GRAP Construction Restrictions in Delhi: What Is Banned, What Is Allowed, and How to Plan for Winter 2026-27

Every winter, the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) halts most outdoor construction across Delhi NCR for weeks at a time. Once Delhi's average air quality index (AQI) crosses 400 and Stage III is invoked, private sites must stop excavation, piling, demolition, brick and masonry work, plastering, painting, tile cutting and any transport of demolition waste; only less-polluting work such as electrical, plumbing and carpentry may continue. Last winter, Stage III ran from 12 November 2025 to 3 January 2026, with the stricter Stage IV layered on top from 13 to 24 December, and Stage III returned in mid-January. If you are building or renovating in Delhi this winter, the plan is simple: finish dust-generating work before November, hold the indoor trades for the ban weeks, and write GRAP into your contract. This guide explains the rules as they stand after the November 2025 revision, with links to the orders.

What Is GRAP and When Does Each Stage Apply?

GRAP is an emergency response mechanism for the entire National Capital Region, administered by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). It has four stages keyed to Delhi's average AQI: Stage I 'Poor' (AQI 201-300), Stage II 'Very Poor' (301-400), Stage III 'Severe' (401-450) and Stage IV 'Severe Plus' (above 450). CAQM's sub-committee invokes a stage when the AQI and the weather forecast warrant it, and revokes it when the air improves, so the restrictions switch on and off through the season rather than running on fixed dates. The schedule was last revised on 21 November 2025, when several measures were moved to earlier stages so that they bite sooner; the changes are summarised in the government's press note on the revised GRAP, and the full schedule is published on the CAQM website.

Which Construction Activities Are Banned Under GRAP Stage III?

Stage III is the one that stops a house site. The order invoking it lists the dust-generating construction and demolition activities that must halt across the NCR, and the list is long: earthwork for excavation and filling, including boring and drilling; piling; all demolition; laying of sewer, water, drainage and electric lines by open trench; brick and masonry work; operation of ready-mix concrete batching plants; major welding and gas cutting; painting, polishing and varnishing; cement, plaster and other coatings, except minor indoor repairs and maintenance; cutting, grinding and fixing of tiles, stone and other flooring materials, again except minor indoor repairs; road construction and major repairs; transfer, loading and unloading of dust-generating materials such as cement, fly ash, bricks, sand and crushed stone, anywhere within or outside the site; movement of vehicles carrying construction materials on unpaved roads; and any transportation of demolition waste. Stone crushers and mining shut down across the region at the same time. The list above is taken from the Stage III order published by the Press Information Bureau in December 2025.

Two lines in that list catch homeowners out. Painting is banned outright at Stage III, indoors as well as outdoors, which is why a Diwali repaint has to be finished before the first severe-air spell. And the ban on loading and unloading cement, sand and bricks means material deliveries stop too, so a site cannot even stock up once Stage III is in force.

What Construction Work Is Still Allowed During Stage III?

The same order permits construction activities that are not on the banned list and are 'relatively less polluting / less dust generating' to continue, subject to the construction and demolition waste rules and dust-control norms. On a typical house site that means electrical wiring and fittings, plumbing and sanitary installation, minor welding for mechanical, electrical and plumbing work (explicitly permitted), carpentry and woodwork, door and window fitting, glazing, kitchen and wardrobe installation, and small indoor repair and maintenance jobs including minor patches of plaster or tiling. Grey areas exist, such as wall putty or a gypsum false ceiling, and enforcement teams decide on the spot, so keep anything that raises dust for the days when the stage is lifted.

A short list of project categories is exempt from the construction ban altogether: railways and metro, airports and inter-state bus terminals, defence and national-security projects, hospitals and healthcare facilities, linear public projects such as highways, flyovers, power lines and pipelines, and sanitation projects such as sewage treatment and water supply. A private house, a builder floor or a shop is not on that list and receives no exemption.

What Changes Under GRAP Stage IV?

Stage IV applies once Delhi's average AQI passes 450 and adds the schedule's most disruptive citywide measures on top of everything in Stages I to III. For a private construction site the practical position does not change much, because the dust-generating work already stopped at Stage III stays stopped. Last winter CAQM invoked Stage IV on 13 December 2025 when the AQI breached 450 and revoked it on 24 December once the AQI had fallen to 271, citing the 'disruptive nature' of the restrictions on stakeholders; Stages I to III stayed in force. The revocation order sets out the sequence.

How Long Did GRAP Stop Construction Last Winter?

The 2025-26 season is a fair guide to what to expect. Stage III was invoked across the NCR on 12 November 2025 as Delhi entered the severe category. Stage IV was added from 13 to 24 December. Stage III itself was revoked on 3 January 2026 when the AQI dropped to around 220, giving sites a brief reprieve, and was reimposed in mid-January as the air turned severe again, with a further Stage IV spell revoked on 20 January 2026. Add it up and outdoor construction on a private site was banned for roughly seven and a half continuous weeks between mid-November and early January, plus further stoppages in January. The planning assumption we use is six to ten weeks of Stage III between mid-November and the end of January, arriving in two or three spells with little notice.

How Should You Plan a Construction Project Around GRAP?

Start the structure early. A project that breaks ground in February or March finishes its foundation and frame before the monsoon and its brickwork and external plaster by October, leaving only indoor trades for the winter; our month-by-month guide to construction timing works through the calendar. If your site is mid-way this autumn, pull every outdoor and dust-generating task forward into September and October: slab casting, brickwork, external plaster, waterproofing, exterior paint, flooring and tile work. Move deliveries of cement, sand, bricks and tiles into October as well, because unloading them is banned once Stage III arrives.

Clear the malba before November. Transport of demolition waste is banned at Stage III, so debris left on site in October sits there until January. Under the Environment (Construction and Demolition) Waste Management Rules 2025, in force since 1 April 2026, every waste generator must segregate construction waste and take it to the local authority's collection point, an intermediate storage facility or an authorised recycler, and must prevent it littering public space; the rules are published in the Gazette. Doing that in October is cheap; doing it under an enforcement notice is not.

Then sequence the indoor trades for the ban weeks: electrical wiring and boards, plumbing lines and sanitaryware, carpentry, doors and windows, kitchen and wardrobe fit-outs, glazing, and fixtures. A site that has its indoor work ready to go the day Stage III is invoked loses little; one that was about to plaster loses the whole spell.

What Should Your Contract Say About GRAP?

GRAP stoppages are outside both parties' control, so a good agreement names them explicitly as an excusable delay that extends the timeline day for day without penalty on either side, and says what happens to labour costs and site security during the pause. Ask for that clause before you sign; our checklist of construction agreement clauses covers it alongside the other protections you need. Nirman Ved's agreements spell out how GRAP stoppages extend the schedule, and our project plans for winter builds put the indoor trades in the November to January slots by default.

Working through a ban is a bad bet. Enforcement teams from the pollution control committee and the municipal corporation inspect sites during Stage III, and a stop-work notice issued mid-slab does far more damage than a planned pause. Nirman Ved builds and renovates across Delhi NCR with GRAP planned into every winter schedule; if you want a build or a renovation timed to land the dust-generating work before November, call +91-7838355055 or book a free site visit.