Noida Authority’s mandatory structural audit policy is set to come into force from April 1. Under this, developers will be required to get their structures vetted by one of the institutes or bodies empaneled by Noida Authority to obtain partial or full OC.
As per the new rules, even after getting the OC, the builder will be responsible for structural audits for the next five years and rectifying the deficiencies found in the structural audits during this time.
Additionally, existing buildings are also covered in this regulation. As per the rules, if at least 25 per cent of occupants of a building are in favour of an audit, they can approach the Noida Authority for the needful.
A committee led by an additional CEO-level officer would then look into their complaint and decide whether the defect is minor or major. For a major defect, the developer or Apartment Owners’ Association (AOA) , depending on the time elapsed since the OC issuance, will be responsible for engaging an agency for a structural audit and fixing the defect.
As per Apartment Ownership Act, the responsibility rests on the builder to repair the defects within two years. However, according to the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act, the builder is responsible for the removal of structural defects for five years and after five years, the AOA takes care of the same. This period is calculated after the issuance of OC of the entire scheme.
For the audit, Noida Authority has empaneled seven institutes- IIT Kanpur, Aligarh Muslim University, BITS Pilani, Delhi Technical University, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology in Jaipur, and Central Building Research Institute in Roorkee. The developer or AOA and the assigned institute will mutual decide on the audit fee.
The builder will be required to get the structural audit done at his own cost. If the report lacks anything, the builder will have to apply to the authority after getting the audit done again. The policy’s effect will be seen at 63 under construction projects in Noida.
Noteworthy here is in the light of recent earthquake in Turkey and images of high rises toppling over, Confederation of NCR Residents Welfare Association (CONRWA) has demanded a structural audit of all residential highrises in NCR. The umbrella RWA body also demanded that the audits should be repeated every five years.