Mr Watve and Mr Joshi, both Partners of JW Consultants LLP, a highly regarded name in structural consultancy that works with reputed construction companies in India and abroad, said, the owners (of the home) needs to be more aware about the maintenance timeline and follow it rigorously.
They also explained in details about what a homebuyer needs to check while buying a new property. Besides location, accessibility of the property, one needs to check the reputation of the builder as well as contractor, consultant and architects as well. “Some people, while buying a property, look for additional floor space index (FSI) so that floors can be added. However, before checking on the FSI, the buyer needs to check if the building foundation is designed for such additional floor load,” they said.
Mr Deshmukh, who is widely acclaimed for eco-friendly townships like Magarpatta City and Nanded City in Pune, said there is general lack of public awareness about built environment in India. Built environment refers to the human-made surroundings that accommodate human activities in the buildings and its surroundings including their supporting infrastructure, such as water supply, energy networks, fire safety, security and health. 
“Poorly maintained buildings provide dangerous living conditions. Because of serious ignorance about the maintenance of buildings and built environment, it results into sick building syndrome (SBS). The SBS is nothing but a situation in which the occupants of a building, experience acute health- or comfort-related effects which seem to be linked directly to the time spent in the building.”
He said, “Building audit should be carried out on a regular basis to ensure the safety, security and health of the buildings. Each project should have a maintenance manual. Based on the audit there should be action program for maintenance. In addition, structural audit must be carried out periodically and effective measures should be adopted for structural safety. Similarly, painting shall be done on regular basis along with the surface plaster coating. Preventive maintenance of building services should also be carried out regularly.”
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