Structural Audits for Buildings in Mumbai

Every day that passes sees your building passing through many structural changes. Across Mumbai, there are many buildings that are under severe structural damage. Nearly 500 crores of Rupees is spend each year for restoration of buildings in Mumbai and this figure is likely to go up in the coming years.

The monsoons bring with it additional woes. Leakages are common, collapsing of certain portions of homes and overall damage to buildings.

And so it is necessary to conduct a structural audit of your building. What is a structural audit? In simple terms it is an examination of your building. It’s basically ensuring that your building and its premises are safe and under no risks. It’s extremely helpful as it enables us to analyze the situation of the building and thus we can take any corrective action where necessary.

As per model law number 77, for co-operative housing societies, if the building is 15 to 30 years old, it is mandatory that a structural audit be carried out every five years. For the buildings over 30 years, an audit needs to done every three years. However if one suspects that the condition of the building to be poor, they can go for a structural audit at any time.

During the monsoons the seepage is quite evident and perhaps its the best period to go in for this audit.

What is the procedure for a structural audit? Audits are generally divided into two types. One is the external survey which covers the common areas such as the stair case, compound walls, terrace, water tank etc. The internal survey covers individual apartments, shops etc. And so for these internal surveys, members should be informed about them well in advance, so that they are aware of it and can plan accordingly.

Once the survey is done, recommendations are given and acting on these recommendations is more important.

It’s extremely important that people take the initiative to make sure that these structural audits are done in a timely manner. Co-operative societies need to ensure that these audits are done. How much do these audits cost? A structural audit could cost anywhere from Rs. 250 to Rs. 1000 per flat, however certain other factors are also considered such as the age of the building.

Many societies find it expensive carrying out these structural audits, as they are always short of funds. However given the current climatic conditions such as pollution etc, it’s crucial that these audits be done.