Haryana mulls third-party audit of new buildings

Geetanjali Gayatri

Chandigarh, February 27

The certification exercise for structural fitness of buildings will no longer be left entirely to the developer with the Haryana Government planning to introduce an independent third-party audit before giving the occupation certificate (OC) to a building.

The collapse at Chintels Paradiso in Gurugram has forced the Town and Country Planning Department to rethink its decision of completely relying on self-certification by the developers who were extended this facility to cut down delays in project approvals.

Sources said the new system would be a mix of self-certification and government intervention whereby audits will be introduced to ensure compliance of regulations.

They said the department would empanel structural engineers to carry out this audit or outsource it to reputed institutions while also creating in-house capacity.

“Gurugram has a number of ageing buildings. We are proposing that the structural audit be carried out at three stages — when the building is under construction, after its completion and then review of aging buildings on regular intervals,” said Devender Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Town and Country Planning).

Eight institutions, including IIT-Delhi and IIT-Roorkee, were being considered for empanelment for the purpose, he said, adding a team from IIT-Delhi was already carrying out the audit at Chintels.

Gurugram DTP (Enforcement) RS Batth said no government agency was involved with auditing the structural strength of the buildings so far. Earlier, Gurugram MP Rao Indrajeet Singh, while chairing a meeting following the Chintels collapse, had suggested that the department drew up a panel of structural engineers for the developers to choose rather than leaving it entirely to them to pick someone independently.

Tough approval norms on cards

• Occupation certificate presently given on basis of self-certification by realtors
• The government is planning to introduce third-party audit of all new buildings
• Move follows Chintels Paradiso collapse in Gurugram