Risk & Legal · Property
SBCA approved projects list for Karachi flats: where sale NOCs are posted, what to ask the builder for, and why 'SBCA approved' in an ad proves nothing.
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SBCA posts one page per year, 2010 to 2026, of Public Sale Projects (Buildings), each row giving the builder, location, project name and an NOC reference for Sale and Advertisement. To check a Karachi flat project, ask the builder for the NOC number and approved plan number, match them to those pages, and ask for the completion certificate if flats are ready. A listing saying 'SBCA approved' is the seller's claim, not a record. As of 7 November 2026, SBCA's dangerous-buildings file gives district counts only.
To check whether a flat project in Karachi is SBCA approved, ask the builder for the NOC number for Sale and Advertisement and the approved plan number, then match them to SBCA’s own “Public Sale Projects (Buildings)” pages, the SBCA approved projects list for flats. SBCA, the Sindh Building Control Authority, posts one page for each year from 2010 to 2026. We read all 17 on 7 November 2026. A listing that only says “SBCA approved” is the seller’s claim, not a record.
On sbca.gos.pk, open Public Sale Projects (Buildings) and pick the year. Each row gives the plot or location, the builder, the project name and an SBCA reference with a date, for example SBCA/DD(PSA&C)/301/Adv-08/2024. The pages show no last-updated date.
There is a second set of pages, Public Sale Projects (Housing Scheme), for plot schemes from 2021 to 2026. Those are covered in illegal housing societies in Karachi. A flat project belongs on the Buildings pages.
The reference is what you match. The builder’s name and the project name can differ from the advert, so compare the plot, the sector and the number.
If the builder cannot give you a number, stop and say so. SBCA’s illegal-societies notices say it granted no NOC for Sale and Advertisement to the projects listed and that it will not act as arbitrator in a dispute.
It decides whether you can register the flat and get utilities. In March 2017, Dawn reported, a Sindh High Court bench restricted registration of a sale deed, lease deed or sub-lease unless SBCA had issued the completion plan. Karachi’s District Registrar told the court no sub-registrar would register such a deed without one, under section 18-G of the SBCA Ordinance 1979.
In July 2025 Dawn reported that K-Electric, SSGC and the water board would not connect a building without a proper completion certificate. It also reported that no sub-registrar would issue leases or sub-leases without it. That is a news report of a meeting, so ask SBCA how the rule applies to your building.
A completion certificate is not a safety guarantee. Dawn reported on 16 July 2025, after the Lyari collapse killed 27 people, that the Sindh local government minister said some buildings may have been wrongly classed as hazardous and ordered a fresh survey. Approval papers tell you the building went through a process, not that it is sound.
Not by name. SBCA’s file, dated 18 August 2026, counts 601 dangerous buildings by district: South 459 (including 122 heritage), Central 73, Keamari 28, Korangi 18, East 16, Malir 5 and West 2. It lists no addresses.
The figure differs from the 588 that SBCA gave the Public Accounts Committee, which Dawn reported on 29 July 2026. We could not tell from either source why. For an older building, ask SBCA in writing whether it is on the list.
A reader asked us on 7 November 2026 whether Fatima Ali Tower in Scheme 33 is approved. Lamudi and Zameen listings place it in Gulzar-e-Hijri, Sector 25-B. One Lamudi listing says “SBCA approved” and “Leased available”, asks Rs 1.95 crore for a 1,450 sq ft three-bedroom flat, and gives no builder, plan number or NOC number.
We searched the text of all 17 SBCA building pages, 2010 to 2026, and found no project named Fatima Ali Tower. Other projects with “Fatima” in the name appear, but they are in other areas. The one Sector 25-B row in Scheme 33 is a different project, from 2020. Fatima Ali Tower is not among the names we read in SBCA’s illegal-societies PDF either.
If you are building on a plot you own instead, see SBCA building plan approval.
More guides: Illegal housing societies in Karachi · Verify property ownership · Property fraud in Pakistan · Property
Yes. SBCA's Public Sale Projects (Buildings) pages run year by year from 2010 to 2026 and show the builder, location, project name and NOC reference. They carry no last-updated date, so treat a missing name as a question to put to the builder, not as a final answer.
Ask the builder for the NOC number for Sale and Advertisement and the approved plan number. SBCA's illegal-societies notices say no such NOC was granted to the listed projects and warn the public not to book or buy. Do not pay until the builder gives you a number you can match.
No. The approved plan lets the builder build. The completion plan or certificate confirms the building matches that plan, and the Sindh High Court ruled in 2017 that no sale deed, lease deed or sub-lease is registered without it.
Not from the file SBCA posts. Its summary of 18 August 2026 gives district counts only (601 buildings), with no names or addresses. Ask SBCA directly if the building is old.
Photo: King Eliot / CC BY-SA 4.0
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