Structural audit of 17 condominiums to start Monday
The much delayed structural audit of 60 condominiums in the city will commence next Monday, the district administration said after a meeting with stakeholders on Wednesday evening, adding that the exercise will be carried out in a phased manner and 17 condominiums will be covered in the first phase.
The developers of these 17 condominiums -- they include Dwarkadish Buildwell (Antriksh Heights), Brisk Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (Brisk Lumbini sector), Central Park (Central Park), M3M (M3M Woodshire), Mapsko Ltd (Mapsko Casabella), (Mapsko Paradise), Mapsko Royal), Paras Buildtech (Paras Irene), DLF Universal Ltd.(Park Place -- have been asked to submit structural drawings and architectural plans of their buildings to the department of town and country planning by end of the week, officials in the know of the matter have said.
The work on the structural audit will be carried out simultaneously by four empaneled firms -- Bureau Veritas, NNC Design International, Vintech Consultants, and TPC Projects Consultants Pvt Ltd.
Earlier this year, the Haryana government recommended the structural audit of 60 condominiums on the basis of multiple complaints by residents and RWAs regarding poor construction quality, structural issues, and maintenance. The issue assumed significance after six floors of a tower at Chintels Paradiso partially collapsed on February 10 this year.
Nishant Yadav, deputy commissioner, Gurugram, who chaired the meeting, said the structural audit will commence on Monday and technical experts have been asked to complete the exercise within 45 days.
“Technical experts will conduct a through visual inspection first and in case they find any structural or infrastructure deficiency, then a decision will be taen to conduct a second and a third phase of tests. The four empanelled firms have experienced experts and we will ensure that if a firm has already worked with a particular developer, then it will not be assigned that project,” said Yadav, allaying the fears of RWAs that firms impanelled by the administration could be influenced by builders.
Officials from the department of town and country planning said during the visual inspection, one representative of the developer and two representatives from the RWA will remain present and they will give all assistance to the technical teams during this exercise. “We have asked the developers and RWAs to ensure full cooperation and support to the technical teams. The developers will provide material assistance,” said Amit Madholia, district town planner, enforcement.
Madholia said the developers of these 17 projects have been asked to submit detailed drawing and structural maps of their projects by the end of the week. “The entire visual inspection will be based on these drawings and inputs from residents. The cost of the visual inspection will be borne by the developers,” he said.
The structural audit work was scheduled to commence mid-August but it was delayed as there was no standard operating procedure in place to carry out this exercise. “The SOP has been created so that there is no confusion and reports are uniforms,” said a senior official, asking not to be named.
Yadav said technical teams will share details about the visual inspection with residents and he will also hold regular meetings with the experts to take stock. “The residents and RWAs can share their inputs and information with the teams and help them in carrying out the audit. In case society has more than one RWA, then one member each from these associations will be part of the visual inspection team,” Yadav said, adding that in the next three or four days, details of firms allotted for audit will be shared with residents.
The representatives of developers, RWAs and senior officials, including Vishram Kumar Meena, ADC Gurugram and Pravin Kumar, superintending engineer, public works department, were present in the meeting.
Residents of various societies said that the district administration should ensure that there is no conflict of interest among the developers and the firm conducting the audit.
“The audit should be carried out in a serious and timebound manner. In the meeting, every aspect was discussed in properly. The structural deficiencies should be identified and corrective measures should be taken using the best construction and engineering methods,” said Dharmvir Singh, president, of Mapsko Casa Bella RWA.
Pravin Jain, chairman, Naredco, and managing director, of Tulip Infratech Pvt Ltd said the structural audit of projects is good for assessment but in a few societies, the RWAs are making unjust demands. “The structural audit process should not be used as a leverage to put pressure on developers. There should be a balanced approach from all stakeholders so that it does not become an obstacle in the growth of industry, which is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.