BMC will not give occupation certificates or inspect progress of building projects; will only carry out random checks, submit report
Maharashtra government's decision of putting the onus of project approval and occupation certificate for a building on the architect of the project has shaken the architecture fraternity. As per a state urban development department circular, it will be now responsibility of the architect to look after the project and award the occupation certificate to the project.
"If there is some deviation between the submitted project details and actual constructions, then the architect will be solely responsible for these lapses. Henceforth, the BMC engineers will not give the OC or inspect the progress of each project work. The BMC vigilance department officials will only carry out random checks and submit its report," states the circular.
Noted architect Hafiz Contractor called the move a dangerous step taken by the state government. "Government is shrugging of its responsibility and putting the onus on architects. We are not legal experts. The law can be interpreted in any way. The plan always changes. How come the architect is going to held responsible?" he asked.
The decision will, in fact, lead to greater corruption, Contractor said. "Once the plan is submitted by the architects, it has to be also approved by the government engineers and the occupation certificate has to be also given by them only. We are always there to cooperate and rectify the mistake from time to time. Putting all the onus on architect is not acceptable," he said.
"At times, there may be lapses in the plan and the OC may have been given as a genuine mistake, and not deliberately. In such cases, the architect should not be held responsible. Besides, there are several norms that are beyond the comprehension of architects such as Coastal Regulation Zone, fire norms and environmental clearances. While submitting and approving the plan, we need to obtain more than 60 different kinds of NOCs. So the government is putting the entire architect industry in danger. Government should have considered our views before enforcing this anti-architect law. Government should understand that we are only designers, not lawyers or experts in government norms," Contractor said.
On the other hand, developers are happy that architects will have to bear responsibility. "We pay very hefty fees to architects, but they take very less responsibility. Now, this move will get rid of huge corruption in BMC and other approving authorities. In most of the developed countries, this practice is widely accepted. Now there will be speedy approvals and that will also reduce our project costs," said a prominent developer, requesting anonymity.
...& ANALYSIS
- As a part of the ease of doing business, the state government has overhauled the project approval procedure.
- BMC engineers won’t inspect all project sites.
- The task of inspection and ensuring occupation certificate will be carried out by the project architect.
- Architects could be fined or lose their license if there are deviations between the submitted plans and actual constructions.
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