Mumbai: Flaws within 10 years of construction to attract action

Representation picArchitects licence surveyors site engineers supervisors even a construction company and its consultant will be held responsible if a defect is detected in a building within 10 years of its construction The Maharashtra government has issued a notification to this effect with a focus on the improvement of its the states rank in the quality control index of a World Bank report It has made an amendment in Development Control Regulations DCR 1991 of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC in section 37 1AA holding architects and others mentioned liable for structural defects or flawsThe state government notification was published on March 7 in its gazette and the BMCs Development Plan DP department has started implementing the new law According to the notification a copy of which is with midday any building constructed in an area of 750 sq m 8000 square feet or above which is less than 10 years of age from the date of issuance of the occupationcumbuilding completion certificate will be covered under this changed lawAccording to officials from DP department the changes came after the World Bank in its Doing Business 2017 report in respect of the criteria for ranking of the construction permits has given high importance to the provision of latent defect liability period in the quality control index Earlier there was no such rule under which architects or other persons could be held liable for any flawsAn official from the BMC said Last year the state government had introduced changes in DCR and decided to fix responsibility on licenced technical personnel in respect of structural flaws or defects in the buildings Earlier it was proposed to include only buildings that have an area over 20000 sq m However it was changed as under that law only few buildings would be covered In the past few years there were several building collapses and in few of them it was revealed that construction quality was not up to the mark which had led to weakening of the structureHope for better positionA senior DP official said Under this law we can recover the amount from the architect engineer or construction company if it has been established that there was a defect in construction work With the new law we are hopeful of a better position in the World Banks report on ease of doing businessPEATA saysShirish Sukhatme of Practicing Engineers Architects and Town Planners Association India PEATA said The notification says that if there are any flaws the architect should be responsible but in majority cases the owner of the flat does extreme alterations and additions which led to collapse or damage to buildings It is totally unfair to hold us responsible for such things Also the government wants us to insure buildings so that in case of damage and collapse we pay compensation He added Instead of this they should make the law more stringent for people who do major alterations in buildings The government is holding responsible us with no concrete logicThe notificationAny building constructed in an area of 750 square metres 8000 square feet which is within 10 years of the date of issuance of occupationcumbuilding completion certificate will be covered under this changed law750 sq mThe law is applicable to buildings of this area or over if flaws are detected before completion of 10 yearsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates