IS 6313 Termite Treatment Pakistan — Parts 1, 2, 3

When a Karachi construction lead from a DHA new build, a Bahria Town developer's site office, or a Naval Housing project manager asks us for "the standard treatment," what they almost always mean — even if they have not named it — is IS 6313 ^[1]. That is the Indian Standard for anti-termite measures in buildings, adopted as the reference protocol by Pakistan Engineering Council-aligned contractors and by every serious termite operator working in this market. It runs to three parts: Part 1 is the general specification and terminology, Part 2 governs pre-construction soil treatment, Part 3 governs post-construction treatment in existing structures. Between them, those three parts define the drill spacing, the chemical concentration, the application rate, and the documentation requirement that distinguish a compliant anti-termite job from a hose-and-spray exercise that fails inside eighteen months. We are Nest Fumigation Services Private Limited, run by Saad Danish from a DHA Phase 4 office, and our entire termite protocol is built against IS 6313. This page walks construction industry buyers, developers, and homeowners through what the standard actually specifies. Part by Part, chemistry by chemistry, application rate by application rate, and how we deliver against it on Karachi sites. If you would rather start with the residential pillar, the termite control page covers the city-wide service catalogue.

Why IS 6313 Matters in Pakistan Even Though It Is an Indian Standard

The most common pushback we hear from buyers new to anti-termite work is some variation of "but that's an Indian standard, why are we using it." The honest answer is that South Asia has a shared termite ecology — Coptotermes heimi, Heterotermes indicola, and Microcerotermes championi are the dominant structural pest species across both sides of the border, and the soil chemistry, building stock, and monsoon-driven swarming cycles in Karachi behave more like Mumbai's coastal alluvium than like Riyadh's or Dubai's. The Indian Bureau of Standards has invested in two generations of revision work on IS 6313, the protocol has been pressure-tested on roughly fifty million urban built-up square feet across the subcontinent, and Pakistan does not have an equivalent home-grown standard with that depth. So Pakistani contractors and engineers default to IS 6313 by reference. Pakistan Engineering Council documentation cites it. SPMA-aligned termite operators specify against it. Our written treatment certificates name it in Part 3 form because that is what compliance buyers and structural insurers expect to read.

For developers building in DHA Phase 8, Bahria Town Karachi, or Naval Housing extensions, the practical implication is straightforward — when your structural consultant asks for an anti-termite treatment plan with the project specification documents, the answer they are looking for is "IS 6313 Part 2 pre-construction, four stages, with documented chemistry and warranty." Anything less specific reads as undefined scope, and undefined scope is what gives operators room to under-apply the chemistry by 40% and walk away with the same invoice number.

What IS 6313 Part 1 Specifies — General Requirements and Terminology

Part 1 of IS 6313 is the foundation document. It does not prescribe a treatment protocol in itself; it defines the terms, classifies the termite species the standard targets, sets out the chemistry families permitted, and frames the responsibility split between contractor, anti-termite operator, and end-user. Part 1 is where the standard establishes that subterranean termites (the Coptotermes and Heterotermes genera) are the primary target of soil-barrier treatment, and that drywood termites (the Microcerotermes genus) require a separate timber-treatment approach not covered by the soil protocols of Parts 2 and 3. This is the part of the standard that disqualifies any contractor claiming "we treated for all termites" with one universal soil application — biologically, that is not how the chemistry reaches drywood colonies.

Part 1 also frames the documentation that any warranty depends on. Our own warranty terms follow the scope of work: a compliant Part 2 pre-construction job, or a full Part 3 drill-and-inject barrier around an existing building, is termite proofing and carries a 7-year warranty with standard fipronil ^[2], or 10 years with the Agenda upgrade; a Part 3 spot treatment of an active zone without the full barrier is termite control and carries 1 year. Both warranties are conditional on the structural envelope remaining intact — a renovation that breaks the treated barrier voids the warranty over the breached zone, which is why every IS 6313 certificate we issue names the linear metres treated and the application rates applied. Without that documentation, no future contractor or buyer can establish what the warranty actually covers.

What IS 6313 Part 2 Specifies — Pre-Construction Soil Treatment

Part 2 is the operationally consequential half of the standard for any developer or homeowner building from foundation up. It governs four sequenced treatment stages, each with its own application rate and chemistry concentration, applied at distinct points in the construction programme. Skipping any one stage compromises the integrity of the soil barrier and forfeits the proofing warranty the full protocol provides. We have seen Karachi builds where the contractor's site engineer waved off the third stage — top of plinth-fill before flooring, because the tile-laying team was on site and "we'll catch up later." Eighteen months post-handover, the customer is paying us to drill back through their new tile to do what should have been a 90-minute pre-flooring application.

Stage One. Bottom of Foundation Trench

Once excavation is complete and before any masonry begins, IS 6313 Part 2 specifies treatment of the bottom and inside faces of the foundation trench. Our application is standard fipronil, applied at the label rate, at 5 L per square metre of trench floor and inner face — on every soil type, including the heavier clay-loam common on Phase 8 reclamation land. The chemistry is non-repellent; termites do not detect the barrier, walk through it, and transfer the active back to the colony via trophallaxis. Repellent pyrethroids fail this stage because they push the colony sideways instead of collapsing it.

Stage Two — Refilled Earth Around the Plinth

After the plinth wall is built and the excavation backfilled, Part 2 calls for treatment of the refilled earth on both inside and outside faces of the plinth wall at 7.5 L per linear metre of plinth perimeter. The application denies a subterranean foraging worker the soil corridor it would otherwise exploit against the structural envelope. This stage is where the per-linear-metre rate becomes the controlling metric — for a typical Karachi villa with a 35-metre plinth perimeter, the stage two requirement is 525 L of treated solution split between inside and outside faces. Operators who under-apply at this stage are obvious from the volume of mixed solution leaving the truck.

Stage Three. Top of Plinth-Fill, Pre-Flooring

This is the single most consequential stage of the four, and the one most often skipped on Pakistani sites. Before the final earth inside the plinth is levelled and before any sand-cement bedding or tile is laid, Part 2 specifies treatment of the entire floor footprint at 5 L per square metre, plus a treated band along the inside face of the perimeter wall. This is the barrier that sits directly under the slab and flooring for the whole warranty term — it is the layer the slab pours onto. Skip it and there is no continuous treated layer between the soil and the floor finish, which is the failure mode behind almost every post-construction termite emergency we walk into where the customer says "but we treated it during construction."

Stage Four — External Perimeter Drip Line

Once the building is complete, Part 2 calls for a final external treatment along the building's drip line — the soil zone immediately outside the foundation that catches roof and slab runoff. Application rate is 7.5 L per square metre to a 30 cm depth along a 30 cm wide treated band. This stage closes the external envelope and catches any foraging approach the perimeter wall did not stop. We document the linear metres and the volume applied on the treatment certificate, which is what the developer hands the eventual homeowner along with the structural warranty paperwork.

A complete four-stage Part 2 job on a Karachi villa carries a 7-year warranty with standard fipronil, or 10 years with the Agenda upgrade (quoted on request), against subterranean penetration of the treated slab — terms we are willing to sign in writing because the four stages close every soil route into the building. The deeper protocol breakdown sits on our pre-construction termite proofing page.

What IS 6313 Part 3 Specifies — Post-Construction Soil Treatment

Part 3 is the standard most Karachi homeowners need, because most Karachi homes are not new builds. It covers post-construction treatment of an existing structure where termite activity has already been detected, and it specifies two integrated techniques: drill-and-inject through the floor slab on the inside, and trench-and-rod along the external drip line. Part 3 also covers what the standard calls the "sleeve" treatment — injection through pre-installed sleeves left in newer construction for exactly this purpose, which is rare on older Karachi stock but increasingly common on Phase 6 and Phase 7 new builds where the developer specified IS 6313 Part 3-readiness from the outset.

Drill-and-Inject Specification

The Part 3 drill-and-inject protocol specifies 12 mm drill holes at 30 to 45 cm centres along the inside perimeter of the affected ground-floor footprint and around plumbing penetrations, dropped through tile, screed, and slab to a depth that reaches the plinth fill — typically 100 to 150 mm in Karachi villa construction. Each hole is injected with standard fipronil at the label rate, at a rate calculated to deliver 5 L per square metre of slab area across the treated zone. The 30 cm spacing is the standard requirement for active-infestation jobs; we widen to 45 cm only on preventive or low-pressure zones where the floor finish is particularly difficult to colour-match. After injection, holes are sealed with cement plug colour-matched to the existing tile or marble — on premium DHA and Clifton installations the repair is invisible at handover.

The chemistry mirrors Part 2 — standard fipronil on every soil type and for the under-slab basement overlay, with Agenda (fipronil) as the ten-year upgrade. Application rate is the binding constraint; an operator who drills the correct grid but under-applies the volume has not delivered Part 3.

Trench-and-Rod Specification

In parallel with the inside drill-and-inject, Part 3 calls for trench-and-rod treatment along the external drip line. We open a 30 cm wide by 30 cm deep trench along the building's external perimeter, flood the trench with treated solution at 7.5 L per linear metre, and backfill with treated soil. The trench targets the foraging corridor under the external paving or lawn — without it, the inside-only treatment is incomplete and the colony returns from outside within twelve to eighteen months. On lawn-perimeter walls shared with neighbouring plots we extend the trench treatment along the boundary, because the colony almost always extends past the plot line.

Sleeve Specification

Part 3 also covers the sleeve technique — pre-installed injection sleeves cast into the slab during construction, designed for low-disruption top-up treatment without re-drilling. Sleeve specification is uncommon on older Karachi stock but increasingly written into the structural drawings for premium new builds in DHA Phase 8 and Bahria Town. When a developer has specified sleeves, our Part 3 top-up application uses them directly — the application rate stays at 5 L per square metre of slab area, but the delivery is through the sleeves rather than fresh drill holes, which preserves the floor finish.

Documentation and Warranty

A full Part 3 drill-and-inject barrier around the building is termite proofing and carries the same warranty as Part 2: 7 years with standard fipronil, 10 years with Agenda. A Part 3 spot treatment of an active zone, without the full barrier, is termite control and carries a 1-year warranty with one free callback inside the window if new activity is observed in the treated zone. We do not stretch the control warranty with bundled top-up schedules or an AMC; if you want long-term cover, the route is the full barrier. Our written certificate names the product (standard fipronil, or Agenda), confirms it was applied at the label rate, the linear metres trenched, the square metres drilled, and the warranty terms — every line item that Part 1 expects to see documented.

The Three Subterranean Species IS 6313 Targets in Karachi

Part 1 of the standard names the species the protocol targets, and three of them dominate Karachi structural termite work.

Coptotermes heimi is the heavy-hitter — the dominant subterranean termite across DHA, Clifton, PECHS, and the older Karachi neighbourhoods. Mature colonies run to several hundred thousand workers, nesting three to five metres below foundation level, foraging through expansion joints and plumbing penetrations, and responsible for the majority of catastrophic structural damage cases we walk into. The Part 2 and Part 3 soil-injection grid is calibrated specifically against C. heimi foraging biology — the 30 cm hole spacing matches the foraging tube interval, and a non-repellent active applied at the label rate lets the trophallaxis transfer mechanism spread it through the colony.

Heterotermes indicola is the smaller, more drought-tolerant cousin — colonies in the tens of thousands, more numerous per plot, more common in newer Phase 6 and Phase 7 construction where the deep root systems are not yet established. The same Part 2 and Part 3 chemistry handles it, though we have learned to expect two or three discrete colonies on a single Phase 6 plot, each requiring its own focus during the trench-and-rod stage.

Microcerotermes championi is the drywood-behaving subterranean — technically a soil-dependent species but behaviourally attacks already-installed furniture, parquet, antique wooden pieces, and roof timbers without the visible mud-tube signature. Important caveat — IS 6313 Part 2 and Part 3 soil chemistry does not solve an active M. championi infestation in upper-floor furniture or roof rafters, because the soil-injection grid cannot reach a colony that never returns to soil. For M. championi we drop into a separate timber-treatment protocol, not the IS 6313 soil-barrier approach. Compliant termite operators say so on the inspection; the ones who do not are quoting Part 3 chemistry against a problem that chemistry cannot solve.

Where IS 6313 Lands on Karachi Construction Sites

The Karachi construction sites we walk onto today fall into three rough categories, and IS 6313 lands differently on each.

DHA new builds — Phase 6, 7, 8 villa and apartment construction. Pre-construction is the default expectation; the developer's structural consultant typically writes IS 6313 Part 2 four-stage into the project specification at the foundation stage. Our role is to deliver against the spec — pre-pour bottom-of-trench treatment, plinth backfill at stage two, the critical pre-flooring stage three, then the post-completion drip-line at stage four. Documentation hands over to the eventual buyer alongside the structural warranty paperwork. Phase 8 reclamation land changes our working-solution volume, not our chemistry.

Bahria Town Karachi — large-scale developer construction phase. Bahria has scaled up new construction across Precinct 1 through Precinct 30 over the last five years, and the volume creates its own compliance gap — the in-house anti-termite teams move fast, and stage three is the one most likely to get rushed when the tile-laying crew arrives. We occasionally get called in for Part 3 post-construction work on units where the Part 2 protocol was incomplete during build. Better to specify Part 2 properly the first time; cheaper too.

Naval Housing and Askari Housing projects. Defence-aligned housing developments specify IS 6313 Part 2 by reference in their project documentation, and the compliance audit at handover stage is more rigorous than on the private DHA side. We have done Naval Housing Scheme Karsaz and Askari V Phase 1 anti-termite work to full Part 2 four-stage with treatment certificates the project manager files with the handover paperwork. The premium for documented IS 6313 compliance over a rushed cheaper alternative is approximately PKR 4 to 6 per built-up square foot — small money against the structural insurance position it secures.

The deeper cost picture across all categories sits on our termite treatment cost in Karachi for 2026 page, and the Phase-specific DHA breakdown is on the termite control DHA Karachi operator's view.

Why Construction Industry Buyers Use NFS for IS 6313 Work

We are a Karachi-based, Karachi-licensed, ISO 9001:2015 quality-management operator built specifically for IS 6313-compliant work — both pre-construction Part 2 four-stage protocols on new builds, and post-construction Part 3 drill-and-inject on existing structures. The team has documented IS 6313 work across DHA, Bahria Town Karachi, Naval Housing, Askari Housing, and the older Karachi residential stock. Our treatment certificates name the product, the label rate, the application rates, and the warranty terms in the format compliance buyers and structural consultants expect to read. Our proofing chemistry is standard fipronil, with Agenda (fipronil) as the ten-year upgrade. The team background sits on the about Saad Danish page.

IS 6313 Termite Treatment Pakistan — Frequently Asked Questions

Is IS 6313 mandatory for anti-termite work in Pakistan?

IS 6313 is not statutorily mandatory in Pakistan but it is the de facto reference standard cited by Pakistan Engineering Council-aligned structural consultants, defence-aligned housing project documentation, and serious anti-termite operators including NFS. Most premium DHA, Bahria Town Karachi, and Naval Housing project specifications write IS 6313 Part 2 four-stage into the anti-termite scope at construction stage, and Part 3 is the protocol most insurance-aligned post-construction treatments specify. Compliance buyers should treat it as required.

What chemicals does IS 6313 permit for anti-termite treatment?

IS 6313 Part 1 sets out the chemistry families permitted for soil-barrier work. Ours is fipronil, a non-repellent phenylpyrazole: standard fipronil for the 7-year barrier and Agenda for the 10-year upgrade, both applied at the label rate. Repellent pyrethroids such as cypermethrin and deltamethrin do not belong in primary soil-barrier work because they fragment the colony rather than collapse it via trophallaxis.

What warranty comes with an IS 6313 pre-construction treatment?

Our warranty on a full four-stage Part 2 job is 7 years with standard fipronil, or 10 years with the Agenda upgrade, against subterranean penetration of the treated envelope, conditional on the full protocol being applied with documented application rates and the structural envelope remaining intact. Renovation work that breaches the treated barrier voids the warranty over the affected zone. The treatment certificate must name the product used, the label rate, the linear metres and square metres treated, and the four stages completed — that documentation is what the warranty is enforceable against.

Does IS 6313 cover drywood termite treatment?

No. IS 6313 Part 2 and Part 3 cover soil-barrier protocols against subterranean termites — Coptotermes heimi and Heterotermes indicola in the Karachi context. Drywood termites such as Microcerotermes championi live inside the wood they eat and never return to soil, so the IS 6313 soil-injection grid cannot reach them. Drywood treatment uses a separate wood-treatment or timber-injection protocol against the affected wooden members directly. A compliant operator will identify the species at inspection and quote the correct protocol against the actual problem.

What documentation does IS 6313 require on completion?

A compliant IS 6313 treatment certificate names the protocol applied (Part 2 four-stage pre-construction, Part 3 drill-and-inject post-construction, or Part 3 sleeve top-up), the product used (standard fipronil, or Agenda) with confirmation it was applied at the label rate, the application rates delivered (5 L per square metre horizontal, 7.5 L per linear metre trench), the linear metres treated and square metres covered, the warranty terms, and the signature of the qualified operator. We issue this in writing on every IS 6313 job we close, and the certificate is what the eventual buyer or structural insurer needs on file.

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Author: Saad Danish, Founder and Quality Lead, Nest Fumigation Services Private Limited. ISO 9001:2015 Quality Lead. KCCI, SPMA, PPMA member. Office at Plot #14, 2/1 2nd Gizri Street, DHA Phase 4. Email contact@nestfumigationservices.com or WhatsApp +92 311 1101810 for an IS 6313 anti-termite scope and written quote on your Karachi construction or post-construction project. Mon–Sat 09:30–20:00.