This Housing report looks at housing typologies in India, with a focus on rural mud houses with a pitched roof.
This is a typical rural construction found throughout India, except in the high rainfall areas in the northeastern part of the country. It is a single-family house, mainly occupied by the poorer segment of the population. The main load-bearing system consists of mud walls, which carry the roof load. In some cases wooden posts are provided at the wall corners and at intermediate locations. The wooden posts and walls are not structurally integrated, and therefore the loads are shared by the walls and the frame. There are very few openings (doors and windows) in these buildings. In rural areas there are usually no windows at all. In general, this type of construction is built by the owners and local unskilled masons and the craftsmanship is very poor. This building type is classified as grade-A (most vulnerable) per the IAEE building classification and IS Code 1893:1984. This is a low-strength masonry construction and it is considered extremely vulnerable to seismic forces.