How Much You May Build on a DHA Plot — setbacks and coverage
Every field, the formula behind it, and a worked example.
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Help › The calculators › How much you may build
Two separate limits sit on every plot, and people usually only remember one. The setbacks take their bite out of the ground first; the by-law's coverage percentage applies after that. Whichever is smaller is what you actually get.
Open this calculator01
When to use it
Before you commission a design, and before you buy a narrow plot. A plot that is 5 feet narrower than its neighbour can lose far more than 5 feet of buildable ground once both side setbacks come off.
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Every field, explained
| Plot width (feet) | The side facing the road. A DHA 10 marla plot is commonly 35 x 65 ft and 1 kanal 50 x 90 — but measure your own, because cuttings vary. |
| Plot depth (feet) | Front to back. |
| Front setback (feet) | From DHA's by-laws for your plot category. Not from what the neighbour built. |
| Rear setback (feet) | Same source. Rear setbacks are the ones most often ignored on site. |
| Each side setback (feet) | Entered once, counted twice — once on each side. |
| Coverage the by-laws allow (%) | The second limit: the share of the whole plot you may cover on the ground floor. DHA's figure, by category. We do not print it. |
| Floors allowed | How many floors your category permits. Used only for the total covered area. |
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How the answer is worked out
- Plot area = width x depth.
- What the setbacks leave = (width - 2 x side) x (depth - front - rear).
- What the by-law allows = plot area x coverage %.
- What you may build on is the smaller of those two — and the page tells you which one is binding you, because that decides what to do about it.
- Total covered area = that footprint x the number of floors.
A 10 marla plot
| Plot | 35 x 65 ft = 2,275 sq ft |
| Front / rear setback | 5 ft / 5 ft |
| Each side | 0 ft |
| Coverage allowed | 80% |
| Setbacks leave | 35 x 55 = 1,925 sq ft |
| By-law allows | 2,275 x 80% = 1,820 sq ft |
1,820 sq ft — the coverage limit is what binds here, not the setbacks. You have 105 sq ft of ground you are not permitted to build on. Over two floors that is 3,640 sq ft of covered area.
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Mistakes people make
- Entering the side setback twice by doubling it yourself. Enter it once.
- Copying setbacks from a neighbour's completed house. His category, or his year, may not be yours.
- Forgetting that the coverage percentage is of the whole plot, not of what the setbacks left.
- Designing before the by-laws are in hand. Redrawing costs more than asking.
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What it does not do
- It does not know your category's by-laws — every figure is yours to supply.
- It does not handle corner plots, park-facing rules, basements, mumty or projections.
- It is not an approval. DHA's map approval is the only thing that is.
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Questions
- Which limit usually binds?
- Does the basement count?
- Is the marla figure exact?
On regular plots the coverage percentage usually binds. On narrow or shallow plots the setbacks do — and that is where the losses are big.
By-laws treat basements separately, and this calculator does not include one. Ask your architect.
It uses 225 sq ft to a marla, which is the standard here. Your plot's registered area on DHA's record is the one that counts.