Ahmedabad: After a decade of largely remaining on paper, rules mandating structural safety inspections and certificates for buildings older than 15 years are back in focus, with Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) issuing yet another public notice on Wednesday. However, the latest directive does not specify a deadline for compliance, raising questions about whether the civic body will finally enforce the long-pending regulations.AMC has directed owners and managements of buildings over 15 years old to get their structures inspected by qualified structural engineers, carry out recommended maintenance and submit Structural Stability Certificates to the respective zonal offices.The move comes more than two years after the civic body issued a similar notice, directing eligible buildings to submit certificates within 15 days. Despite the deadline, compliance remained elusive.An AMC official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Structural Stability Certificates are submitted in cases where the AMC issues a notice declaring a building dilapidated or dangerous. However, as per the rules, all buildings older than 15 years are required to undergo mandatory inspection and submit a Structural Stability Certificate, but this is not being followed. We have been trying to enforce this rule for the last two years, but until strict enforcement is carried out, building management will not voluntarily submit certificates. Therefore, we are considering steps in that direction.”The state govt first introduced the requirement in Ahmedabad’s General Development Control Regulations (GDCR) on Dec 30, 2014. The provision was subsequently incorporated into the Comprehensive GDCR (CGDCR) in 2017, with implementation ordered again in 2019.Under regulations 16 and 19 of the CGDCR concerning structural safety, buildings older than 15 years must undergo inspection by a structural engineer. Owners or managements are required to complete the maintenance work recommended in the inspection report and submit the certificate within the prescribed timeframe.In Aug 2024, the AMC commissioner directed chairmen or administrators of residential buildings over 9m tall and commercial buildings older than 15 years to obtain certificates within 15 days and submit them to the respective zonal offices.
