Haryana Directorate of Town and Country Planning has taken great strides in streamlining the process of issuing occupancy certificates, or OCs for short, to residential properties in licensed plotted colonies. To that end, the DTCP recently issued an order giving empanelled architects, under the self-certification policy, the authority to issue OCs. This is part of an overarching process of making the administrate procedures smooth and available to homeowners who would wish their homes to comply with set regulatory standards.
The Self Certification Policy: Shift in Authority
The self-certification policy allows the architect to pursue the avenue of issuing OCs, together with engineers. This is a deviation from the former system, wherein district town planners and engineers were rather more directly involved. In this regard, under the new process, a building owner applies to his architect or engineer and the latter makes sure that the property complies with the approved building plans and other requirements, including those for structural stability, not to mention setbacks.
This policy cuts across all residential houses in licensed colonies and meets a very strict process. The architect or engineer will have to pay a visit to the site and, in addition, submit documents such as the approved building plans, as-built drawings of the property, photographs of the building's finishing and furnishing, and the structural stability certificate. Moreover, the architect will ensure that there is no violation of building codes or unauthorized extensions.
Why it matters
This procedural change is to accelerate the processing of OCs to homeowners, thereby lessening the administrative burden of offices in the government sector, which were vested with the task of conducting detailed inspections and then issuing the OCs. For this reason, DTCP intends to make the process easier by delegating most of the responsibility included to private professionals that would ensure faster and quicker approvals.
This was a boon to those home owners. The new process would minimize waiting periods as compared with the several weeks or months it would take by only eight working days from date of application. This is the most critical for instant solutions needed by individuals either to occupy their home immediately or close on a property that requires an OC to complete the sale process.
Procedure for Occupation Certificate
The amended procedure ensures speed and compliance together. Here's how the system works:
Submission of Request: The building owner files a written request with an architect or engineer whom he has chosen, and must be empanelled under Haryana's self-certification system.
Inspection and Documentation: The architect or engineer shall inspect the property. Review the approved plans of the building, documenting changes in as-built drawing where relevant, and photograph the front and rear setback areas of the building. Confirm that interior finishes and furnishing work is complete.
Self-certification: Upon receipt of confirmation by an architect or engineer that the plot fulfills all requirements, he shall make a self-certification to DTP within three working days after the date of issuance of OC. DTP shall maintain records to refer or inspect at any point of time.
There are checks by the district town planner in the form of audits on 10% of the OCs issued under self-certification within the first 15 days of every month. Therefore, architects and engineers are bound by professional standards, and non-compoundable violations of building code do not occur.
Consequences of Non-Compliance If during such spot checks, the DTP comes across any form of irregularity or non-compliance, disciplinary actions can be meted out to the concerned architect or engineer; for instance, one can be blacklisted or license revoked by the Council of Architects.
Accountability
This being new policy giving such important functions to the architect, there is dire need of accountability. The rules take care of scheduled checking by district town planners and senior town planners. Also, the architects would ensure that no non-compoundable violations have been made in the shape of illegal extensions or deviation from the approved plans, before issuing an OC.
Furthermore, DTPs will be required to conduct random inspections of at least 5 percent of the properties issued with OCs under self-certification every month. This system of random inspections will discourage the violative tendencies and also ensure that architects and engineers are working toward the expected standards.
Benefits of the New Policy
The new process ensures faster turnaround times compared to traditional OC certification procedures. This means time saved for homeowners, who need to have quick occupation of properties or conclude real estate transactions.
Streamlined Process: Architect-led certification eliminates red tape and bureaucratic regulations and makes the process more straightforward for homeowners.
Less burden on government office: Much of the responsibility now will fall on private professionals, which could free up the DTCP for higher-level infrastructure work and other priorities.
More professional accountability: Now that architects and engineers can issue OCs, more attention is sure to be paid to professional accountability and adherence to building standards.
Concerns
Many benefits of the new system are obvious: it imposes greater enforcement, looks to fill a lacuna in the law regarding compoundable and non-compoundable offenses, and unravels part of the confusion sown by differing practices throughout municipalities. Concerns remain, however that this new system will have the effect of increasing violations, particularly if architects or engineers fail to make proper checks for noncompoundable violations that otherwise would have been detected under the former system, with its multiplicity of checks toward compliance with building codes.
The fear of illegal extensions or any violation may go unchecked if architects are under pressure to quickly issue the OC, according to the officials. But the DTCP believes that the penalties for non-compliance and random checks would act as a deterrent to any misuse of this self-certification process.
Conclusion
The self-certification policy by the DTCP, Haryana to accommodate giving occupancy certificates to architects is a major departure from the previous approach by the state in residential approvals. Hence, architects and engineers have been empowered to perform this role in an effort to make the process more efficient by reducing the time taken for OCs to be received by their homeowners.
However, the checks and penalties stringent should be maintained by the DTCP. This will ensure that the new system is not misused to compromise the building standards. If it goes successfully, then it might be a model for other states with regard to their real estate approval processes.
