
  • TNCDBR 2019, Non High Rise development control table, item A
  • G.O. Ms. No. 69, H&UD Department, 11.03.2024
  • TNCDBR 2019, rule 35(1)(a) item B, as substituted by G.O. Ms. No. 69 dated 11.03.2024

Official text: Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019 ↗

Spotted something wrong?

Rules change and we would rather hear it from you than have somebody build to a stale number. No account needed.

Measure your plot first

Trace your tatima to get the real area, side lengths and a dimensioned plan. Automatic compliance checking runs on Himachal rules today — for Tamil Nadu the 33 rules published here are the reference, and the check is yours to make.

Trace your tatima → All Tamil Nadu rules →
Ask AI

Nothing matched in the rulebook — try other words (parking, height, fire, setback, water…).

looking it up…

Answers come straight from the building rules for 12 states we cover, plus the glossary and calculators — each with its citation.