Guide
How Many Floors Can You Build in Karachi? Height and FAR by Plot Size
By Maham Imtiaz
Real Estate AnalystVerified author
10 min read
"How many floors are allowed on my plot?" is the question behind most of Karachi's illegal construction. The honest answer is that it depends on four things: whether the plot is under SBCA or a cantonment, its size, its permitted use and the road it faces, all read against the zoning tables for its area. Sellers and builders often quote a single number, such as "ground plus three is allowed everywhere", that no rulebook supports. The Gulbahar building that collapsed in 2020, killing 27 people, had seven storeys on a 74-square-yard plot.
Floors are a building-layer check. Our guide on how to verify property in Karachi explains that every floor must appear on the approved plan and the completion record, and floors built beyond those limits are the ones that end up sealed or demolished.
This guide explains how height and floor area ratio work in Karachi, the limits that are confirmed in official rules and orders, how cantonment limits compare, and how to find the real limit for your own plot before building or buying.
A note on the zoning tables
The detailed plot-by-plot zoning tables sit in Chapter 25 of the Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations 2002, and they vary by area, use and road width. They are not published in full online by SBCA. This guide sets out only the limits confirmed in official texts, amendments and court records, and does not guess the rest. For your own plot, ask SBCA or a licensed architect for the applicable zoning sheet.
The four things that decide your floors
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | SBCA areas follow KBTPR 2002; DHA and other cantonments follow their own by-laws |
| Plot size category | KBTPR groups plots into categories from 60 to 600 square yards and above |
| Permitted use | Residential, commercial, amenity, flat site or mixed use carry different limits |
| Road width and zone | Wider roads and certain zones allow more floor area; some towns have tighter caps |
How height and FAR are measured
| Term | Definition under KBTPR |
|---|---|
| Height | From the highest point of the road crown along the plot's front boundary to the highest point of the building |
| Floor area ratio | Total floor area of all floors divided by the plot area |
| Total floor area | Sum of floor areas of all floors, less permitted exemptions |
| Footprint | Plot area covered at any level, excluding basements |
| Compulsory open space | Part of the plot that must stay open to the sky |
| Plinth | Ground floor level, capped at 4 feet 6 inches in most cases |
FAR controls how much you can build in total; height and floor limits control how you stack it. A plot can hit its FAR before it reaches its floor limit, or the reverse.
What a FAR of 1:2 means in practice
| Plot size | FAR | Maximum total floor area |
|---|---|---|
| 120 sq yd (1,080 sq ft) | 1:2 | 240 sq yd (2,160 sq ft) |
| 240 sq yd (2,160 sq ft) | 1:2 | 480 sq yd (4,320 sq ft) |
| 400 sq yd (3,600 sq ft) | 1:2 | 800 sq yd (7,200 sq ft) |
Spread over ground plus two floors, a FAR of 1:2 on a 240-yard plot allows about 1,440 square feet per floor. The FAR figures here are for illustration; your plot's actual FAR comes from the zoning table.
Limits confirmed in official rules and orders
| Situation | Confirmed limit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Category I building | Plot up to 120 sq yd; other buildings on such plots up to 33 ft | KBTPR Table 3.1 |
| Category II building | Up to 20,000 sq ft of floor area and/or 50 ft | KBTPR Table 3.1 |
| Proof engineer required | Above ground plus four floors, or 50 ft, or 100,000 sq ft | KBTPR Chapter 3 |
| 120 sq yd residential plots in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulberg, North Nazimabad, Liaquatabad and Jamshed Town | Ground plus two floors | SBCA director general's announcement, 2018 |
| Amenity plots | Ground plus two; ground plus four with a lift for humanitarian use | KBTPR amendment, 2002 |
| Primary school or clinic on a residential plot up to 240 sq yd | FAR 1:2, ground plus two, 60-foot road, 3-foot front and rear open space | KBTPR 25-5.2, as quoted by the Sindh High Court |
| Amalgamated plots | FAR increase limited to 50% of the original, or 1.5, whichever is less | KBTPR 18-3.2.2 |
| Commercial subdivision | Minimum 725 sq yd with 60-foot frontage | KBTPR 18-3.1.4 |
| Buildings approved under the 1979 regulations | Cannot be reconsidered for extra floors | KBTPR 3-2.20 |
The education-use table was quoted by the Sindh High Court in Suit 3324 of 2021, which held that running a school on a residential plot without conversion broke KBTPR and refused to stop SBCA's sealing order.
Limits in DHA and Clifton
Cantonment areas follow different rules, which are published.
| Plot type | DHA Regulations 2020 | CBC By-Laws 2007 |
|---|---|---|
| Residential, any size | Basement, ground and one | Basement, ground and one |
| Residential height | 22 to 32 ft to roof; up to 45 ft with stair tower | 33 ft above plinth |
| Commercial up to 250 sq yd | Basement, ground and four | Up to 80 sq yd: basement, ground and three; 81 to 250: basement, ground and four |
| Commercial 401 to 600 sq yd | FAR 1:5 | FAR 1:5 |
| Commercial 1,000 sq yd and above | FAR 1:5.5 | FAR 1:5.5 |
| Commercial maximum height | 69 ft without a lift, up to 97 ft with a lift for ground plus five | Up to 70 ft for plots up to 400 sq yd |
Why extra floors are hard to fix later
| Rule | Effect |
|---|---|
| Floors beyond maximum height or storeys | Cannot be regularised under the 2004 amendment |
| Open space covered beyond 30% | Cannot be regularised |
| Excess construction | SBCA can order it pulled down |
| No completion plan for the floor | No utility connection and no registration under section 18-G |
| 1979-approved buildings | No extra floors under the 2002 regulations |
A floor that cannot be regularised stays illegal for every future owner. Our report on what Karachi's building collapses show about the approval records shows where unapproved floors have led.
How to find the real limit for your plot
- Confirm jurisdiction: SBCA, DHA or a cantonment board.
- Confirm the plot's use on the lease and layout plan.
- Measure the road in front of the plot and confirm its official width.
- Ask SBCA's town office or a licensed architect for the zoning sheet for your area and plot category.
- Check any special caps, such as the ground-plus-two rule for 120-yard plots in certain towns.
- Calculate FAR and height together, using the definitions above.
- Get the plan approved before building, and the completion plan before occupying.
The approval process itself is set out in our guide to the SBCA building plan approval process.
Buying a building with more floors than its neighbours
| What you see | What to ask |
|---|---|
| Ground plus three or more on a 120-yard plot | Which approval allows it, especially in the five restricted towns |
| Floors added years after the original building | Whether the original approval was under the 1979 regulations |
| Flats on a bungalow plot | Whether the building was approved as an apartment building with a sale NOC |
| Covered open space at the front or sides | Whether the coverage exceeds the 30% regularisation limit |
| A top floor with no completion plan | Whether it can ever be connected or registered |
What the numbers show: Milkiyat.com findings
Gulbahar's building was about twice the Category I height. Seven storeys of about 10 feet each is about 70 feet, against the 33-foot limit for Category I buildings on small plots: about 2.1 times.
A FAR of 1:2 doubles the plot area in floor space. On 240 square yards: 240 × 2 = 480 square yards, or 4,320 square feet.
DHA allows the same residential floors on every plot size. From 200 to over 1,000 square yards: basement, ground and one.
Commercial FAR in DHA can reach five and a half times the plot. A 1,000-yard plot at 1:5.5 allows 5,500 square yards of floor area.
Amalgamation adds at most half the original FAR. A plot with FAR 1:2 can rise to at most 1:3 after amalgamation, or by 1.5, whichever is less.
Frequently asked questions
Q1. How many floors can I build on a 120-yard plot in Karachi?
A. In Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulberg, North Nazimabad, Liaquatabad and Jamshed Town, SBCA has limited 120-yard residential plots to ground plus two. Elsewhere, check the zoning table for your area with SBCA.
Q2. What is FAR?
A. Floor area ratio: the total floor area of all floors divided by the plot area. A FAR of 1:2 on a 240-yard plot allows 480 square yards of floors.
Q3. How is building height measured in Karachi?
A. From the highest point of the road crown along the plot's front boundary to the highest point of the building.
Q4. How many floors are allowed in DHA?
A. Basement, ground and one floor on residential plots of every size. Commercial plots follow footprint and FAR limits.
Q5. Can extra floors be regularised?
A. Not if they exceed the maximum permissible height or storeys, or if the building was approved under the 1979 regulations.
Q6. Why do neighbouring buildings have more floors?
A. They may sit on wider roads or commercial plots with different limits, or they may be illegal. Check their approvals rather than assuming the same applies to you.
Q7. Where can I get the zoning limits for my plot?
A. From SBCA's town office or a licensed architect, who can apply the KBTPR zoning table for your area, plot category, use and road width.
This guide is for general information. KBTPR zoning limits vary by area, use and road width and are not fully published online, and buyers and owners should confirm the limits for any plot with SBCA, the cantonment board or DHA, and a licensed architect before building or buying.