The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) proposes to make a third-party structural audit of all highrises mandatory, considering the cave-in at Gurgaon's Chintels Paradiso condominium last month.
Presently, there is no requirement for a structural audit in the UP Apartment Act, and developers get the same done by auditors of their choice for aiming completion certificates from the GDA. If the new offer gets approved by the state government, officials told the media that the Act will be amended making it compulsory for all private developers to get a structural audit of their buildings done by auditors empanelled under the GDA. GDA’s chief town planner Asheesh Shivpuri told the media that because of the building collapse in Gurgaon, it has been unanimously agreed upon that a rule should be made in the UP Apartment Act bestowing powers on development or industrial authorities to make structural audits of all buildings developed by private real-tors compulsory. It has been decided at the highest level in the GDA that an offer to this effect be sent to the state government at the earliest for its permission. As per the officials, the GDA may hire a panel of auditors, be it IIT-Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia or Rail India Technical and Economic Service. Developers will have to get a structural audit of their buildings done from one of their empanelled auditors to obtain completion certificates issued. Emphasising the imperativeness of the proposal, Shivpuri told the media that due to the prevalent practice, auditors engaged by private builders tend to ignore any lacuna in a building structure which could compromise the safety of the highrise in the long run. In case of a building collapse, the heat is on the development officials. Image Source
