Quality check

E. Jayashree Kurup

Collapse of a building, especially a residential one, not only puts a questionmark on the quality of construction but also reveals a lack of knowledge among common  homebuyers to assess the quality of construction being promised by  builders.  Many buyers ignore the construction quality as it is difficult for a common man/buyer to check the construction materials that had been used in a particular building after its completion. 

Lack of awareness, however, is the biggest challenge in checking the construction of quality of buildings. A recent poll by property portal Magicbricks revealed that 84 per cent of real estate consumers are clueless about the due diligence and wanted to know the process of checking the quality of their house. Home buyers have to go through jargon such as seismic compliance, structural safety certificate, earthquake resistant building, but they have no means of ensuring whether the houses are of good quality or not. 

In countries like Singapore the Conquas system has elementised the items of construction quality and there are third-party safety audit certificates that are given to the buyers. This constitutes the checklist on the quality of a house. Agents and brokers normally offer these services of experts and certification in markets like the US. RERA, too, has a provision of zero-defect liability for five years under which a developer has to ensure structural safety and quality. 

But as an individual buyer, knowing about some basic rules of quality check will save a lot of trouble after purchasing a property. V. Suresh, Vice-Chairman of the National Building Code, the reference document for all buildings in India, explains  four major components that are imperative for  assessing the quality of construction: 

Structural components

Structural includes elements such as column, beam, slab  etc where you need a safety auditor to give you a report. 

Non-structural

Non-structural includes partition walls, windows, doors etc, which form a part of the structure of your house but are not load-bearing. 

Finishing 

The third component is the finishing that includes, walls, floors, paints, tiling, faucets, etc. 

Services 

Services include basic services such as water, its quality, the quality of the pipes and also the plumbing for sewerage and sullage, the electrical wiring and safety, switches that ensure the right level of power with minimum voltage fluctuations, the frequency of power, the vertical areas such as lifts and escalators, 

Standard of services 

The quality of services of water, power and the maintenance and the wait time of lifts, waste management, fire protection systems, the comfort ventilation of HVAC services, and ventilation to ensure flow of air through the building constitute the fourth component.

Identify high-grade buildings

Good builders have now started keeping a QA/QC team (Quality Assurance and Quality Control) which assesses the quality after the construction is over. This ensures that issues like faulty joints, poor finishes and services quality are as promised. For all types of constructions, builders must use genuine better construction material and modern construction techniques. They also need to factor in a city’s climatic conditions. The material used has to be durable. A buyer needs to check this because the quality of the material used determines his operating expenses or maintenance costs. If the developer or builder saves on capex then the operating expenses will rise. Low maintenance finishes ensure that the annual painting of the exterior walls is not a load on the users. 

To judge the construction quality of a project, the developer’s brand is a fairly good indicator. Today consumers visit the previous projects of the developer to check if there are service issues like seepage patches or slow lifts there. Builders with a reputation to protect employ trusted contractors and ensure proper quality control throughout. 

There are various ways in which a home buyer can check the general quality of construction. For instance, cracks in a building’s exterior could be an indicator that the project has a faulty foundation.

Other signs to look for are small cracks in walls, creaking or jammed doors and windows and improperly aligned or uneven floors, bathroom and kitchen tiles.   

The average lifespan of a new residential building is between 60 to 75 years, depending on the quality of construction and also the climatic conditions.  However, every 10 years it is important to carry out a preventive maintenance check to ensure the optimum quality of services. So, if you are buying a second sale house, you should get an expert to assess the construction quality and how it has weathered. 

— The writer is head content and advice, magicbricks.com

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Advisory: The Construction Industry Development Council has put together a checklist for consumers to follow:

• Alignment of floor: carry some marbles and release these gently on the floor. If the floor is sloping it will roll in the direction of the slope. If there is a drain, the marbles should roll in the direction of the drain. If you don’t have marbles pour a cup of water and assess if the water is flowing in the right direction
• Alignment of plaster: Inspect the house in the evening at dusk. Switch on the light. The light should reflect evenly off the walls. 
• Carry a nail. Drive it into the plaster. If it goes easily the quality of mortar is bad. If the nail bends the mortar quality is good. 
• Do the same on the brick. The brick should offer resistance to the nail.
• Do the same in the mortar between the bricks
• Wet areas: Pour 5-6 buckets of water in the pot and the floor of the bathroom and don't allow it to drain. In a couple of hours there will be a seepage patch if the joints are faulty. 

 (These points will take care of about 60 per cent of the construction problems consumers face. For the remaining , buyers can write to [email protected])