Submit building plans of 23 high-rises in a week for safety audit: Gurugram administration to builders

For representational purpose

The Gurugram district administration has directed builders of 23 high-rises that are to undergo structural safety audits to submit their building plans to the concerned auditing agencies within a week so that the process can be rolled out at the earliest, officials privy to the development said.

The officials said that the administration has also clarified that if defects are found and require repairs, half the expense would have to be borne by the RWA and the other half by the builder.

These directions were issued by Gurugram’s Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Hitesh Kumar Meena in a meeting on structural safety audits of high-rises in the city. ADC Meena said that ensuring the safety of people living in multi-storey buildings in Gurugram is the priority of the district administration and no lapses or delays will be tolerated.

The ADC said that visual inspection of 55 societies in Gurugram had been completed, wherein buildings were checked for signs of damage in columns, walls and slabs, and for any signs of deterioration and other visible defects.

Of the 55 high-rises where visual inspections were carried out, as many as 23 housing societies were identified as having issues such as cracks in the plaster, plaster peeling off the walls, and seepage problems, among others.

Related stories

Ashish Mishra

Prinicipal Correspondent|moneycontrol

• 
  Logistics realty demand at all-time high, 3PL, e-commerce drive 55.3-msf absorption
• 
  Noida Authority cracks down on builders defaulting on payments even after enjoying concessions
• 
  UPRERA greenlights Rs 1,948-crore worth of projects; realty growth spreads to Jhansi, Firozabad

“A detailed structural safety audit of these condominiums is to be conducted. The builders of these high-rises, who have not yet provided their building plans, should submit them in a week’s time so that the process can be rolled out at the earliest. Appropriate action will be taken if these directions are not complied with,” Meena said.

The ADC also clarified that those allottees who had purchased flats but not yet taken possession would have to bear the expenses for the repair work in their flats, if any. Apart from this, the builder would have to bear the expenses of the flats that had not been sold yet.

He added that safety audits would be conducted by the four agencies that were empanelled by the administration for the first phase of the audit last year. The four agencies are: Bureau Veritas, TPC Technical Projects Consultants, Vintech Consultants and NNC Design International.

Officials said that during the safety audit, various checks, such as the overall condition of the building, plastering, leakage, seepage, dampness condition of water tanks, and cracks in the beams, basement, and slabs, among others, would be minutely analysed.

The district administration has been trying to identify unsafe buildings following the tower collapse at the Chintels Paradiso housing complex in February 2022. A floor at a higher level in the tower had collapsed onto lower floors, killing two women.