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Construction Requirement for a CBSE / ICSE School

Once you are familiar with the Land Requirement for CBSE the next question is how much to construct.

So a regular Budget School today provisions for the following;

  1. Class Rooms – Based on Classes the School is starting with and the Section they are looking to start
  2. Office – Management, Admission, Accounts, Principal, Vice Principal, Coordinator, Counsellor
  3. Big Rooms – Library, Computer Lab, Dance Studio, Music Room, Craft & Art Room, Staff Room
  4. Miscellaneous Rooms – Exam Department, Stores,
  5. Toilets – Boys, Girls, Staff
  6. Assembly Hall / Ground
  7. Play Area – Swings, Slides, Merry go round and other outdoor play equipments
  8. Playground / Courts

I am trying below an approximate Sq Feet one has to build to accommodate all the above except 7 & 8.

Classroom Size: If one has to go through the bye law it says

“Class rooms – minimum size should be 8 m x 6 m (approx 500. sq. ft.).

(ii) Science Labs. (Composite for Secondary or/and separate Physics, Chemistry and Biology for Senior Secondary)- minimum size should be 9 m.x 6 m. each(approx 600 sq. ft) and fully equipped.

(iii) Library – minimum size should be 14 m.x 8 m. fully equipped and with reading room facility.

(iv) Computer Lab. and Math Lab. – No minimum size is prescribed, however, the school should have separate provision for each

(v) Rooms for extra curricular activities – either separate rooms for music, dance, arts & sports or one multi purpose hall for all these activities should be available.

The 500 Sq Feet Classroom is easy enough to make sir 35 ~ 40 students at a time. So here is the maths of total Square Feet of Construction

Assumption:

  • The School is starting from Nursery – Class VII
  • School is starting with 2 section each
  • School is building all the above mentioned point in the beginning of this post.
  • We will do all the calculation by taking unit as One Classroom which measure 500 Sq feet

Total No of Classrooms with two sections each – 20

Library – Double of a classroom – 2

Labs – Maths Lab & Composite Science Lab – 3

Studio – Art, Music & Dance – 4.5

Management Office, Principals Office – 2

Accounts, Coordinator, Exam Room, Store, Admissions Office  – 3.5

Staff Room – 2

Toilets – 3

So a total of = 40 units of 500 Square feet each

= 20,000 Square Feet

If one has to multiply this 20,000 Sq Feet with a rough estimate of Rs 900 for construction, the fund requirement is around Rs 1.8 Crores or 2 crores.

Nationalised Banks do give loans to Societies / Trust looking to start schools.

Hope this post will help one get a better understanding of the task and the costs

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Abhiney Singh
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45 thoughts on “Construction Requirement for a CBSE / ICSE School”

  1. Dear Abhiney Singh,
    Thank you for such a knowledge and valuable post.

    Regards
    Er.Mohd Areef
    S N MEMORIAL CONVENT SCHOOL

  2. Dear sir s k singh from up, Behraich district, I plan a primary school up to class 5, in village ,how can we calculate money in building ,and norms of room size,for recommendations to any board

    1. Dear Santosh,
      Kindly read my post on the infrastructure required and talk to an architect and a civil engineer post that. The cost of construction should be in the range of Rs 900 – 1400 depending upon the quality of construction.

  3. Dear Sir,
    I have read all your posts. We are a new school started just in 2018 and are affiliated to CBSE. Now we would like to start a hostel in a campus adjacent to to our 2 acre campus. What type of permissions are needed? What are the pre- requisites? can you pl clarify?

  4. Sir,
    Thank you so much for your content..
    For a cbse school upto class 8 , what are the required labs ? Is language lab necessary?

    1. The Language Lab is not mandatory for any school at any stage. The mandatory labs are as follows
      Up till X Standard
      1. Maths Lab
      2. Composite Science Lab
      3. Computer Lab

      For XII Standard
      4. Biology Lab
      5. Physics Lab
      6. Chemistry Lab

  5. Dear Abinay,
    Greetings from Ravi Raju.
    We have just constructed a school to be affiliated to CBSE. To provide better facilities like AC and to minimize the number of students in each class, we reduce the size of the classrooms (around 450 Sqft). Will there be any problem in getting the affiliation if we give the undertaking letter that we will not admit more than 30 students per class?
    Thank you

  6. hello sir
    i am running PUNJAB SCHOOL EDUCATION BOARD SCHOOL is it possible to convert state board affiliation to CBSE OR ICSE.
    THANKS

  7. Dear sir,
    Could you please help me?
    I would like to open new CBSE school only ( class I to VII). What will be start construction of building area in sq ft out of toal 20000 sq ft area?

    1. Dear Pratap,
      There is no minimum requirement in terms of Construction. Few things one needs to keep in mind are Class Room size (500 Sq Ft), Library (1150 sq feet+) & Labs (600 Ft+). Beyond this you can decide appropriately.

    2. Hello sir, I m from AMBALA…and constructing our own school….please help me regarding the revised norms of stairs and ramp width… please guide me…what should be the actual width of these???
      Regards
      Satish goel

    3. Hello sir,
      Greetings from Rajiv Singh Gaur. I am teaching in a reputed school from last 12 years as a PGT physics. Now I am planning to open a school affiliated with CBSE in rural area. What is the basic criteria of land and initially upto which standard I will get affiliation in the starting of my school.
      Accordingly how many minimum classrooms are required.
      Thanks

      1. Dear Rajeev,
        Minimum Land required: 1.5 Acres for the Non-Metros Set up
        Minimum standard of affiliation you can seek from CBSE:Middle School (upto VIII standard)
        Minimum construction: Depending on the section, for Middle class minimum will be about 10 Rooms + Labs + Amenities

  8. Respected Sir
    I want to start a school in sohna i have 3630 sq.yrds plot at 44′ facing road., can i get the affiliation from cbse or haryana board

  9. Is a double door entry for each class room compulsory for CBSE SCHOOLS.

    Will there be any problem in affiliation if there is a single door entry for class rooms?

  10. Sir m apne tehsil m cbse school kholna chahti hu..or meri abhi bhi school chal Rahih …..Rbse medium se …..to ap uska processing bataye

    1. Hello abhinay
      I am planning to start my school upto 12th standard in Gorakhpur Uttar pradesh…can u help me out in providing details about how much land wl b needed…then wat all paper formalities i need to make…alongwid rough estimate about the total cost for building the infrastructure wid all d amenities..
      Looking forward

      Regards
      Priyanka pandey

  11. Sir we are starting new school and need to affiliate for CBSE/ICSE board is there any mandatory the school building should be in any shape like U shape or V shape am totally confused please guide me

    1. Dear Mr Kumar,
      The building could be of any shape you like till the time you are following space norms like 500 square feet for 40 students in the Classroom and Library & Lab norms laid down in the CBSE bye-Laws.

      The Shape has no consequences on the Affiliation.

      1. 4 ADBS DESIGN STUDIO

        There is no norms for shape of building as all school sites are not same. if land available is more, the school can be designed in horizontal span and if space is not more it will be needed to design in vertical span. design shall comply all your requirements (fulfilling number of classrooms, library, labs and office areas) and shape of building is merely skill of designer to arrange these required spaces in aesthetical manner imparting pleasing spaces and nice looking elevations. sometimes topographical sites – slopy sites allow designer to design building in stepped classrooms & corridors which gives different atmosphere and aesthetical ethos. so find good designer – Architect. He will do job for you.

  12. Dear sir, I want to start a cbse school in my village. There is no cbse school surrounding 40km area to my village. I want to start it for only pre-primary. Nur pp1 & pp2. Is there any changes from above guidelines?

  13. Hello
    Is it necessary to provide ramp access to all the floors (for students using wheelchairs), even when the floors can be accessed by a lift?

  14. Dear sir
    Can we run a cbsc primary school in a village of haryana
    Is any affiliation need to run a cbsc primary school. And what’s the procedure to start a cbsc primary school in a village.

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