Noida to empanel private agency for structural audit of old housing societies

The authority has been urged to conduct an audit on behalf of seven old societies -- Sector-93A Supertech Emerald Court and Utopia Residence, Sector-121 Homes, Sector-107 Great Value Sharanam, Sector-78 Sikka Karmik, and Sector-52 Space Nature Society, among others

The Noida authority has decided to enlist a private agency to determine if there is a requirement for the structural audit of old high-rise residential buildings in the city. The move comes after the authority realised that a committee comprising its officials were unable to figure out which societies need to undergo structural audits, said officials.

Supertech Emerald Court (above) in Sector 93A is one of seven societies seeking a structural audit. (HT Archive)

Officials said the process is underway to empanel private agencies for the audit. As of now, there are eight government empanelled agencies -- IIT Delhi, Technical University Delhi, IIT Kanpur, BITS Pilani, AMU Aligarh, MNIT Jaipur, CBRI Roorkee, and NIT-Delhi -- to conduct the structural audit.

“If the private agency is empanelled, then it can work as per the demands of the apartment owners,” said Vandana Tripathi, additional chief executive officer, Noida authority.

After preparing the policy of structural audit and taking approval from the board, the Noida Authority had on March 15, 2023, introduced the system of structural audit following the demands from residents.

Under the policy, from April 1, 2023, any builder applying for occupancy certificate will have to bring a structural audit certificate from one of the empanelled government institutions. If the builder does not submit this audit report, then the application for occupancy certificate will be rejected.

Rules and responsibility for already built group housing societies were also fixed for structural audit. “If the apartment owners in old housing complexes want to carry out a safety audit of the structure then they need to submit an application. Once the application is submitted, the private agency that will be empanelled soon will carry out a survey to ascertain the safety of the building,” said a Noida authority official, asking not to be named.

Authority officials said from April 1, 2023, till date, the authority has issued occupancy certificates to about nine group housing societies after taking structural audit reports. At the same time, the authority has been urged to conduct an audit on behalf of seven old societies -- Sector-93A Supertech Emerald Court and Utopia Resident, Sector-121 Homes, Sector-107 Great Value Sharanam, Sector-78 Sikka Karmik, Sector-52 Space Nature Society etc.

Also,a committee of the Noida authority, formed under the chairmanship of an additional chief executive officer, eight months ago, is yet to visit any old housing complexes to ascertain whether a structural audit is needed or not. It was in view of this that the authority decided to empanel a private agency to carry out the audits of old buildings.

“We hope that once a private agency is empanelled,it can take up the safety audit of old housing complexes,” said Rajiva Singh, president of Noida federation of apartment owners association.