SBCA Dangerous Buildings List: Karachi District by District

Karachi has close to 600 buildings that the Sindh Building Control Authority has declared dangerous, and three out of four of them are in one district. The list is not an abstract safety record. It decides which buildings occupants are told to vacate, which are approved for demolition, and which flats and shops a buyer should never pay for, whatever the price.

A building on the list fails the building layer of any purchase. Our guide on how to verify property in Karachi explains that every Karachi property has to clear land, building and title checks, and a dangerous-building declaration is the most serious building-layer finding there is, because it can end with the building demolished and its occupants ejected.

This guide sets out the latest SBCA figures district by district, how the list has changed since the July 2025 Lyari collapse, the law behind it, what happens to owners and tenants, and how to check a building before you buy or rent.

What "dangerous" means under the law

The Sindh Building Control Ordinance 1979 gives SBCA two powers over unsafe buildings.

Under section 14 of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, the cost of demolition can be recovered from the owner as arrears of land revenue. The declarations themselves are made by SBCA's technical committee on dangerous buildings.

The latest Karachi list, district by district

SBCA's July 2026 pre-monsoon notice declared 589 Karachi buildings dangerous and asked occupants to vacate immediately.

The district figures reported with the notice add up to 553, 36 fewer than the announced total. Buyers should treat the district split as indicative and check any specific building directly with SBCA.

Inside District South

District South holds most of Karachi's old city, and most of its dangerous buildings. The July 2026 notice listed these quarters with the highest counts:

Many of these quarters are city survey areas whose records sit with the Board of Revenue, and many of the buildings are protected heritage structures.

How the list has changed since the Lyari collapse

On 4 July 2025, a five-storey building in Baghdadi, Lyari collapsed, killing 27 people. SBCA had declared it hazardous as early as 2023 and served several evacuation notices, the last in late June 2025, while about 12 families still lived there. The SBCA director general was suspended, an FIR named SBCA officials and the owner, and the government ordered a review of every dangerous building in the city.

Across Sindh, SBCA reported 715 dangerous buildings in December 2025, including 81 in Hyderabad and 60 in Sukkur. In July 2026 it told the Sindh Assembly's Public Accounts Committee that its technical committee had declared 741 buildings dangerous across the province, 588 of them in Karachi.

Heritage buildings: a separate problem

Many listed buildings are protected heritage structures, which SBCA cannot demolish without a no-objection certificate from the culture department's heritage committee. The July 2026 notice counted 117 protected heritage buildings on the Karachi list. In the same month, SBCA told the Public Accounts Committee that 444 of Karachi's dangerous buildings are heritage structures. The two figures appear to use different definitions, and the committee summoned the heritage committee to explain.

For a buyer, the point is the same either way. A heritage building on the dangerous list can neither be easily repaired nor easily demolished, which can leave it in limbo for years.

What happens to owners and occupants

Progress has been slow. SBCA told the Public Accounts Committee in July 2026 that 59 dangerous buildings had been evacuated and demolition approved for 39, with many residents refusing to leave until they receive alternative housing. After the Lyari collapse, about 300 families evicted from 56 extremely dangerous buildings were given Rs30,000 a month in rental assistance for three months.

The law protects the building, not the buyer. In earlier cases on illegal construction, our guide on the SBCA completion certificate shows how courts have ordered occupants ejected and floors demolished regardless of what they paid.

How to check a building before you buy or rent

1. Ask SBCA directly whether the building appears on its current dangerous buildings list, by address and plot number.
2. Check the quarter. If the building is in Lyari, Saddar, Rambagh, Ranchore Line or another old city quarter, treat the check as essential.
3. Ask the neighbours and the building's union whether any SBCA notice or warning banner has been posted.
4. Look at the structure. Cracked columns, exposed or rusted steel, sagging slabs and water seepage into the frame are warning signs.
5. Check the approvals. A building with extra floors added without approval carries more structural risk and no completion plan.
6. Check heritage status. A protected building has its own restrictions on repair and demolition.
7. Get a structural engineer's report for any older building before paying.

Commercial buildings carry a related risk. Our report on the Gul Plaza fire probe and commercial building safety shows how management and approval failures can surface only after a disaster.

What the numbers show: Milkiyat.com findings

District South holds about four in five listed buildings. On the July 2026 district figures: 447 ÷ 553 = about 81%. Lyari Quarters alone account for 97 ÷ 447 = about 22% of South's total.

The list has grown by 49 buildings since October 2025. From 540 to 589: 589 − 540 = 49, an increase of about 9.1%. District South rose from 407 to 447, an increase of 40, or about 9.8%.

Karachi carries about four-fifths of Sindh's dangerous buildings. 588 ÷ 741 = about 79% of the province's total.

Only about one in ten has been evacuated. 59 ÷ 588 = about 10% evacuated, and 39 ÷ 588 = about 6.6% approved for demolition, a year after the Lyari collapse.

Rental assistance covered about three months. Rs30,000 × 3 months = Rs90,000 per family. For about 300 families: 300 × Rs90,000 = about Rs27 million in total.

The Lyari building stood for about two years after its warning. Declared hazardous in 2023 and collapsing in July 2025, with families still inside.

Checklist before you buy or rent

Frequently asked questions

Q1. How many dangerous buildings are there in Karachi?

A. SBCA's July 2026 pre-monsoon notice declared 589 Karachi buildings dangerous. SBCA told the Sindh PAC the same month that 588 of Sindh's 741 dangerous buildings are in Karachi.

Q2. Which district has the most dangerous buildings?

A. District South, with 447 in the July 2026 figures, led by Lyari Quarters with 97.

Q3. What law allows SBCA to declare a building dangerous?

A. Sections 7-F and 14 of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance 1979, which allow SBCA to bar occupation, order repairs or demolition, and eject occupiers after a hearing.

Q4. Can I appeal an SBCA dangerous building order?

A. Yes. Section 16 of the Ordinance allows an appeal to the government within 30 days of the order.

Q5. Can a heritage building on the list be demolished?

A. Only with a no-objection certificate from the culture department's heritage committee.

Q6. Should I buy a flat in a building on the dangerous list?

A. No. A listed building can be evacuated and demolished, and occupants have been ejected regardless of what they paid.

Q7. How do I check if a building is on the list?

A. Ask SBCA directly by address and plot number, check for notices on site, and get an independent structural engineer's report.

This guide is for general information. The dangerous buildings list changes as SBCA surveys, evacuates and demolishes buildings, and buyers and tenants should confirm the status of any building directly with SBCA and a qualified structural engineer and lawyer before paying.

Sources

• Sindh Building Control Authority, official website
• Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations 2002
• Sindh High Court, C.P. No. D-2489 of 2023, order on demolition of unapproved floors