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Technology simplifies plan sanctioning
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The proposed system in Chennai will read the drawings submitted in electronic format and validate them for development control requirements. If the plan is not as per permissible rules, the system will indicate the errors and give a report for rectification.
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On tap: Computers can speed up sanction of building plans.
Grindingly slow and painfully late is probably how many would characterise their wait for getting the building plan approved by the Chennai corporation. While the big IT companies could convince the government and get a single window arrangement to take care of their delays, prospective small house owners still have to wait long for their plans to be sanctioned. If one goes by what the Chennai Corporation has to say, this will soon be a thing of the past.
New system
The Corporation has called for tenders to prepare and put in place an automated building plan approval system. It will read the drawings submitted in electronic format and validate it for development control requirements (DCR). If the submitted plan is not as per permissible rules, the system will indicate the errors and give a report for rectification. This will be a web-based system and can be accessed widely. It will also function in tandem with other e-governance systems of the Chennai Corporation.
Rajesh Lakhoni, Commissioner, Chennai Corporation, told The H
indu-Propertyplus that the high-end software costing about Rs. 32 lakh would soon be put in place. This would help automate the sanctioning procedures, reduce the time taken and avoid manual errors. The building plan submitted in electronic format would be quickly pursued and the sanction report would be given at the earliest, he said. However, title deeds would still need to be checked manually as name verification is required.
The Corporation manages a population of over 42 lakh and sanctions approximately 7,500 to 8,000 applications for plan permit, building permit, demolition permit and sub-division applications a year. At present, the scrutiny of building plan proposals is being done manually and the necessary entries are made online. The database is stored in the Corporation’s server at its head office. The issuance of fee advice and sanction order is computerised and is being issued at the zone level.
The corporation, in addition to the automated building approval system, also proposes to digitise old drawings and sanctioned plans. Drawings will be scanned and stored in Portable Document Format (PDF). This can be retrieved. In the first phase about 60,000 sanctioned drawings and in phase 2, 50,000, both A1 size equivalent, will be archived.
The Pune Municipal Corporation and the Surat Urban Development Authority take the credit for introducing such a system in the country. The automatic scrutiny system used in these two cities is called “AutoDCR.” This system reads the CAD drawing, verifies the rules and produces the scrutiny report. Plans have to be submitted in a specified format using a special tool.
The applicants can submit it either in the form of discs or online. Building inspectors will then undertake site inspection at a fixed date and document the site conditions using a PDA device. This will be subsequently transferred to the Corporation database and the plans will be finally scrutinised to give the sanction report. This system was developed by the Pune-based SoftTech Engineers Private Ltd. and Design Point Vizon India Consult Private Ltd., Surat. In December 2007, Pune’s effort won a World Leadership Award, a prize instituted by a London-based non-governmental organisation to promote urban development models.
The state-of-art system used in Singapore is probably the next step. The Singapore system goes beyond a mere verification of building rules and allows for multiple agencies to read the building information and give their consent.
Benchmark
Construction and Real Estate Network – CORNET is an initiative of the Ministry of National Development, Singapore. It is coordinated by the Building and Construction Authority and has many public and private organisations as collaborators. CORNET has developed the Automated Building Code Compliance Checking as a one-stop system for the construction industry to obtain all approvals electronically. These also allow for checking drawings for non-compliance even prior to the approval stage and correct it. This system, however, requires a certain standardisation and reconfiguration of professional practice.
Instead of simple 2D CAD drawings, Building Information Models (BIM) is to be submitted.
The CAD drawings contain information regarding geometrical properties of the building.
On the other hand, BIM carries many more relevant data. A building plan in CAD will only be a series of rectangles. The drawing will not make any distinction between wall and roof. On the other hand, BIM distinguishes walls from roof and carries information about their performance. When a BIM is submitted for evaluation, algorithms developed by the National University Singapore and novaCITYNETS Pte. Ltd., an e-government solution provider in Singapore, checks them for code compliance.
The results are then posted and can be viewed through a web browser. The design aspects that do not comply with the codes are highlighted. The system is consistent and transparent.
In addition, the Singapore system complies with the International Association of Interoperability standards (IAI).
IAI is a not-for-profit organisation started in 1994 and has succeeded in arriving at Industry Foundation Classes (IFC).
IFC is an open standard and forms the basis for project information sharing in building industry.
Adapting such standards improves exchange of data between applications, reduces cost and increases efficiency.
The Chennai Corporation has made a small but a useful beginning. The proposed system will increase transparency, reduce manual error, simplify and standardise the procedures with better accountability. Will this alone be sufficient? While technology can make its contribution, compliance and enforcement are separate issues.
They have to be addressed separately and in tandem if we need to benefit from innovation.
KANNAL ACHUTHAN AND A. SRIVATHSAN
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