Wind & Seismic Design Parameters by City or PIN
IS 875 (Part 3) basic wind speed, IS 1893 seismic zone, terrain-category factor and design wind pressure for any site in India — and what those numbers do to the steel weight of a PEB or industrial shed.
Covers 190+ cities and industrial areas by name and every Indian PIN code by prefix.
k2 is read at this height (Table 2 of IS 875-3).
How the lookup works
Type a city, an industrial area (Chakan, Sri City, Butibori, Sanand…) or any 6-digit PIN code. The tool first looks for a listed city — these carry the values printed in Appendix A of IS 875 (Part 3):2015 and Annex E of IS 1893 (Part 1):2016. If the place is not listed it falls back to the district (first three PIN digits) and then the state region (first two digits) read from the code maps, and marks the result as an estimate. Terrain category and building height set k2 from Table 2 of IS 875-3; ticking the cyclone box applies k4 = 1.15 for industrial structures within 60 km of the east coast or the Gujarat coast.
IS 875 basic wind speed zones in India
| Vb | Typical regions | pz at 10 m, category 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 33 m/s | Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hosur, interior south Karnataka | 0.65 kN/m² |
| 39 m/s | Pune, Nashik, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Indore, Bhopal, Raipur, Ranchi, Rourkela, Kerala, Coimbatore, Madurai, Goa, Mangaluru | 0.91 kN/m² |
| 44 m/s | Nagpur, Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, Hyderabad, Vidarbha, Nagaland | 1.16 kN/m² |
| 47 m/s | Delhi NCR, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jabalpur, Jamshedpur, Durgapur, Patna, Tiruchirappalli | 1.33 kN/m² |
| 50 m/s | Chennai, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Nellore, Kutch, Assam and the North-East | 1.50 kN/m² |
| 55 m/s | North Bihar (Darbhanga, Madhubani, Sitamarhi) | 1.82 kN/m² |
Terrain categories and the k2 factor
IS 875-3 Table 2 gives k2 for each terrain category and height. The tool interpolates between the tabulated heights.
| Height | Category 1 | Category 2 | Category 3 | Category 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 m | 1.05 | 1.00 | 0.91 | 0.80 |
| 15 m | 1.09 | 1.05 | 0.97 | 0.80 |
| 20 m | 1.12 | 1.07 | 1.01 | 0.80 |
| 30 m | 1.15 | 1.12 | 1.06 | 0.97 |
A 150 m long multi-span PEB complex we engineered at Konsari, Maharashtra, was designed for 44 m/s with k2 = 1.07 at its 17.3 m end-wall height — exactly the category 2, 20 m value above.
IS 1893 seismic zones and the zone factor Z
- Zone II (Z = 0.10) — Nagpur, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Raipur, Bhopal, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Visakhapatnam, Madurai.
- Zone III (Z = 0.16) — Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Indore, Jabalpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Kochi, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar, Vijayawada, Nellore.
- Zone IV (Z = 0.24) — Delhi NCR, Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Dehradun, Patna, Siliguri, Gangtok, Shimla.
- Zone V (Z = 0.36) — Guwahati and the North-East, Kutch (Bhuj, Gandhidham, Mundra), Srinagar, Kangra, Mandi, Darbhanga, Port Blair.
For a steel shed the design horizontal seismic coefficient is Ah = (Z/2)(I/R)(Sa/g) with R = 4–5 for moment frames or braced frames detailed to IS 800. Because PEB mass is small, wind usually governs the frames; seismic governs crane buildings, mezzanines and RCC-roofed structures in zones IV and V.
What the parameters do to steel weight
Wind pressure is proportional to Vz². Purlins, girts, sheeting fixings, bracing and anchor bolts respond almost one-to-one to pressure; primary frames respond less because roof dead and live loads share the governing combination. The tool therefore shows three separate percentages against a 44 m/s, category 2 baseline. Terrain matters as much as wind zone: the same 47 m/s site drops from 1.33 kN/m² in open country to 0.85 kN/m² inside a dense city block.
To turn the parameters into tonnage use the steel tonnage benchmark sheet (delivered kg/m² by span, eave height, crane duty and wind zone) or the quick estimate. The high-wind design guide and the PEB foundation guide cover the detailing that follows.
Frequently asked questions
Where do the wind speed and seismic zone values come from?
Basic wind speeds follow IS 875 (Part 3):2015 — Appendix A for listed cities and the wind-zone map elsewhere. Seismic zones follow IS 1893 (Part 1):2016 Annex E and the zone map. Where a city is not listed in the code, the tool uses the surrounding district or state value and marks it as an estimate to verify.
Which terrain category should I choose for an industrial plot?
Most greenfield industrial plots and MIDC/SIPCOT estates with scattered low buildings are terrain category 2. Densely built industrial estates and suburbs with buildings up to about 10 m are category 3. Open coastal flats and treeless plains are category 1; large city centres are category 4. When in doubt, category 2 is the conservative choice for a shed.
How does a higher wind speed change the steel weight of a PEB?
Wind pressure rises with the square of the wind speed, so moving from 39 m/s to 50 m/s raises design pressure by about 64 %. Purlins, girts, cladding fixings, bracing and anchor bolts respond almost directly; primary frames respond less because gravity loads still govern rafters. Across a typical clear-span shed this is roughly 10–20 % more structural steel.
Does the seismic zone govern the design of a steel shed?
For light pre-engineered sheds wind normally governs the lateral design even in zone IV, because the building mass is low. Seismic forces start to govern when the structure carries heavy mass — EOT cranes, mezzanine floors, RCC roofs, process equipment or tall masonry walls — and in zone V. IS 1893 ductile-detailing rules still apply to connections and bracing in zones IV and V.
Can I use these numbers for the final structural design?
No. The lookup gives planning-stage parameters. The final design must use the IS 875 and IS 1893 values confirmed for the exact site, the topography factor k3 for hills and escarpments, the cyclonic importance factor k4 within 60 km of the east coast and Gujarat coast, and the soil type from a geotechnical report.
What happens after I click “Get a design to these parameters”?
The parameters and your building brief go to the MAXXINFRA engineering team. We return a preliminary frame scheme, indicative tonnage and budget within 24–48 hours, with no obligation.
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