Noida high-rises to see structural audit under new policy

The Noida Authority board has approved a policy proposal for structural audit of high-rise buildings in the city, according to an official statement. The policy defines roles and responsibilities of the builder as well as the residents' association vis-a-vis repair of structures, if found defective during audit. The decision was taken during the 207th board meeting of the Noida Authority held at its office in Sector 6 last week. The meeting was chaired by Uttar Pradesh Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner and Noida Authority chairman Arvind Kumar, with Noida Authority chief executive officer Ritu Maheshwari present. While the policy has been approved by the board, it would take around a week for it to be implemented due to paperwork at the local level, a senior official said. There are around 100 high-rise projects in Noida, many of them with multiple towers. According to the new policy, “The structural audit report from empanelled IIT or NIT or expert institutions will be submitted by the developer before the partial or full occupancy certificate is issued.” Even after the issuance of partial or full occupancy certificate, in any project, if 25 per cent or more allottees of AOA or tower complain about structural defects, the committee constituted at the authority level will examine the complaint. For structural defects of major category, structural audit will be conducted from expert institutions. Under the Apartment Ownership Act, it is the responsibility of the builder to remove the structural defects within two years, it stated.See also: Hyderabad sees registration of homes worth Rs 22.37 bn in OctGodrej Properties acquires land in Pune for group housing project