Pune: Merely 10-12% of construction projects in India undergo third-party quality and safety audits, informed Ujwal Kunte, managing director of Construction Quality Rating Agency (CQRA).Kunte was speaking at a press conference held for mediapersons in Pune on Monday to announce CQRA’s accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) for quantity surveying and billing audits of construction projects.“We observe a significant improvement in construction quality across different phases when developers and contractors implement third-party testing,” Kunte said.“In developed countries, construction quality testing is linked to insurance. Developers and contractors are required to provide construction warranties for a specified number of years, for which they obtain insurance. Insurance companies mandate third-party construction quality audits before issuing such coverage. That is not the case in India, which is why the proportion of projects undergoing third-party audits remains low,” he added.According to CQRA, monitored infrastructure projects record average cost overruns of 18-19%, while 41.6% of projects are delayed. The agency provides inspection services for residential, commercial, infrastructure and industrial projects, using a 10-point rating scale that assesses more than 1,000 quality parameters.Speaking at the press conference, Vivek Gadgil, former managing director and CEO of Hyderabad Metro, said there is a lack of preparedness among developers and contractors to undertake third-party quality testing.“The projects that do undergo such audits are largely located in urban areas, while virtually none in rural areas are subjected to third-party quality checks,” Gadgil said.He said the need for third-party quality audits has grown with the increasing number of high-rise buildings, which demand greater attention to structural engineering.“In addition, construction materials have evolved over time, making quality checks essential from the design stage itself,” he added.
