Self-certification has ‘eased’ OC, building plan approvals

GURUGRAM: The self-certification scheme introduced by department of town and country planning (DTCP) at the beginning of 2018 has reduced waiting time for house owners seeking occupation certificates, and speeded up the process of getting building permits, with permissions now being granted in almost one-fourth the time according to many.
So far, around 552 people have applied for self-certified occupation certificates (OC) at the office of the district town planner (DTP) between January 1 and June 30 this year. Of these, 466 have been given the certificates, while 51 were conveyed observations and 35 applications are being processed.

The department has also received 1,021 applications for self-certification of building plans, with officials having approved 907 of these, while another 114 have been conveyed observations.

Under the scheme, an architect submits details of approved building plan, detailed site area, violations at site, construction status, norms as per Haryana Building Code, etc. Based on this input, a site visit is scheduled. Earlier, site visits were detailed and included examination of files by DTP, which were then forwarded to the senior town planner. Thereafter, a letter of demand notice was sent to the applicant, its reply received, and only then was the OC granted.

Now, the focus is on violations and construction status. If all norms are fulfilled and fees deposited, the OC is issued within eight working days, which would earlier take two months. For self-certification of building plans, an architect attaches the building plan, zoning plan, possession certificate and any indemnity bond required by DTP. The official checks four parameters — floor area ratio, height, ground coverage and setbacks, based on which a technical approval is conveyed to the architect.

According to officials, the schemes save human hours in DTPC offices too. “Now one officer can check all parameters and send the file to DTP. The technical approval is conveyed in five days. It used to take a month earlier,” said a senior official. Officials are now working out a plan to avoid any misuse of the policy. “We’ll conduct a random check of buildings which have been self-certified. In case of a violation, a notice will be issued. If owners do not respond satisfactorily, action will be initiated and they may lose their OCs,” said R S Batth, DTP (planning).