SMART SOCHO: Is your new home in a structurally sound building?

Anil's Pharande's joy new no bounds when he moved into his new apartment, with his wife and five-year-old daughter. The compact 1BHK in Mumbai's suburbs had cost him a pretty penny, but Pharande, a manager with a city-based pharma company,  prided himself on having got a ‘great deal' from the developer, a good five lakhs below the market rates for flats in the area.

The first two years in his new abode were sheer bliss for the Pharande family. The new home was close to his workplace, his daughter Shruti had got admission into a good school nearby while his wife was happy since all the daily necessities were within walking distance from their home.

Troubles began from the third year onwards. The onset of the monsoon caused several damp patches in the bedroom and kitchen areas of the Pharande home. A couple of short circuits later, the local electrician informed that the wiring was substandard and needed to be changed. Cracks began to appear in the living room and the added moisture from the rains ensured that the expensive paint started peeling from the corners.

Pharande's dream home had turned into a nightmare of substandard construction caused by the use of inferior quality raw materials and fittings. The few lakhs he had managed to save in the purchase were soon gone in the unexpected and expensive repairs that he was forced to implement and then some.

It's an oft repeated story among an increasing number of home buyers today. New constructed projects look strong and secure from the outside, but few buyers go beyond the first impressions and conduct a due diligence to verify the quality of the construction, the use of good quality raw materials and more importantly its structural safety.

Admittedly it's not easy for a non-technical buyer to verify such details, but there are a few easier methods by which buyers can ascertain if they have parked their hard-earned in a safe project.

Developer's Credibility

This is one of the biggest indicators on whether you will get value for your money when you invest your funds in a project. A reputed developer with an excellent track record of quality projects behind him will not risk losing his credibility and market standing by building a sub-standard project.

A-list builders usually ensure the use of top quality raw materials, internal fittings, security aspects and the structural efficacy of their projects. From a builder's perspective, their credibility and reputation is the key to their brand value and also their biggest advantage in a highly-competitive market.

Similarly smaller builders or dubious players may at first try to woo buyers with attractive offers and the promise of freebies, but the quality of construction in their projects will be far from satisfactory and the safety and structural strength of the building an area for concern.

While it's advisable to avoid projects from such players altogether, those still going ahead with the deal need to first ensure that both the builder and the project in question meet the minimum requirements in terms of their quality and safety parameters.

Project checklist for buyers

While technical issues like the structural aspects of the building can only be verified by a technically qualified expert, buyers on the other hand can keep an eye out for superficial aspects like unexplained cracks or gaps in the external façade of the building.

Improperly fitted windows, creaking doors, uneven flooring and cracked tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms are major red flags from the interiors point-of-view. The strength of the walls can easily be gauged by the degree of difficulty encountered in driving a nail through them. The electrical fittings and sanitary ware used in the interiors are also important indicators of the quality aspect.

A credible developer will always choose to install high-quality, branded window frames, door knobs, electrical outlets and taps among other things. The same logic also applies to facilities and amenities provided by the builder in the common areas of the project like the elevators, lighting fixtures and surveillance equipment among others.

Approach to Open Spaces

An open project or a project with lots of open spaces provides a much better living experience as opposed to one where every square inch of space has been used to increase the saleable area by the builder.

This speaks a lot about the builder's state-of-mind in terms of whether he only intends to maximize his profits or provide a pleasurable, improved quality of life to the residents of his project by ensuring plenty of open spaces in his project.

As per prevailing trends larger residential projects and township layouts offer as much as 80 percent open spaces to maximize the living experience and ensure a steady stream of buyers.

While the above-mentioned tips can tell a potential buyer a lot about the project he is about to invest in. It is also in his best interests to insist on a thorough pre-inspection of the property and hire the services of a qualified engineer to verify the structural soundness of the property.

Experts explain that a quality construction will always be designed in such a way that the weight of the overall structure is equally distributed to ensure its structural stability.

Similarly a developer with a track record of quality projects will seldom depend only on his contractor to install quality controls onsite, but will see to it personally regardless of the costs and time involved. For such players it's the guarantee of best quality of construction that sets their projects apart from the others and also gets them more customers.