Chintels Paradiso Collapse: At least two persons were killed in Gurugram after a portion of the sixth floor of an apartment collapsed on February 10, 2022. However, Chintels Paradiso collapse, isn’t the first instance of a building collapse. There have been a series of building collapses in other parts of the Delhi-National Capital Region — Greater Noida and Ghaziabad — a few years ago that were blamed on poor construction quality and weak foundations.
So, if you are a Potential Homebuyer, What Should you Know About the Safety of Buildings? What are the Questions you Must Ask?
What is the First Question a Homebuyer Should Ask?
Manish Jain, director projects, House of Hiranandani, said that the buyer has to see is the reputation of the developer in the first place. “So one thing for buyers is to see as to how many years the developer has been into the business of real estate, he should have been in the business for 10 years or 20 years or 30 years,” he stated.
Secondly, when the customer goes for buying, the first point of contact is a developer’s marketing team, he should see a presentation about USP of the project, Jain explained.
What Questions to Ask About Project Construction?
- What is the developer’s technical team composition?
- Do they do the construction in-house, or they also outsource the construction?
- What kind of contractors they appoint, whether they appoint small-time contractors or they appoint large contractors like L&T?
- What kind of quality control systems the developers follow at the site?
“So, the customer should start getting aware, because they have all the right to question about these things. One more important thing, most of the states and I think in most large municipalities the Structural Consultant is supposed to give such a stability certificate. So the customer should insist upon having a copy of the structural stability certificate or have a look at that. Ask questions like whether this official certificate is provided by the structural consultant or not,” Jain stated.
Structural audits
Experts told News18.com that it was important for homebuyers, both buying old apartments or moving into new projects, to carry out structural audits of high-rise housing societies. Also, claims that the buildings are seismic zone 5-compliant need to be verified.
Buyers should get hold of structural drawings from the builder, the experts said. Also, once they have moved in, they should be careful about making major structural changes to the apartment. They should get the renovation and alteration plans approved by the designer of the building.
The first thing homebuyers should remember to do is to hire a civil engineer to check the physical condition and construction quality of the building where they intend buying an apartment.
Is the property RERA registered?
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 is aimed at protecting home buyers. Jain explained: “The builder cannot even market the project without a RERA registration. They cannot even take the deposit, they can’t take the booking amount, they can’t even do a single sale without RERA registration. It is paramount important that customer ensures that the project is RERA approved before they make any payment to the developer.”
Other Quality Checks Once you Get the Possession
“Yes, definitely. Before taking the possession , the customer can, again, as I said, take the help of an audit organization. There are a lot of consultants now in the market, and they charge about 40,000 or 50,000 rupees for the services. They have a complete checklist The report takes about 15 days, The consultants come up with a 40 to 50 pages report, which includes not just the structure report, but also an audit of the door and the handles. Basically a complete audit of the entire flat,” Jain said while speaking on what can the homebuyers do after getting the possession.
“So, I would say that every customer should get it audited before. Once you have the audit report of a third party, you can put it to the development board and ask for the disparities to be rectified,” he added.
Checklist Homebuyers Must Have in their Mind Before Buying a House:
- Always ask for the structural design. Also ask the developer for a blueprint of the building. If he is not forthcoming, check for other available options.
- Hire a civil engineer to check the physical condition and construction quality of the building you intend moving into.
- Get a concrete quality check done. The quality of the concrete used in a building depends on what grade of concrete has been used, what the concrete/sand ratio is and whether the concrete was allowed to cure for a sufficient length of time.
- Ensure there is no water-logging around the structure. Always ensure that the level of the house is at least 1 foot above the level of the road.
- Check the transformers and electricity poles and how they have been positioned or installed.
- The sewage system of the building should be linked to a government-approved drainage system.
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