Structural audit in Gurugram: Basements of most buildings have flaws, more tests needed

GURUGRAM: The basements of the 15 residential societies audited for structural defects have
deficiencies and further testing is needed to ascertain their impact on the overall buildings, the
agencies that conducted the tests have claimed in their report submitted to the deputy
commissioner (DC).
DC Nishant Yadav held a meeting with the audit agencies along with representatives of RWAs
and developers and department of town and country planning (DTCP) officials on Monday to
discuss the report.
“The audit report of the 15 societies has revealed that basements of all the projects need further
testing, as this is a major problem area and cause of concern. The audit agencies, however,
said the defects are non-structural and repairable in nature,” a senior official said. The structural
audit of Raheja Atharva couldn’t be done due to non-availability of the project drawings. DTCP
will soon retrieve the papers from the developer.

After the meeting, Yadav said though no serious structural defects have been found that might
pose a risk to structural integrity or to the residents, there are deficiencies in most of the
residential societies. “The most common problems are falling plaster or concrete chunks,
defects in balconies and seepage in basements,” he said.
The DC further said the audit agencies have recommended secondary testing, which will soon
be started. “The tests will be non-destructive. On the basis of the secondary testing report, the
agencies will share the recommendations and the future course of action will be decided
accordingly. The agencies will recommend the methodology for repair work,” he said.
The district administration will ensure that the secondary testing and the process of audit is
completed within two to In the first phase, 15 residential societies where residents had complained about constructionrelated issues have been audited and around 50 residential societies will be audited in the
second phase, Yadav said.
District town planner Amit Madholia will share the structural audit report with the RWAs
concerned, who can then see whether all relevant points have been addressed or not.
In case any point is not included, the structural agencies may visit the project again to review
the situation, officials said.
In August, the district administration had roped in four structural audit agencies — Bureau
Veritas, TPC Technical projects Consultants, Vintech Consultants and NNC Design International
— to carry out inspections of around 200 towers in 16 residential societies.
The audit started in mid of September and the report was submitted to the DC around three
weeks ago.
The district administration decided to carry out audits to identify buildings that are unsafe for
habitation after the cave-in at Chintels Paradiso in February this year, in which two residents lost
their lives. If needed, repair work can be carried out in such buildings and in case they are found
inhabitable, they can be vacated, officials said.