Noida: Committee formed to look into safety audit request for ‘old’ high-rises

Noida authority forms committee to probe structural audits of high-rises older than 5 years. At least 1200 towers will be inspected for stability.

Noida authority has formed a three-member committee, comprising deputy general manager level officials, to probe requests for structural audits of high-rises older than five years.

According to the authority, there are at least 1200 high-rise housing towers in Noida that are older than five years. (HT Archive)

According to the authority, there are at least 1200 high-rise housing towers in Noida that are older than five years.

The committee members -- deputy general managers of water, civil and health departments -- will inspect buildings, collect details of the construction material used, design of pillars, beams, walls and structural weakness, if any, to submit a report on the structural stability of each building.

“Once the DGM level committee compiles and submits the report, a decision whether the safety audit must be carried out or not, will be taken accordingly,” said Satish Pal, additional chief executive officer of the Noida authority.

If there is a need for a safety audit, then the apartment owners association of the respective societies will enlist experts for the audit, in consultation with the three member committee, said officials.

According to the guidelines approved by the Noida authority in 2023, if a building is five years or more old, the AOA will bear the cost of safety audit by enlisting an expert agency and also pay for the cost, if any, that needs to be spent to strengthen the structure.

The Noida authority has selected expert agencies such as Delhi Technological University, IIT-Kanpur, MNIT Allahabad, BITS Pilani, AMU Aligarh, MNIT Jaipur, and CBRE Roorkee to issue safety certificates for housing tower structures, officials 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 had in November 2022 began empanelling seven agencies for this purpose. The authority will implement building safety guidelines for group housing societies from 1 April 2023 to ensure resident safety. These new guidelines were approved during the 207th board meeting in November 2022 and put into effect from April 1, 2023.

“So far, residents from seven societies have demanded a safety audit. These buildings are Great Value Sharnam in Sector 107 and Supertech Emerald Court, among others,” said another Noida authority official asking not to be named.

Apart from that, the authority has issued occupancy certificates for four new housing projects -- County 107, Parx Laureate in Sector 108, Godrej in Sector 43 and Klassic Shaurya in Sector 128.

“As per the new guidelines, we have sought certificates from an expert agency about the structural safety of buildings once they are completed before issuing the OC that paved the way for possession of apartments to homebuyers. Around 1,000 homebuyers will get to shift into these four projects,” said an official of the Noida authority.

“We have taken care of all the laid down guidelines to obtain occupancy certificate for our project. After OC apartment owners have already started shifting into their respective unit in our ultra luxury apartments,” said Amit Modi, director County Group.