Another round of structural audits in highrise societies from April 1 in Gurugram

GURUGRAM: The district administration has decided to start the second phase of structural
audits of residential societies from April 1. This comes after a meeting held on Saturday
between RWAs, developers and auditing agencies at the mini secretariat, headed by the deputy
commissioner, to address the issues raised in the first phase.
The administration has also sought suggestions of residents from the 15 societies that were
covered during the first phase. Deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav said further action on the
required repairs or changes would be decided based on the suggestions.
“The first phase, in which the structural integrity of 15 housing societies in licensed areas was
audited, has been completed. Residents of these societies will be able to submit their
suggestions through their RWAs and only after their consent will the next step be taken. Also, it
was decided that the second phase will start from next month,” Yadav said.

During the meeting, the process adopted by the audit firms and the scope of the audit were
discussed with RWAs. The administration also directed the audit firms to identify structures that
don’t pose any safety threats but have scope for improvement or repair.
The agencies were directed to keep such issues in mind after residents pointed out several
minor points, including water leakage.
In the meeting, the residents complained that some developers were getting structural tests
done on their own. To this, Yadav said that a developer is free to get any kind of test done, but
only reports of tests done under the agency and procedure prescribed by the district
administration will be valid.
Describing transparency as an important aspect in this process, Yadav said: “Builders will not be
allowed to interfere in the work of the four agencies nominated by the administration for
structural audit. The payment of the audit agency, which has been fixed, will be done by the
builder through the administration.”
The district administration had prepared a list of 60 projects having poor construction quality and
structural defects for audit on the basis of complaints received from homebuyers during the past
two years. These complaints were divided into moderate, severe and critical categories. Most of
these residential societies are located along the Dwarka Expressway and Southern Peripheral Road.
Meanwhile, additional deputy commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena said the audit reports of
towers D, E and F of Chintels Paradiso have come, which have been declared unsafe. “At
present, the audit of all the towers is being done in an expeditious manner and is expected to be
complete in the next two months. Further decisions will be taken after the reports of all nine
towers are received,” he said.
He added that after the valuation report of the flats, re-evaluation has been done by an
independent agency on the basis of the objections and suggestions raised by residents.
“Technical deficiencies in the evaluation were also noted. The valuation report has been shared
with the builder and residents and we are working towards its quick resolution,” Meena said.