Posts Tagged ‘Property development’

To ensure the structural safety of buildings

September 30th, 2009

How safe is your building? Only a structural engineer can give an answer. For that, he or she should have been in the team that constructed the building, monitoring every stage of the work. But there is no rule that such a professional should be in the team. There are only guidelines. In western countries, structural certification is mandatory. Here, builders can decide whether to engage a structural engineer or not.

The government agencies seem to be not taking the initiative to tighten construction norms to ensure the safety of buildings. Usually, the buildings are designed on the Indian Standards Code, says S. Suresh, member of the Association of Structural and Geotechnical Consultants. A structural engineer need not issue a safety certificate during or after the construction.

A buyer may be under the impression that his building will stand for 100 years. An earthquake or cyclone may strike once in 50 years. Can the building which outwardly looks safe stand a wind velocity of 140 kmph or an earthquake high on the Richter scale? A structural engineer can ascertain safety only if stringent monitoring has been done at all stages of construction. Hence, he or she should be involved right from the planning stage, Mr. Suresh says. Sometimes, a structural engineer is called only at the start of the construction, as his or her role is considered only advisory.

Mr. Suresh contends that no structural engineer can certify such a building. Their work has two parts — the design and the execution. The structural drawing is important as the grid lines will be shown in that. It needs to be decided at the planning stage how many pillars are needed and where they should be erected.

Pending before the Supreme Court is a public interest litigation filed after the Gujarat earthquake on whether a structural engineer needs to certify a building.

Though structural safety is important with more and more multi-storey apartment complexes coming up to meet housing needs, the building rules in the country are yet to specify these norms. As Kochi has recently been denoted as an earthquake zone, the construction safety norms should be made stringent. An earthquake audit is likely to come up soon as part of the UNESCO programme to make buildings earthquake-resistant.
News Published Under: The Hindu

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Posted in General, Infrastructure Development

Tags: Kerala builders Property development

Builders seek tax concessions

August 14th, 2009

The Kerala Builders’ Association has suggested exempting flats with areas less than 100 sq.m (about 1,000 sq.ft) in rural areas from within the purview of the value-added tax regime.

The association has suggested tax holidays for a limited period for the building and real estate sector in view of the hard times it faces. The concession will help it come out better from the lull.

M.D. Jairaj, president of the association, says that giving incentives to builders in rural areas can help then offer affordable houses in rural areas to the common man. Besides, he says, this can help people in search of affordable homes move from urban to rural areas.

The association, representing nearly 150 builder members in the State, sees signs of a revival in the housing market in Kerala.

However, Dr. Jairaj alleges that the government is looking at builders as enemies and acting in a way that will render futile their efforts to survive these times of economic recession.

There is, he says, a widespread allegation that tax collection from the sector is low.

This has led the government and the taxes department to treat them from this perspective. The association demands that the government and the department do something to protect the sector, which provides lakhs of jobs in the organised sector.

The sector is straddled with taxes. It pays around 33 per cent, including tax on inputs, he adds.

The sector has been the worst hit in the economic recession. Added to this is a fear psychosis over the recession that scared away potential investors.

The government has admitted to a dip in revenue from registrations in the recent past. However, the association feels that the actual revenue fall may have been more than what is claimed. But the situation may have been helped by the ongoing drive opened by the Registration Department to settle cases related to undervaluation of property.

The association, says T. Padmajan, its general secretary, has been demanding remedial measures for several problems facing the sector. These demands and appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

One of the demands is reduction in stamp duty. The stamp duty in Kerala is one of the highest in the country and scares away buyers. A cut in this can create a more robust property market.

Taking into consideration the present financial crisis faced by the builders, the government should consider allowing them to defer the payment of labour welfare cess.

Individual structural plans for each panchayat is another demand. According to them, each panchayat should have land-use rules to make planning easier.