Mapping construction progress with the approved plan and checking fire safety measures, audit teams visiting under-construction buildings will verify these aspects and more, government sources said on Saturday.
The teams will ask developers to maintain a blue book in which engineers will sign after each round of inspection and record observations.
A standard operating procedure (SOP), prepared by a committee of senior state government officials and engineers, will be issued to all inspection teams. It will include a detailed checklist to be carried during site visits. The SOP has been drawn up after the under-construction warehouse at Garden Reach collapsed on Wednesday.
Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced a ban on construction in all non-residential under-construction properties till July 31, by when a safety audit will be done. The restriction will apply to residential buildings of G+5 (six storeys) and above, as well as commercial structures.
“All under-construction properties will be required to maintain a blue book where periodic inspections by civic body engineers will be recorded. This will document whether engineers are conducting regular visits. They will also enter their observations in the blue book,” said a senior state government official.
“Architects and structural engineers hired by developers will also sign the blue book after each site inspection and record their observations,” the official said.
The blue book system is expected to ensure continuous supervision of under-construction properties.
One allegation against the developer and engineers involved in the Garden Reach project was that supervision was either absent or lax. Kolkata Municipal Corporation sources said the builder failed to inform the civic body after completion of construction up to the plinth level, a mandatory milestone requiring inspection by the civic body.
The teams will also verify compliance with fire safety norms.
Each civic body will set up its own inspection teams for field visits.