A look at structural safety guidelines released by the Haryana government

The Department of Town and Country Planning said that a notification bringing the guidelines into effect will be issued in two months after completing the empanelment process.

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Around 200 families residing in two housing societies in Gurgaon, Chintels Paradiso and NBCC’s Greenview, had to vacate their homes earlier this year. The chief reason was questions being raised about the structural safety of the buildings they were residing in.

The collapse of a set of apartments at Chintels Paradiso and the degrading structure of the GreenView project led to the Haryana government releasing structural safety guidelines that developers have to follow during construction of high-rise projects in the state.

Structural safety guidelines: Bridging the gap

Releasing the guidelines at the concluding session of the seminar-cum-workshop-cum-conclave of resident welfare associations (RWAs) where top officials of urban local bodies were present, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on April 27 that according to the new guidelines, the developer will have to ensure structural audit of the project at least three to four times during construction. The guidelines also specify the eligibility criteria of experts/agencies for empanelment with the department.

The guidelines by the Department of Town and Country Planning

1. For buildings of a height of more than 70 m, the design and construction quality will have to be certified by a geotechnical engineer who has more than 10 years of experience.
2. The structural engineer, proof consultant (who checks out detailed designs and plans), supervising engineer and geotechnical engineer will have to get empanelled with the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP).
3. To ensure good quality of construction, third-party inspection will be done and agencies doing such inspection will have to get empanelled with the department first. The agency will have to carry out periodic inspections of the site, not less than once every quarter during the construction, and its report will be submitted directly to the department.
4. RWAs/residents make several complaints related to seepage, peeling of plaster, development of cracks and corrosion, etc., after getting possession and the department has no mechanism to check whether the complaints are related to maintenance or structural damages. Hence, the DTCP will also empanel a ‘fact-finding agency’ to carry out the inspection of the site and submit a report within 15 days about whether maintenance-related action is required or if a detailed structural audit is what is needed. If a structural audit is recommended, the same will be done at the expense of the developer.
5. For buildings that are more than 30 years old, the RWA will be responsible for the structural audit.
6. The developer company will have to hand over all the approved as-built drawings and structural drawings to the respective allottee as well as to the RWA on grant of possession.

The guidelines prepared by the DTCP will be incorporated into the Haryana Building Code for uniform application across the state.

Existing norms

Earlier, the Haryana Building Code was used to lay down procedures for approval of building plans and grant of an occupation certificate for multi-storeyed buildings. Under this, the builder used to submit a duly filled form certified by the developer’s architect and structural engineers along with prescribed fees to the authority and if all documents were found in order, approval was granted. For the occupancy certificate, the builder was again required to submit deviation drawings, as-built drawings, site photographs, certificates from engineers and a proof consultant, all decided by the builder himself. The department used to accord approval in case all supporting documents were found to be in order. In all these cases, no physical verification used to happen, thus giving an undue advantage to the developer.

Gaps in the existing rules

According to the DTCP booklet released by Khattar, the existing norms had several gaps. These included:

1. Lack of background checks of structural engineers, proof consultants and supervising engineers
2. Lack of third-party inspection during construction
3. Lack of a robust complaint redressal mechanism
4. Lack of a mechanism for handing over of the structural design documents to the RWA/allottee

These lacunae allowed developers considerable leeway and on several occasions, they got away despite using inferior material and altered structural designs leading to residents staying in an unsafe building.

Apprehensions about new guidelines

Homebuyers, however, still have a few reservations about the new guidelines and believe more needs to be done.

Rakesh Hooda, RWA president, Chintels Paradiso, expressed apprehensions about the benefit of the new guidelines. Hooda said the department should also come out with a detailed process to verify and validate the construction guidelines that should be backed by supporting documents and ensure its strict implementation.

Sunita Sharma, founder of Gurugram-based SPJ Advocates & Co, said that the government should also form an independent committee to oversee the process besides holding officers concerned accountable.

“The government should fix the responsibility in case of lapses. The department and the officers posted there when such projects were approved should be held accountable even after their retirement. It should also specify the remedies available to occupants of such buildings be it compensation, alternative accommodation or payment in lieu of rent till the repairing/maintenance is done to make the building suitable for re-inhabitancy,” said Sharma.

Checks and balances

RS Batth, head of enforcement wing of DTCP Gurugram, told Moneycontrol that if firms are empanelled by the government, they will be held accountable in case of wrongdoing. “If we are empanelling any agency, a team at the level of a chief engineer will be involved in the scrutiny and empanelment. Even after this, if an agency commits any wrongdoing, it will be held accountable. But at present, we don’t have any empanelled agency and builders select engineers/agencies as per their choice,” said Batth.

Prabhat Bhardwaj, a member of Making Model Gurugram (a platform to unite all RWAs), who is working closely with the government on the policy part, said that several steps have been taken to keep a check on the nexus between agencies and builders.

“To put checks and balances in place to curb any nexus between the builder and the third-party auditor, an independent monitoring body has also been proposed that will have independent technical professionals, members of civil society and the administration. Also, only empanelled structural engineers and firms will be able to give their services. If a firm has worked with a certain builder, then it won’t be able to issue a certificate to that builder,” said Bhardwaj, who works with an audit firm looking after special compliances.

He said that the new guidelines will benefit new homebuyers. Bhardwaj added that with these guidelines, the moment 51 percent of a project is sold out, it will be mandatory for the builder to form an RWA, thus helping the buyers have a say in case of any discrepancies.

What happens to affected families of Chintels, GreenView?

Given that the new guidelines cover future projects as well as projects that are yet to get occupancy certificates or are under construction, buyers of Chintels and Greenview are concerned about their future.

“I have been provided with a rental accommodation by the builder. They will bear the cost of the rent but for how many months is not clear to us. We have not been provided with any agreement,” said RK Rana, who shifted to a temporary residence from Chintels.

Batth, however, said that given the fact that the empanelment process of agencies and engineers may take around one and half months, the deputy commissioner has been authorised to make interim arrangements to address the complaints related to structural safety. Thus, the issues faced by buyers of Chintels and GreenView will be decided as per the locally agreed process.

Gauri Sarin, convenor of Making Model Gurugram, said that the association is continuously pursuing the issues being faced by buyers of Chintels, GreenView and other societies with the DTCP to expedite the audit process.