New building safety norms on cards post Gurugram mishap

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

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Chandigarh, April 16

After the Chintels Paradiso building collapse in Gurugram, the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD), Haryana, has come up with new structural safety guidelines, which prescribe submission of building plans and applications for occupation certificates through empanelled structural engineers, proof consultants and supervising engineers, and mandatory third-party assessment for ensuring the quality of material and construction at the site.

Nod must for changes post-occupation

For avoiding damage to structural elements by an allottee post-occupation, any alteration shall be done after approval of empanelled structural engineer engaged by the RWA, says the proposed guidelines

The draft guidelines have been put on the department’s website and suggestions have been sought from the public by April 28 for making amendments to the Haryana Building Code. At present, the department accepts self-certified degrees of structural engineers and proof consultants along with the application for approval of building plans and occupation certificates. But it has no mechanism to check the authenticity of qualification proof, experience and the previous track record.

The draft guidelines propose empanelment of structural engineers, proof consultants and supervising engineers. Besides, for buildings of more than 70 metre, the signature of a geotechnical engineer, having a Master’s degree and 10 years of experience, will be required. For empanelment, the scrutiny will be carried out by a committee, comprising a serving or retired Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department (Buildings & Roads) as chairperson and two technical members.

“The department has no mechanism to ensure the quality of material and the construction at the site, except for relying on the certificate submitted by architect and supervising engineer along with the application for occupation certificate, third-party inspection agencies will be empanelled,” said a senior officer in TCPD.

“The inspection agency shall carry out periodic inspection of the site, not less than once every quarter during the progress of construction works and submit their periodic report directly to the department,” says draft guidelines. After the completion of the construction, it has to submit the certificate that statutory requirements of the Bureau of Indian Standards Code are fulfilled and the building is fit to occupy.

Allottees or resident welfare associations (RWAs) make complaints of seepage, peeling of plaster or development of cracks, corrosion of reinforcement, etc. The department currently has no mechanism to check whether these complaints relate to the maintenance of the building or to structural damages. The new rules propose to empanel ‘fact-finding agency’ (FFA) to carry out inspection of the site and submit a report within 15 days, which may suggest maintenance-related action or a detailed ‘structural audit’. While the cost of engaging fact-finding agencies will be borne from the 1 per cent labour cess fund, the developer will have to bear the cost of the structural audit.

On February 10, two women died after a dining room on the sixth floor of a tower in Chintels Paradiso in Sector 109 collapsed. On March 22, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced a CBI probe into the collapse.