JUDGMENT : Petitioner has constructed a five storied mercantile-cum-residential building within the limits of the Corporation of Kochi (the Corporation). Ext.P1 is the building permit issued to the petitioner by the Corporation on 18.01.2014. Before obtaining Ext.P1 building permit, the petitioner has obtained through the Corporation, No Objection Certificate from the Fire and Rescue Services Department of the State Government for the construction proposed. The height of the building proposed by the petitioner as per the plan submitted for building permit as also for No Objection Certificate of the Fire and Rescue Services Department was 14.95 meters. After the construction, the petitioner applied for occupancy certificate. When the petitioner applied for occupancy certificate, the Corporation requested the first respondent, the competent authority to issue the final No Objection Certificate of the Fire and Rescue Services Department for the building. Ext.P2 is the communication sent by the Corporation to the first respondent in this connection. Ext.P3 is the reply to Ext.P2 communication received by the Assistant Executive Engineer of the Corporation. As per Ext.P3, the first respondent required the Corporation to ascertain and report the height of the building. Ext.P4 is the reply to Ext.P3 communication sent by the Corporation to the first respondent. In Ext.P4 reply, the Corporation stated that the height of the building is 14.95 meters from the ground floor and 15.85 meters from the level of the adjoining street. Fire safety measures to be adopted for buildings having a height above 15 meters and below 15 meters, are different. In so far as the height of the building of the petitioner was found to be above 15 meters from the level of the adjoining street, the first respondent took the view that the petitioner has to adopt fire safety measures to be adopted for buildings having a height above 15 meters. Ext.P5 is the communication issued by the first respondent in this connection. Ext.P5 is under challenge in the writ petition. 2. Ext.P5 is the communication issued by the first respondent in this connection. Ext.P5 is under challenge in the writ petition. 2. According to the petitioner, the requirements concerning fire safety measures to be adopted in buildings are the requirements provided for in Part IV of the National Building Code of India in terms of Rule 44 of the Kerala Municipality Building Rules, 1999 (the Rules); that Part IV of the National Building Code of India provides the manner in which the height of the building is to be ascertained for the purpose of adopting fire safety measures; that the height of the building is to be ascertained from the average level of the ground around and contiguous to the building to the terrace of the last visible floor of the building adjacent to the external wall in terms of the National Building Code of India and that if the height of the building is measured in the said manner, the building of the petitioner can be considered only as a building having a height less than 15 meters. 3. A statement has been filed by the first respondent. The stand taken by the first respondent in the statement is that the height of the building has been arrived at by the Fire and Rescue Services Department as provided for under Rule 2(aq) of the Rules. 4. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as also the learned Government Pleader. 5. The height of the building of the petitioner is 14.95 meters from the ground around and contiguous to the building and 15.85 meters from the level of the adjoining street. These measurements are not in dispute. The issue is as to which of these measurements has to be reckoned for the purpose of considering the request of the petitioner for grant of final No Objection Certificate of the Fire and Rescue Services Department. 6. These measurements are not in dispute. The issue is as to which of these measurements has to be reckoned for the purpose of considering the request of the petitioner for grant of final No Objection Certificate of the Fire and Rescue Services Department. 6. Rule 2(aq) of the Rules defines 'height of building' thus: “height of building” means the vertical distance measured [from the average level of the centre line of the adjoining street in the case where the plot abuts the street and average level of the adjoining ground in all other cases; (i) in the case of flat roofs, to the highest point of the building adjacent to the street wall; (ii) in the case of pitched roofs, to the point where the external surface of the outer wall intersects the finished surface of the slopping roof; (iii) in the case of gabled roofs, to the midpoint between the eves level and the ridge; and (iv) in the case of dommed roofs, to the [highest point of the dome]: Provided that architectural features serving no other function except that of decoration shall be excluded for the purpose of taking heights.” In so far as the Rules define 'height of building', the said definition has to be taken into account for ascertaining the height of the buildings for the purposes of the Rules. Obligation is created to provide and adopt fire safety measures in buildings in accordance with the provisions contained in the Rules. Final No Objection of the Fire and Rescue Services Department is insisted for buildings in order to satisfy that all the required fire safety measures have been adopted in the buildings. As such, according to me, the definition of the 'height of building' as contained in the Rules has to be considered for grant of final No Objection Certificate of the Fire and Rescue Services Department. Ext.P5 communication is, therefore, in order. 7. As noted above, the contention of the petitioner is that the requirements concerning fire safety measures to be adopted in the buildings are the requirements provided for in Part IV of the National Building Code of India in terms of Rule 44 of the Rules and therefore, the height of the building has to be reckoned for satisfying compliance of fire safety measures as provided for in Part IV of the National Building Code of India. Part IV of the National Building Code of India defines 'height of building' thus: “Building, Height of: The vertical distance measured in the case of flat roofs, from the average level of the ground around and contiguous to the building to the terrace of the last livable floor of the building adjacent to the external wall; and in the case of pitched roof upto the point where the external surface of the outer wall intersects the finished surface of the sloping roof, and in the case of gables facing the road, the mid point between the eaves level and the ridge. Architectural features serving no other function except that of decoration, shall be excluded for the purpose of measuring heights.” If the aforesaid definition is considered, the building of the petitioner can be considered as a building having a height less than 15 meters. The question is whether the said definition has been adopted in the Rules in terms of Rule 44 for the purpose of compliance of fire safety measures. Rule 44 of the Rules reads thus: “Fire Protection requirements -All requirements in respect of fire protection shall be as in Part IV, Fire Protection in National Building Code of India, 1983 and amendment No.3 under Fire Protection Annexure II.” It is explicit from the extracted Rule that what is adopted in terms of the said provision from the National Building Code of India is `the requirements in respect of fire protection'. The height of the building is not a requirement of fire protection. The height of the building is only one of the criteria for deciding the requirement of fire protection. It is, therefore, clear that the height of the building as contained in the National Building Code of India has not been adopted in the Rules in terms of Rule 44 of the Rules for the purpose of compliance of fire safety measures. It is all the more so since the National Building Code of India is only a code of guidelines. It does not have any statutory force. It acquires force of law only when it is adopted in the Rules by following the legislative process. The height of the building as contained in the Rules, on the other hand, is a provision adopted in the Rules in public interest having regard to the peculiarity of the situations prevailing in the State. It acquires force of law only when it is adopted in the Rules by following the legislative process. The height of the building as contained in the Rules, on the other hand, is a provision adopted in the Rules in public interest having regard to the peculiarity of the situations prevailing in the State. I am inclined to take the said view also for the reason that provisions made in public interest are required to be interpreted in a manner which promotes public interest, for, if the contention of the petitioner is not accepted, the consequence is only that the petitioner has to provide additional safety measures in the building. There is, therefore, no merit in the writ petition and the same is, accordingly, dismissed.