Roorkee, Uttarakhand : Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee), under the BIS Chair at IIT Roorkee and in association with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), New Delhi, organised a workshop on the National Building Construction Standard (NBCS 2026) at the Lecture Theatre, Water Resources Development and Management (WRDM), IIT Roorkee.
Prof. K.K. Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, was the Chief Guest, while Shri Sanjay Pant, Deputy Director General (Standardization), BIS, New Delhi, presided over the inaugural function. The workshop brought together experts from BIS, IIT Roorkee, and the professional community to deliberate on the provisions, relevance, and implementation of NBCS 2026 and its role in promoting safe, resilient, and quality-oriented construction practices.
Prof. Deepak Khare, BIS Chair Professor at IIT Roorkee, delivered the Welcome Address and outlined the workshop’s significance in strengthening awareness and practical understanding of Indian Standards. He emphasised the importance of greater student engagement with national standards and highlighted IIT Roorkee’s initiatives to involve students through activities such as quizzes, workshops, seminars and other academic engagements, thereby encouraging wider awareness and meaningful application of standards in academic and professional contexts.
The workshop focused on enhancing awareness and understanding of the provisions and applications of the National Building Construction Standard (NBCS 2026). The initiative also highlighted the importance of integrating national standards with academic knowledge, professional practice, research and institutional infrastructure development.
Addressing the gathering, Shri Sanjay Pant, Deputy Director General (Standardization), BIS, New Delhi, highlighted the significance of the updated standards and the need for their effective adoption nationwide. He said, “The National Building Construction Standards 2026 represent an important advancement in strengthening the framework for safe, resilient and quality-oriented construction in the country. Standards can achieve their intended impact only when they are well understood and effectively translated into practice. It is therefore important to raise awareness among students, faculty, architects, engineers and other stakeholders, and to encourage meaningful dialogue about their provisions. IIT Roorkee, with its strong multidisciplinary expertise in engineering, architecture and disaster resilience, provides an ideal platform for such an engagement. The collaboration between BIS and IIT Roorkee will contribute to building greater capacity and promoting the effective implementation of NBC 2026.”
Prof. K.K. Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, emphasized the Institute’s commitment to advancing safe, resilient and sustainable infrastructure through research, education and multidisciplinary collaboration. He said, “IIT Roorkee has a long-standing commitment to strengthening the foundations of safe, resilient and sustainable infrastructure in the country. National standards provide an important framework for achieving these objectives. Through our collaboration with BIS, we seek to connect standards with research, academic expertise and field-level implementation, while equipping our students and professionals with a deeper understanding of evolving construction practices. Such engagements are important for translating technical knowledge into solutions that contribute to a safer and more resilient built environment.”
The workshop also included a felicitation ceremony honouring Shri Sanjay Pant, Deputy Director General (Standardization), BIS, for his pioneering contribution to the development and evolution of the National Building Code (NBC). With more than 35 years of experience in the field of standardization, Shri Sanjay Pant has played an important role in developing, preparing, revising, and updating various BIS Standards, including his continued efforts towards strengthening the NBC. His extensive experience and technical expertise have contributed significantly to the advancement of Indian standards in the country.
The programme also featured a technical session led by experts from the Bureau of Indian Standards and the professional community. Shri Abhishek Pal, Scientist D/Joint Director (Civil Engineering), BIS, presented an “Overview of the National Building Construction Standards (NBCS 2026)”, explaining the key revisions and upgrades introduced in the updated standards. Shri Sandeep Goel presented the “Fire and life safety aspects of NBCS 2026”, highlighting their significance for safer and more resilient building practices. Shri Deepak Aggarwal, Head, Standards Coordination & Monitoring Department (SCMD), BIS, New Delhi, spoke on the “Importance of academia in standardization” and the role of academic institutions in strengthening awareness, research and effective implementation of national standards.
The technical session was followed by an open-house interactive session, providing participants an opportunity to engage with the experts, seek clarifications and discuss practical aspects of NBCS 2026. The interaction encouraged an exchange of perspectives among students, faculty members, researchers and professionals and further strengthened the academic–professional dialogue on standards and their implementation.
The workshop drew participation from faculty members, researchers, students, and professionals across diverse disciplines at IIT Roorkee, reflecting the multidisciplinary relevance of national building standards. Experts and representatives from Civil Engineering, Earthquake Engineering, Disaster Management, WRDM, Hydrology, HRED, Chemical Engineering and Architecture, along with the Infrastructure Works Department (IWD) and Safety, participated in the programme.
As part of the initiative to promote wider engagement with NBCS 2026, IIT Roorkee organised a quiz on the National Building Construction Standard (NBCS 2026) on August 17, 2026. The prizes included ₹15,000 for the first position, ₹10,000 for the second position and ₹5,000 for the third position, along with five consolation prizes of ₹2,000 each. The winners were felicitated during the inaugural session:
First Prize:
• Rahul Bhasin, International Centre of Excellence for Dams (ICED).
Second Prize:
• Sagar Jaiswal, Department of Civil Engineering.
Third Prize:
• Akshat Gupta, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering.
Consolation Prize Winners:
• Rishav Kumar, Department of Mathematics.
• Sushant Rahul, Department of Civil Engineering.
• Anubhav Anuraj, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.
• Mohammad Mehdi Naseri, Department of Civil Engineering.
• Ayush Maurya, Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.
The workshop provided a valuable platform for knowledge exchange among BIS, academia and professional stakeholders, with the technical session and open-house interaction focusing on the relevance of NBCS 2026 to contemporary construction practices, fire and life safety, standardization and institutional engagement.
The initiative reinforces IIT Roorkee’s commitment to contributing its multidisciplinary academic and research expertise towards national priorities in infrastructure development and to strengthening collaboration with BIS for greater awareness and effective adoption of standards.