Noida authority soon to finalise structural audit rates

The Noida authority is set to finalise the rates at which the hired agencies can conduct safety audits of old or under-construction buildings.

The Noida authority has selected expert agencies, including Delhi Technological University, IIT Kanpur, MNIT Allahabad, BITS Pilani, AMU Aligarh, MNIT Jaipur, and CBRI Roorkee, to issue safety certificates for housing tower structures, officials said.

Ritu Maheshwari, the CEO of the Noida authority, has formed a committee consisting of an additional CEO, a general manager for planning, a deputy general manager, and one empanelled expert agency to address the rate issue. “The committee will inspect buildings to determine whether a safety audit should be conducted and will then finalise the rates so that audits can be conducted in accordance with regulations,” she said.

According to officials, Noida is the first city in the country to establish guidelines for building safety audits. The safety audits will be carried out in response to demands from residents, and the Noida authority has already approved seven agencies for this purpose. The Authority will implement building safety guidelines for group housing buildings from 1 April 2023 to ensure residents’ safety. These new guidelines were approved during the 207th board meeting on 30 November 2022 and will be implemented.

Following a building collapse in Gurugram due to weak structure in 2022, apartment owners demanded safety audits. According to the Noida authority, there are at least 1200 high-rise buildings in the city. So far after April 1 the authority has received applications for audit from five housing complexes, officials said.

According to Pankaj Yadav, a resident of Sector 75, the structural audit of buildings is a critical issue in Noida because some developers do not pay attention to the quality of construction materials or structural strength. “The move may help the apartment buyers get safe home to live in,” he said.