What Is A Structural Safety Certificate And Why Is It Important?

While buyers are keenly involved into the nitty-gritty of their home interiors, the strength of the material being used while constructing the structure is often ignored. Those investing in high-rise buildings are mostly unaware of the construction grade of residential and commercial projects. This is another reason why ‘premium construction quality’ has become one of the unique selling points for the real estate developers, especially in the national capital region. 

What is a structural safety certificate?

The structural safety certificate is proof that the building’s structural plans submitted for approval satisfy the safety requirements for all natural calamities such as earthquake and cyclone, as given in the Part-6 (Structural Design) of the National Building Code of India, 2005. The certificate is provided by the structural engineers and usually the civic administration issues these after getting it verified from the experts. The certificate also states that the design has been done after a detailed soil test, and that the structure is fit for use. Some states have also made it mandatory for property owners to submit a structural safety certificate at the time of property registration.

State initiatives for structural safety

In 2011, the Delhi government made the structural safety certificate mandatory for property registration.

Similarly, in Gujarat, the structural safety audit was made mandatory for old buildings, in 2014.

Till 2018, there were 10,000 buildings that were still lacking the structural safety certificate. In fact in Vadodara, the structural safety certificate were made mandatory for buildings older than 30 years, in June 2019 after four building collapse accidents happened in one year.

However, Chandigarh is setting an example for all the metro cities which are blindly regularising unauthorised colonies without ensuring infrastructure stability. The UT administration has made the structural safety certificate from a qualified empaneled structural engineer registered with it, mandatory for availing the benefit of the regularisation scheme.

Quake-safe structural safety certificate coming soon in Delhi

Soon, the Delhi civic authority is going to make quake-safe certificates compulsory for all the buildings in the city. Around 32 lakh buildings will be affected by this new rule. The administration might also introduce a cess on property tax or building plan sanction fees to fund the renovation of public buildings in Delhi which falls in Seismic zone 4. Under this plan, old buildings higher than 15m, will be the top priority under the quake action plan.