Mumbai’s new draft policy and SOP talk tough to OOH advertisers

Weeks after the Ghatkopar hoarding tragedy, Mumbai's civic body has come up with a stringent draft policy for Out-of-Home advertising (OOH) which not only encompass hoardings on roads and highways but also brings all outdoor advertisements under its purview including business premises, skywalks, balloons, and stationary vehicles. 

Norms for digital screens, which often face criticism for their alleged adverse impact on drivers, have also been framed to stipulate time limits (11 pm switch off), maximum illumination, contrast, and height of Digital OOH, according to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) sources.

A special squad will monitor if the Digital screens are following the norms. License of violators to be cancelled. Notably, Mumbai has the largest number of DOOH billboards (67) in India. 

Hoardings are permitted up to 40 feet in width within BMC limits, with QR codes mandated for agency information. 

The BMC draft policy proposes a minimum distance of 70m between two large hoardings, 30m between small boards and stationary vehicles, and 10 ft for skywalks and foot over-bridges. The previous 2016 norms did not specify hoarding types and set a uniform minimum distance of 100m between billboards on the same side of the road. 

"In a dense city like Mumbai, a 100m gap may not be effective for advertising purposes, hence, we have proposed a 70m gap," officials said, adding that stakeholders' feedback is still pending. 

To promote electricity conservation, the policy suggests that all outdoor advertising devices draw power from renewable resources like solar energy. 

“The draft policy has not been made public due to the model code of conduct. BMC teams are currently meeting domain experts to finalize the draft, which is likely to be released in a week,” a senior official said.

However, the Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) for the outdoor industry, prescribing stringent norms to ensure the structural stability of hoardings, has been finalized. 

Vetted by IIT Bombay and VJTI, the SOP document titled “Guidelines for Design, Audit, Inspection and Certification for Stability of Hoarding Structures” (Hoarding Structure Stability Guidelines-HSSG), aims to ensure structural stability and safety, promoting a standardized approach to design, audit, inspection, and maintenance.

The SOP mandates structural audits of all hoardings every two years and geotechnical audits every five years. The maximum allowable life for hoardings will be 50 years from the first approval.

Separate SOP has been issued for existing hoardings.

Draft SOP for new hoardings 

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Requirements: 

*Any special precautions pertaining to the structure's location shall be listed in this section.

*Geometry and Google Location of the structure shall be recorded in the design basis report.

*Design codes being adhered to shall be listed. The following design codes shall be referred to during the design of the Hoarding structure:

*IS 456:2000 plain and reinforced concrete- code of practice

*IS 800: 2007 general construction in steel -code of practice

*IS 875: 1987 code of practice for design loads (other than earthquake) for buildings and structures (part 1 dead loads unit weights of building materials and stored materials)

*IS 875:2015 code of practice for design loads (other than earthquake) for buildings and structures (part 3 wind loads)

*IS 1893: part 1 to 4 criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures

*IS 2062- 2011 hot rolled medium and high tensile structural steel-specification

*IS 816: 1969 code of practice for use of metal arc welding for general construction in mild steel

The above list is not exhaustive and additional technical documents/literature/ codes/guidelines referred by the designer shall be clearly mentioned in the dbr.

*Details of the design loads: Dead loads, Live loads, Collateral loads, Wind loads, and Seismic loads. (Mention codal clause for each load parameter)

*Material data regarding the grades and conforming codes.

*Geotechnical investigation report (including location map for boreholes) with the specific recommendation for the type of foundation by Geotechnical consultant shall be a part of DBR. Borehole location should be located within 5m of the center of the foundation.

*The analysis software shall be listed and the input file for analysis software shall be included in the Appendix of the report.

*The analysis results shall be included in the structural design basis report as the end chapter to provide details regarding the results for the safety of the provided member sizes.

*Details for connection design in accordance with the Indian standards shall be provided along with DBR.

*Type of anti corrosion protection i.e., metalizing process or with zinc-rich primer over the structural steel members.

Drawings to be submitted

1. Site location plan with the mention of CTS No.

2. General Arrangement drawings.

3. Foundation and pedestal drawings.

4. Columns and superstructure drawings.

5. Fabrication drawing.

Guidelines

In addition to the above, the following shall be strictly followed in the design of hoarding structures:

1. The Consultant to ensure that the building structure does not fall in C1 & C2A category for erecting hoarding on it.

2) The Consultant to ensure & comply that the buildings with age more than 30 years will be required to submit the audit report and the audited building with C3 and C2B category will be only permitted for the hoarding, whereas in C2B category building after repairs within the 90 days after audit certification along with the Licensed Site Supervisor's certification hoarding shall be permitted for the building portion not under distress as certified by the Structural Consultant.

3)The Consultant to ensure & comply that buildings with age less than 30 years will be required to submit the audit report with the stability certification by Structural Consultant, considering the requirement of repairs, if any, completed within the 90 days of audit certification along with the Licensed Site Supervisor's certification.

4)Certificate from the Geotechnical consultant with regards to the suitability of the foundation.

5)Certification from the licensed Site Supervisor for the completion of work as per design.

6)Certificate of the structural consultant with regards to structural stability of newly constructed hoarding.

7) Certificate from Electrical licensed contractor certifying electrical wiring, fittings, and fixtures with special mention of adequacy of earthing.

8) Maximum allowable life for the hoardings will be 50 years from the first approval for the new structure.

9) Submit as-built drawings of the new hoarding.

10) Provisions for the climbing arrangement for regular inspection of the hoarding structure.

11) Perforated sheets to be used for the new hoardings.

12) 50% of the panels (perforated sheets) should have an arrangement for removal and stacking within the hoarding structure (Provision of removing the panels to allow reduction of the 50% wind pressure during the cyclonic conditions). Hence bolted connections are recommended with the locking nut provisions for safety. Allow existing hoarding to comply with this condition within two years.

13) All the welding shall be shop welded. On-site only bolting may be allowed. The structure may be assembled with Bolted/Riveted connections.

14) Test reports and manufacturer's certificate, and test report of material used for construction/fabrication of the hoarding.

15) Structural Consultants certification for the used Steel material on the basis of procurement of steel as per IS certified materials.

16) All other existing norms/bylaws/approvals/criteria/procedures enacted by competent authorities shall be complied with.

17) The supporting structure should have a non-reflective finish to prevent glare.

18) No generator running on diesel/petrol/kerosene or any biofuel causing noise, air, or water pollution would be allowed to provide power for illumination of any other advertising device.

19) To promote the conservation of electricity, the illumination at all outdoor advertising devices may draw power from alternate renewable resources like solar power.

20) No cladding allowed for the hoardings as the same will make it complex to inspect any member.

Tests on concrete:

Cube compression test.

Test on reinforcement steel

Tensile test including bend, rebend and weight per meter.

Test on structural steel

Tensile test including weight per meter.

Cross-sectional dimensions with thickness.

Test on welded connections

Dye penetration test.

Magnetic particle inspection test.

Guidelines for Existing Hoarding

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Draft SOP for existing hoardings

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Documents to be submitted

1)Site layout plan.

2)Google map location.

3)As Built drawings.

4)Detailed structural audit report.

5)Certificate from Geotechnical consultant with regards to the suitability of the existing foundation after every five terms of renewal or 10 years.

6)Certificate from structural consultant with regard to the stability of hoarding structure after every renewal of 2 years.

7)Report on details of repairs carried out.

8)Certificate from Electrical licensed contractor certifying electrical wiring, fittings, and fixtures with special mention of adequacy of earthing.

9) For hoarding on the building, the stability certification from the original consultant, who had designed the building. In the absence of the availability of the original consultant, the stability certification should be received from a registered consultant and verified from an educational institute from any of IT/VJTI/SPCE.

10) DBR after every 10 years.

11) The Consultant to ensure that the building structure does not fall in C1 & C2A category for erecting hoarding on it.

12) The Consultant to ensure & comply that the buildings with age more than 30 years will be required to submit the audit report and the audited building with C3 and C2B category will be only permitted for the hoarding, whereas in C2B category building after repairs within the 90 days after audit certification along with the Licensed Site Supervisor's certification & hoarding shall be permitted for the building portion not under distress as certified by Structural Consultant.

13) The Consultant to ensure & comply that buildings with age less than 30 years will be required to submit the audit report with the stability certification by Structural Consultant, considering the requirement of repairs, if any, completed within the 90 days of audit certification along with the Licensed Site Supervisor's certification.

14) No cladding allowed for the hoardings as the same will make it complex to inspect any member.

15)All other existing norms/bylaws/approvals/criteria/procedures enacted by competent authorities shall be complied with.

16) The supporting structure should have a non-reflective finish to prevent glare.

17) No generator running on diesel/petrol/kerosene or any bio-fuel causing noise, air, or water pollution would be allowed to provide power for the illumination of any other advertising device.

18) To promote the conservation of electricity, the illumination at all outdoor advertising devices may draw power from alternate renewable resources like solar power.

Structural audit report 

The following points shall be incorporated in the structural audit report:

1. Google location map. 

2. Brief about the existing hoarding including age of hoarding, type of structure, etc. 

3. As Built drawing of the Foundation and Hoarding superstructure. 

4. Thickness measurement using ultrasonic thickness gauge (15-20 % of steel members). 

5. Test of welded connections using Dye penetration test and magnetic particle inspection test. 

6. Photographs showing the condition of the members, joints, base plate and connection at footing. 

7. Tilt of the structure if any shall be measured and mentioned in the report. 

8. Condition of the Painting/ Anti-corrosion coatings. 

9. Specific recommendations for repairs of superstructure, columns and foundation as the case may be. 

10. Specific recommendation for anti-corrosive coating/paint. 

11. Specific mention of the period within which the repair should be initiated. 

12. Compliance of the repairs recommended/ suggested by the consultant. 

13. Photographs after repairs.