Informative seminars
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Realty Speak was replicated life-size at the Property Plus Fair. The three interactive seminars, essentially aimed at the builder community, attracted a quality audience too. N. Ravi Kumar brings you the details.
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Souvik Mukherjee at the Realty Speak seminar. — Pics. By S. R. Raghunathan and K. V. Srinivasan.
IF THE three-and-a half-day-long `Living Spaces 2005' property fair organised by The Hindu Property Plus in Chennai recently was different from the rest, it was due to the emphasis on making it unique, user-friendly and informative. Providing it a competitive edge was the just over one-year-old weekly supplement itself, whose reader-friendly columns were replicated life-size at the fair on the sprawling YMCA Grounds in Royapettah.
Prominent among them was the series of three `Realty Speak' seminars conducted between January 29 and 31. Essentially aimed at the builder community, the interactive seminars on issues of wide-ranging interest attracted a quality audience. For the benefit of those who could not make it to the seminar, we are putting together the details in this issue.
There could not have been a better way to begin the series than by driving home a subject as important as a rating system for real estate entities and projects. The concept is certainly new and was mooted only a few years ago by the Ministry of Housing, but something about it is becoming increasingly popular.
Speaking on `project value enhancement through grading,' Souvik Mukherjee, Manager, ICRA Limited (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Limited), said a system of rating the developers and their projects would serve as a key input in decision making for property buyers.
It would be a parameter for the customers to assess the builders, similar to the ratings extended to financial products, while for the banks and financial institutions, the grading could be benchmark while extending credit.
Beneficial to all
But why would a builder opt for the system, especially something for which he needs to pay a substantial consultancy fee to the rating agency?
According to Mr. Mukherjee, there is more than one reason — the grade would improve their power to leverage finance, provide them a competitive edge, and above all lead to improvement in their working.
Since the process involved assessing various aspects of the business, the ratings would identify their shortcomings, lay more emphasis on transparency and professionalism, even while proving to be an "efficient entry barrier for inefficient operators."
Dr. A.R. Shantakumar
ICRA, Mr. Mukherjee said, had assigned ratings to at least four developers and 11 projects in other cities. An indicator of the potential of the system of grading in Chennai was available when he pointed out that the company was yet to open its account in the city.
Construction safety
Taking the seminar series closer to the masses was the topic and speaker of the second discussion - A.R. Shantakumar, Visiting Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, who spoke on `durability of (concrete) structures' and `construction safety.'
Dr. Shantakumar, former Dean-Civil Engineering of Anna University, cautioned property buyers against getting carried away by the external appearance of the building and instead be choosy about measures adopted to make the structures stable, especially in the face of natural calamities.
Coming just over a month after the tsunami that brought devastation, destruction and doom for the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, the speech received an overwhelming response from the audience. Adherence to the right technical specifications is what should matter ultimately to the buyers, Dr. Shantakumar said.
Calling for greater customer awareness, he said certification of structural stability by statutory agencies should be made mandatory. More care and attention ought to be paid while designing and building structures in coastal cities like Chennai, he pointed out. Corrosion in the reinforced structures was one of the serious problems in such locations, which could be addressed by adhering to quality work and paying attention to details like the right mix of water and cement. Recommending that the quantity of water should be 40 per cent the weight of the cement, he said mixing more quantity of the liquid proved harmful for the structure as the excess water tends to evaporate resulting in micro pores in the concrete that later starts absorbing moisture.
"By changing the quantity of water, you change the durability of the structure," Dr. Shantakumar explained, suggesting use of fly ash mixed cement, corrosion resistant steel and structural hollow blocks for better results.
Safety Rules
Safety was not given its due importance at the construction sites, he said, pointing out that the rate of injury in construction industry was higher than in most other industries.
Ramesh Nair
Some of the frequent causes of accidents in the sites were fall from height, electrocution and falling materials and collapses.
Noting that construction work was considered as one of the most hazardous industrial activities in most countries, he said the industry that turns the dreams of lakhs of people into reality, suffers from a high rate of injury and ill-health of its workforce. Though the official statistics might not reflect its poor health record, it was imperative for the building contractors to take steps to curb accidents and focus on safety and health.
Recent trends
The third and final day saw Ramesh Nair, Associate Director-Corporate Solutions of Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants, speak on the topic of `recent trends in real estate industry in India.'
Chennai — Better off
Chennai, by virtue of its relative advantages such as better infrastructure, comfortable power supply position, better roads, availability of Mass Rapid Transit System and telecom connectivity, was one of the major cities poised to become an attractive destination for the industry.
The key driver of the trend would be growth of the information technology industry, he said, even while forecasting that creation of new housing stocks in the city would be more accentuated in locations near the workplace. In other words, several suburban areas where the IT companies have set up their operations could see more housing activity.
The demand in the residential market would mainly be restricted to the 800 -1,500 square feet apartments. "Buyers would like to be located next to their workplace," he said, pointing out that gone are the days when people considered Taramani as a location out of the city. Instead, they now measure distance in the city based on the distance from Tidel Park.
On the commercial space front, the demand was likely to move towards cheaper locations, which would benefit Chennai, Pune and Chandigarh. Already, several builders from Bangalore are evincing keen interest in launching projects in Chennai as they feel that the `Garden City' had reached a saturation level. But for those who attended the seminars at `Living Spaces 2005', it was a feeling of a good beginning that overtook them as curtains came on this year's one-of-its-kind event.
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