AHMEDABAD: On Aug 17, Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner M Thennarasan issued a public notice mandating that all residential and commercial buildings over 15 years old must submit their structural stability certificates within 15 days.
A month has passed since the notice, and not a single certificate has been submitted. The rule had first been introduced in 2014, but had not been enforced.
An AMC official not wanting to be named said, “Certificates are only submitted in cases where buildings are declared dilapidated or dangerous. However, according to the rule, all buildings over 15 years old must undergo inspection and submit a structural stability certificate.
This is not happening. Without enforcement, buildings will not voluntarily submit these certificates, so we are considering steps in this direction.”
The state govt first introduced the rule for structural stability certificates for buildings over 15 years old in Ahmedabad’s General Development Control Regulations in 2014 and reiterated it in the Comprehensive General Development Control Regulations in 2017.
On Aug 17 this year, the municipal commissioner began enforcing the rule, requiring all residential buildings over 9m high and all commercial buildings over 15 years old to submit their certificates within 15 days. Despite a month passing, no certificates have been submitted.
On Dec 30, 2014, the state govt approved Ahmedabad’s GDCR, including strict provisions for structural stability certificates. The rule required inspections and certificate submissions for all buildings over 15 years old, but for 10 years, Auda and AMC did not enforce it.
No structural stability inspections or certificate submissions were conducted to check the strength of buildings. The rule remained only on paper. The AMC ordered that all buildings over 15 years old must be inspected by a structural engineer and, after completing any recommended maintenance, submit their structural stability certificates.
Inspections and maintenance must be completed within 15 days and certificates must be obtained and submitted. However, this is still not being enforced.
