Architects & Builders in Capital Smart City Islamabad: Avenir Developments
Capital Smart City · M-2 Motorway · Rawalpindi
Architects and House Builders in Capital Smart City
Avenir Developments designs and builds houses on Capital Smart City plots from 5 Marla to 2 Kanal. Every drawing is set to the society's revised building byelaws of July 2026 and prepared for its Building Control Department in the RDA format the department asks for.
Capital Smart City has its own byelaws, its own approval office and a six-month deadline to start building once possession is handed over. This page sets out what those rules let you build, what it costs at Q4 2026 rates, and the order of work that keeps the six months on your side.
- 5 Marla to 2 KanalHouses on every standard residential plot size, and buildings on commercial plots
- Design and constructionAvenir builds in Islamabad and Rawalpindi as well as designing there, from its studio in Gulberg Greens
- Owners abroadPlan approval and construction run on drawings, records and site reports you can check from anywhere
The location, for someone about to build
Capital Smart City, read as a building site
Capital Smart City is a private housing scheme developed by Future Development Holdings (FDH) in Rawalpindi district. It is marketed as Capital Smart City Islamabad, but it lies outside the Islamabad Capital Territory, so CDA's building rules do not apply to it. The scheme holds RDA approval, and house plans are approved by the society's own Building Control Department under byelaws it revised in July 2026.
Where it is
Capital Smart City sits in Mouza Chahan and Mandwal, Rawalpindi district, on the M-2 Motorway near the New Islamabad International Airport. The society's brochure puts the airport 5 to 7 minutes' drive away and the Islamabad and Rawalpindi city centres 22 minutes away, and the scheme's own M-2 interchange opened on 14 May 2024.
Who approves what
RDA approved the scheme through two NOCs: 2,000 Kanals on 17 November 2017 and 7,376 Kanals, revised and extended, on 21 September 2019. The society lists a further 13,098 + 4,490 Kanals as submitted. Your house plan is approved by the society's Building Control Department under its own byelaws, not by CDA.
Plot sizes
The master plan runs from 5 Marla (125 sq yd) to 20 Kanal residential plots, and the society's fee schedule also lists 3.5, 7 and 12 Marla. The byelaws define a Marla as 225 sq ft, so a Kanal is 4,500 sq ft.
Where building is under way
Society notices of June and September 2025 list on-ground, possession-ready sectors in Overseas East, Overseas Prime 1, Overseas Central and Executive 1, and say these blocks were handed over for construction between 2020 and 2024. Overseas West, Overseas Prime 2 and Executive West are later launches whose members the society says will be offered possession first on cancelled locations.
Your own front elevation
The society has lifted its fixed front-elevation rule in every block except plots facing and encircled by the Linear Park in Overseas East. Elsewhere the facade is yours to design, within the byelaws and the society's architectural guidelines.
Not Lahore Smart City
Lahore Smart City is a separate FDH scheme in another city, with its own approvals. If your file is there, our Lahore Smart City page is the one to read.
Check the plot before the design
In August and September 2026 the society cancelled, or gave notice to cancel, plot locations with unpaid dues in Overseas East, Overseas Prime, Overseas Central, Harmony Park (Central) and Lake View Commercial, and offered relocation to possession-ready sectors. A design is drawn for one plot number, so confirm yours is final before paying for drawings.
Revised byelaws, July 2026 · section 2.1.1(b)
What your plot allows under the July 2026 byelaws
Capital Smart City's residential table fixes, for each plot size, how much of the plot the ground floor may cover, the floor area ratio (FAR) that caps total floor area above ground, the open spaces to leave, and parking. The figures below come from section 2.1.1(b) of the revised byelaws book the society published in July 2026. Where section 2.2 of the same book prints a different figure, the cell is marked † and we confirm the reading with the Building Control Department before drawing.
- Every plot sizeGround plus one floor (G+1)†
- Height38 ft from the crown of the road to the top of the parapet
- BasementOne allowed, outside the FAR when it meets the conditions below
-
5 Marla 1,125 sq ft plot
- Front
- 5 ft
- Rear
- 5 ft
- Sides
- Not required
- Parking
- 1 car
-
7 Marla 1,575 sq ft plot
- Front
- 5 ft
- Rear
- 5 ft
- Sides
- Not required
- Parking
- 1 car
-
10 Marla 2,250 sq ft plot
- Front
- 10 ft
- Rear
- 7 ft
- Sides
- 5 ft, one side
- Parking
- 1 car
-
12 Marla 2,700 sq ft plot
- Front
- 10 ft
- Rear
- 7 ft
- Sides
- 5 ft, one side
- Parking
- 1 car
-
1 Kanal 4,500 sq ft plot
- Front
- 15 ft 9 in†
- Rear
- 7 ft
- Sides
- 5 ft, both sides
- Parking
- 1 car
-
2 Kanal 9,000 sq ft plot
- Front
- 20 ft
- Rear
- 10 ft
- Sides
- 10 ft, both sides
- Parking
- 2 cars
Bars show floor area as a share of plot area, on a scale of 0 to 200%.
† Section 2.2 of the same book gives 75% ground coverage for 5 to under 10 Marla, a 10 ft building line for plots above 1 Kanal, and allows up to three storeys. The FAR figures agree in both sections.
Areas use the byelaws' 225 sq ft Marla. A demarcated plot can be larger than its nominal size, and if extra land moves it into the next size band, that band's rules apply.
G+1 is ground and first floor at full ground coverage. On most plots the open spaces limit the footprint before the coverage percentage does, so your plot's width and depth set the working figure. Floor area left under the FAR may go into the mumty (2.1.1 key point d).
From clause to floor plan
How the byelaws shape the house you can design
A handful of clauses decide most of what a Capital Smart City house can be. Here is what each one does to a real design.
The basement is the only space outside the FAR
A single-storey basement is allowed on residential plots, and it is not counted in the FAR if it has at least 9 ft 6 in of clear height and the ground floor plinth sits no more than 3 ft 6 in above the crown of the road (2.1.1 key points a and o). On a plot where two floors already use most of the FAR, the basement is the one place left to add space.
It comes with conditions. Keep 5 ft clear toward any dead wall (6.2.1). A basement used for parking needs 4 ft left all round within the plot for an excavation of up to 12 ft, and anything deeper needs RCC piling on all four sides, designed from a soil investigation (5.3.6, 7.3). The society's FAQ notes that subsoil water is found on site, so groundwater depth is worth knowing before a basement is committed to. On Avenir's Q4 2026 rates, basement grey works cost PKR 4,500 per sq ft of basement at Standard in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Every level is measured from the road crown
The vertical limits start at the crown of the road in front of your plot: the 38 ft height to the top of the parapet, the 7 ft boundary wall, and the 3 ft 6 in plinth over a basement (2.2.2; 2.1.1 key points a and m). Porches have their own caps. On 5 Marla the porch may rise at most 8 in with the finished floor 6 in above it, 14 in in all; above 5 Marla the porch may rise 1 ft and the floor another 1 ft, 2 ft in all. Those inches decide how many steps reach the front door and whether a ramp fits. A sunken court may run into the open spaces if a 2 ft 6 in passage stays clear and it is no more than 2 ft 6 in deep (key point b).
Corner plots and side spaces
Corner plots give up a chamfer: 5 ft by 5 ft on plots from 3.5 Marla to under 1 Kanal, and 10 ft by 10 ft at 1 Kanal and above. On a 10 Marla to under-1-Kanal corner plot, the 5 ft side passage goes on the road side and that side elevation has to be designed, not left blank. The 40 sq ft rear-passage bath allowed on 5 Marla to under-1-Kanal plots, at 8 ft high, must sit on the dead side of a corner plot (key points g, h and k). From 10 Marla up, a porch up to 20 ft long may sit in the side space, and where the side space is at least 5 ft a room of the same area may be built over it (2.1.4).
Facades, sunshades and gates
Front elevations are your choice in every block except the Linear Park plots in Overseas East. Sunshades may project up to 1 ft 6 in from slab or lintel and are not counted as covered area, but a continuous shade around the building is not allowed; on 5 Marla only, a 1 ft 6 in projection is also allowed at the rear (key points e and f). Sliding gates must slide inside the plot toward the lawn, never out over the building line (key point l).
Rooms, light and air
A habitable room must be at least 100 sq ft and 8 ft wide, a kitchen at least 50 sq ft and 6 ft wide, and habitable rooms at least 9 ft 6 in from floor to ceiling (6.2.2). Every room needs glazing of at least 8% of its floor area, half of it openable, and every bath an external opening of at least 2 sq ft (6.3.1, 6.3.2). On a 5 Marla plot these minimums, more than taste, decide how many bedrooms fit on each floor.
The plot you design is the plot that is demarcated
Possession includes a survey of your plot's coordinates, and the statement of dues can include charges for extra land under the town plan. If extra land lifts a plot into the next size band, that band's rules apply (key point n). We draw the final envelope from the demarcation, not from the size on the allotment letter.
Know your envelope before you pay for a design.
Send the block, plot number, size and whether it is a corner plot. We will set out what the July 2026 byelaws allow on it, including whether a basement is worth it.
Possession, plan approval, completion
From possession to an approved plan, in the order that protects your six months
Capital Smart City gives you six months from the day possession is handed over to start construction; after that you must apply for re-possession, at half the possession fee (possession procedure, item 8). Owners lose most of that time by starting the design after possession. This sequence starts it before.
Confirm the plot is buildable
Clear the dues, check that the location has not been cancelled or relocated under the 2026 notices, and confirm it lies in an RDA-approved phase. Then fix the plot number for the design.
Start the design before possession
Brief, concept and 3D can be done on the plot's size band and the byelaw table. Final dimensions wait for demarcation.
Apply for possession at the Building Control Department
Pay the possession fee, collect the statement of dues and post-dated cheque statement, pay, and file the MS or allotment letter, CNIC, affidavit, post-dated cheques and deposit slips. The survey team demarcates the plot, including any extra land, accounts issue the no demand certificate, and you receive the possession letter and physical possession. The six months start on that day.
Submit the building plan
The department's application form asks for drawings in RDA format (four sets and one on cloth), an AutoCAD file, the possession letter, a structure stability report, undertakings by the owner and by the architect and engineer, an authority letter or attorney certificate if someone applies for you, and a bank draft for the plan fee. The byelaws themselves ask for five copies, two on linen (10.3.1), so we check which BCD wants at the time of filing.
Scrutiny and decision
The byelaws give the authority 45 days from a complete application and fee to approve, refuse with reasons or ask for more (10.4.1). Appeals go to the Chief Architect within 30 days (10.4.3).
Services and site set-up
Apply for temporary electricity, water and sewer connections, each charged separately by the society. Display the sanctioned plan on site (9.2.1), and keep materials, debris and steel cutting off the road (10.8.6).
Build to the approved drawings
The society may inspect at any stage without notice (10.8.1). Building in the mandatory open spaces, adding floors or losing parking cannot be regularised afterwards (10.11.1).
Completion
Notify BCD within one month of finishing and apply for the completion certificate (10.9). A sanctioned plan lapses at the end of the plot's building period or three years after approval, whichever comes first (10.7.1), and the fine schedule charges Rs 1,200 a month for construction not completed three years after approval (Annex A).
Building in phases
If the budget calls for it, the byelaws let you build in phases numbered on the drawings. For a completion certificate the first phase must include at least a habitable room, a latrine, a bathroom and a kitchen, with a minimum floor area of 300 sq ft on 5 Marla, 350 on 7 Marla, 375 on 10 Marla, 450 on 12 Marla, 750 on 1 Kanal and 1,250 sq ft on 2 Kanal and above (10.8.3).
If you started under the 2025 incentive
Members who started building before 30 September 2025 under the society's June 2025 construction incentive receive the last part of the development-charge refund only if the house is complete and occupied before 31 December 2026 (notice FDHL/S&M/08/25/0936).
Starting without approval
The byelaws' fine schedule charges Rs 30,000 for starting construction without an approved plan, and the building can be demolished at the owner's risk and cost (Annex A, item 1).
Rates reviewed Q4 2026
What building in Capital Smart City costs at Q4 2026 rates
Avenir's calculator prices Capital Smart City under Islamabad and Rawalpindi, other society. The table uses the house the byelaws allow as a planning case: ground and first floor at full ground coverage, Standard specification, typical design complexity and no basement. The figures carry a planning band of plus or minus 5%.
| Plot | Covered area | Rate per sq ft | Complete house | Planning range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Marla | 1,800 sq ft | PKR 7,620 | PKR 1.37 crore | PKR 1.30 to 1.44 crore |
| 10 Marla | 3,150 sq ft | PKR 7,820 | PKR 2.46 crore | PKR 2.34 to 2.59 crore |
| 1 Kanal | 5,850 sq ft | PKR 7,900 | PKR 4.62 crore | PKR 4.39 to 4.85 crore |
| 2 Kanal | 9,900 sq ft | PKR 8,260 | PKR 8.18 crore | PKR 7.77 to 8.59 crore |
Complete house means grey structure plus finishing, with materials and site labour. Source: Avenir house construction cost calculator, rates reviewed Q4 2026, run on 25 September 2026.
- Grey structure alone plans at PKR 3,500 per sq ft at Standard on a 1 Kanal in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
- A basement is priced on its own rate: PKR 4,500 per sq ft of basement for grey works at Standard.
- Not included: professional fees, society charges and utility connections. The society's procedures page lists possession fees from Rs 18,000 for 5 Marla to Rs 60,000 for 2 Kanal, with re-possession at half that. Map approval, water, sewer and temporary electricity are charged separately, so ask BCD for the current schedule before you budget.
- A rate is a planning figure. A price you can hold comes from working drawings and a bill of quantities. For a smaller house, or one with a basement, run your own covered area through the calculator.
What Avenir does here
Architecture, construction, or both, for one Capital Smart City plot
You can appoint Avenir for one stage or for the whole sequence under one contract.
Architecture and the BCD submission
Brief, concept options and 3D views, then the set the Building Control Department asks for: plans, sections and elevations in RDA format, the structure stability report, and the architect and engineer undertakings. Structural and MEP design are coordinated with the architecture before anything is submitted.
Architecture servicesWorking drawings
A submission set gets a plan approved; it does not build a house. Working drawings, with sections, details, structure and plumbing and electrical layouts, are what a contractor prices and builds from. The society's fine schedule lists construction without working drawings at Rs 1,800 per sq ft (Annex A, item 6).
How the design process runsConstruction
Grey structure, finishing or turnkey, priced from the drawings and a bill of quantities rather than from a phone call, and built to the sanctioned plan the byelaws require on site.
Construction servicesDesign + Build
One contract from first drawing to handover. It suits the six-month start rule, because design, approval and site mobilisation run as one programme instead of three hand-offs.
Design + BuildInterior design
Layouts, joinery, lighting and a schedule of finishes, drawn alongside the architecture so a ceiling detail never has to fight a beam.
Interior designCommercial plots
Commercial plots follow chapter 3 of the same byelaws, where the type of commercial area sets height, coverage and FAR. We confirm the category of your plot with BCD before the building is massed.
Commercial building constructionSix months is enough when design and site are one programme.
Tell us your block, plot size and possession date, and we will lay out design, approval and construction as a single timeline.
Society notice FDHL/S&M/08/26/0956
If you took the society's free design package
In January 2026 Capital Smart City offered members who cleared their dues and applied for possession by 20 March 2026 a construction package: bespoke architectural design free of charge, free excavation, and free concrete for the first roof slab. If you qualified, the design is worth having. Before a contractor prices it, check five things.
Avenir can review the society's drawings, complete what is missing, or build from them as they stand.
- Is it only the submission set, or are working drawings included?
- Are the structural drawings and the structure stability report signed by a PEC-registered structural engineer?
- Are the electrical, plumbing and drainage layouts drawn, and do they agree with the structure?
- Does it use what your plot allows, including the basement option and the full FAR?
- Is there a bill of quantities, or only a floor area?
Overseas East, Prime, Central and West
Building in the Overseas blocks from abroad
Several of Capital Smart City's blocks carry the Overseas name, and many of their owners live outside Pakistan. The society publishes procedures and forms for special and general powers of attorney, and its building plan application form accepts an authority letter or attorney certificate.
Keep the power of attorney limited to what the build needs, such as submitting plans and collecting approvals, and leave out the power to sell or mortgage. Our guide for overseas Pakistanis sets out what to include and what to leave out, and the mistakes owners abroad make most often are worth reading before you sign anything.
With Avenir, decisions are recorded in writing against the drawings, approvals are shared as documents, and site progress is reported by construction stage, so the work can be checked from wherever you are.
Steps that need someone in Rawalpindi
- Possession and demarcation. The application at BCD and the on-ground handover of the plot.
- The building plan application. Filing the set, paying the fee and collecting the sanction.
- Service connections. Temporary electricity, water and sewer, each applied for separately.
You, your attorney or an authorised person can do each of these, and Avenir prepares the documents for them.
Before you sign
Five checks before you appoint anyone in Capital Smart City
A registered architect, as the byelaws define one
The byelaws define a registered architect as one registered with the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP) and enrolled on the authority's list of approved architects, and the building plan must carry the architect's stamp, signature and registration number (1.1, 10.3.1). Ask for both.
A structural engineer with a PEC number
The byelaws define the structural engineer as a PEC-registered consulting engineer with five years' experience in structural work (1.1), and BCD's application form asks for a structure stability report.
Drawings to the current book
The society revised its byelaws book in July 2026. Ask which edition the drawings follow.
A price from drawings
A rate per square foot is a planning figure. A price you can hold comes from working drawings and a bill of quantities.
No promised approval dates
Approval is BCD's decision, and the byelaws say no relaxation of the regulations is allowed (10.12.1). Anyone who guarantees an approval, or needs a relaxation to make a design work, is promising something they do not control.
Talk to us before the six months start.
Send the block, plot size and whether you are in Pakistan or abroad. We will set out what to do before possession and what to do after it.
Questions owners ask
Capital Smart City building questions
Can I start building on my Capital Smart City plot now?
Only once you have possession and an approved building plan. Possession is given sector by sector: the society's 2025 notices list possession-ready sectors in Overseas East, Overseas Prime 1, Overseas Central and Executive 1. From the day possession is handed over you have six months to start construction or you must apply for re-possession at half the possession fee, and starting without an approved plan carries a Rs 30,000 fine with demolition at the owner's cost (byelaws, Annex A).
What are the building byelaws in Capital Smart City?
Capital Smart City applies its own Building and Zoning Regulations, issued under the Punjab Development of Cities Act 1976, in a revised book the society published in July 2026. Its residential table allows ground plus one storey, a maximum ground coverage of 80% on 5 to under 10 Marla, 70% on 10 Marla to under 1 Kanal, 65% on 1 to under 2 Kanal and 55% on 2 Kanal and above, and floor area ratios of 1:1.6, 1:1.5, 1:1.4 and 1:1.3 for the same bands. Buildings may be up to 38 ft from the crown of the road to the top of the parapet.
How many floors can I build in Capital Smart City?
The residential table in section 2.1.1 of the July 2026 byelaws allows ground plus one floor (G+1), with one basement allowed in addition. Section 2.2.2 of the same book refers to up to three storeys, and the fine schedule treats 37 ft as the height limit where section 2.2.2 says 38 ft. Avenir designs to G+1 and 37 ft unless the Building Control Department confirms otherwise for the plot.
Is a basement allowed in Capital Smart City, and does it count toward covered area?
A single-storey basement is allowed on residential plots and is not counted in the floor area ratio if it has at least 9 ft 6 in of clear height and the ground floor plinth is no more than 3 ft 6 in above the crown of the road. It must leave 5 ft clear toward any dead wall, and excavation deeper than 12 ft needs RCC piling on all four sides designed from a soil investigation.
How much does it cost to build a house in Capital Smart City?
At Avenir's Q4 2026 Standard rates for Islamabad and Rawalpindi, a complete 5 Marla house of 1,800 sq ft plans at about PKR 1.37 crore, a 10 Marla house of 3,150 sq ft at about PKR 2.46 crore, a 1 Kanal house of 5,850 sq ft at about PKR 4.62 crore and a 2 Kanal house of 9,900 sq ft at about PKR 8.18 crore, without a basement and within plus or minus 5%. Professional fees, society charges and utility connections are extra.
Who approves house plans in Capital Smart City: CDA, RDA or the society?
The society. Plans go to Capital Smart City's Building Control Department, drawn in RDA format and checked against the society's own byelaws. CDA rules do not apply, because the scheme lies in Rawalpindi district, outside the Islamabad Capital Territory. RDA's role is the approval of the scheme itself.
Is Capital Smart City approved by RDA?
The society's NOC page lists two RDA approvals: 2,000 Kanals on 17 November 2017 and 7,376 Kanals, revised and extended, on 21 September 2019, with a further 13,098 + 4,490 Kanals submitted and at final stage. Approval covers specific land. Press reports in July 2025 and July 2026 described RDA action against the marketing of a “Capital Smart City Phase-III”, so confirm which approved phase your plot is in before paying for drawings.
Can I choose my own front elevation in Capital Smart City?
Yes, in every block except plots facing and encircled by the Linear Park in Overseas East, which the society excluded when it lifted its fixed-elevation rule. The facade must still meet the byelaws, including sunshades that project no more than 1 ft 6 in, no continuous shade around the building, and a 7 ft boundary wall.
The society offered me a free design. Do I still need an architect?
The January 2026 package offered free bespoke architectural design to members who cleared their dues and applied for possession by 20 March 2026. If you qualified, use it, but check whether it includes working drawings, signed structural drawings and MEP layouts. The byelaws' fine schedule lists building without working drawings at Rs 1,800 per sq ft, and a contractor cannot price a house accurately without them.
How long does building plan approval take in Capital Smart City?
The byelaws give the authority 45 days from a complete application and scrutiny fee to approve the plan, refuse it with reasons, or ask for more (regulation 10.4.1). If it does none of these, the applicant may write to the Chief Architect, and if there is still no response after a further 15 days the plan is deemed sanctioned to the extent it complies. An incomplete file is the usual cause of delay.
Can Avenir design and build my Capital Smart City house while I live abroad?
Yes. Design reviews, approvals and site progress run on drawings, written records and stage reports that you can check from abroad. The steps that need someone in Rawalpindi, which are possession and demarcation, the plan application and the service connections, can be handled by an attorney or authorised person under the society's own power of attorney and authority letter procedures.
More for Capital Smart City plot owners
Twin cities
Costs and tools
Other private schemes
Same developer, other city
Start with the plot, not the elevation
Send the block, plot number, size and whether possession has been taken. We will reply with what the July 2026 byelaws allow on it and the next step for your stage.
Call or WhatsApp +92 300 110 1807 · Islamabad studio: 101, Luxus Mall, Gulberg Greens, Islamabad
Checked on 25 September 2026 against the Capital Smart City byelaws book revised in July 2026, the society's published procedures and notices, and Avenir's construction rates reviewed in Q4 2026. Prepared by Avenir Developments.