Navigating the Red Tape: Innovative Approaches to Streamlining Building Construction Clearances

Building construction is among the largest industries of the Indian economy accounting for more or less 8% of the GDP and employing over fifty million individuals. However, it's also among the most highly regulated and tricky sectors, requiring numerous clearances from authorities at different levels of government.

In a World Bank report, India is ranked 52nd of 190 nations for ease of obtaining clearance for building construction for various projects. This makes doing business in India extremely tough and subsequently keeps investors away from lucrative real estate projects which might be a genuine drag on the economy.

That creates a real hurdle for developers, investors and consumers: inflated costs, uncertainties, and delays because of bureaucratic hurdles. Additionally, it harms the quality and safety of the buildings since certain developers might scrimp or even flout rules to skirt the red tape. Appropriately, building construction clearance procedures in India must be made simple and simplified while maintaining compliance with relevant regulations and standards.

In this blog we present a few of the new solutions which stakeholders have adopted or even suggested to deal with this problem. 

- Single-window Clearance Portals 

Some states and cities have created websites where developers can submit one application for all the building construction permits that are needed in one location; this removes the need for in person visits and numerous submissions. As an example, the Delhi Online Building Plan Approval System (DOBAS) allows building plans being submitted online and approved by the occupants. Also, the departments like fire, environment, forest etc can be interconnected. Likewise, the Telangana State Building Permission Approval and Self-certification System (TSBPASS) allows self-certification for structures up to 500 square metres and online approval for structures above that.

- Harmonisation & Rationalisation of Norms 

Some scholars have advocated rationalisation and uniformity of building construction norms and standards all over the nation in line with technical and scientific standards. This could eliminate the variances and discrepancies among various jurisdictions and authorities and make the clearance process more transparent and predictable. For example, the Indian National Building Code (NBC) specifies standards for building design and construction in terms of structural safety, fire safety, plumbing and also electrical, etc. It is nevertheless not universally observed or enforced by all states along with local bodies, leading to inconsistent norms and practices all through the regions.

- Third party Certification & Accreditation 

Another approach calls for third party agencies or professionals who certify or accredit the conformity of building projects or plans to the appropriate regulations and norms. That would ease the government administrative burden and clear the clearance procedure in a fairly short time while ensuring accountability and quality management. For example, the Quality Council of India (QCI) has introduced a voluntary scheme for accreditation of project management consultants (PMC) to monitor and certify the building projects. Likewise, the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has a Green Building rating system that evaluates the green building from every aspect including environmental sustainability and performance. Such third-party certification can help speed up clearance for building construction and eliminate unnecessary delays. 

- Models of PPP 

Some stakeholders also recommended that the government must collaborate with private sector organisations or agencies to ensure faster clearance of building construction. This could tap into the knowledge, innovation and resources of the private sector while keeping public regulation and oversight. For example, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) has urged the government to establish a nodal agency or just one authority to interact with all of the concerned agencies and departments and also serve to be a one stop shop for developers. Or perhaps the government could assign some of the clearance functions or solutions to private consulting firms or consultants who can offer quicker and better solutions.

Final Words

If India is to tap the massive potential of its burgeoning property market, then there's an enormous demand for fast tracking clearance for building construction in all regions, cities and regions. Only by applying and demanding brand-new solutions like those stated in the blog will it eventually be a winner in this great attempt to rationalise real estate projects and also provide long term advantages to investors, builders, buyers and developers.