Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC), which is determined to check rampant violation of building laws by cracking down on residential and commercial structures that are being used without occupancy certificates, is consulting architects and engineers to find out ways to equip the constructions with the mandatory document.

Municipal commissioner Prashant Kumar summoned 40 architects and engineers from different parts of the city to a closed-door meeting at the civic headquarters in the state capital on Monday.

At the discussion that went on from 11am to 12.30pm, architects, who are roped in by builders to prepare building plans and write completion certificates once construction is over, said that the process of issuing the document to buildings must be made smoother for speedy release of occupancy certificates.

For this, the RMC must allow the architects to voluntarily disclose if the builder has made any deviation from the building plan before issuing the completion certificate, a must for getting the occupancy certificate.

The RMC can then decide whether the deviation is pardonable or not. If the civic body seeks demolition of certain portions, the architect will issue completion certificate only after the order is carried out. And if it is okay with the deviations, then the architect will issue the certificate without any demolition work.

"Occupancy certificate cannot be issued to a building unless it has a completion certificate, which is given by the engineer/architect concerned only when construction has been done as per the building plan approved by the civic body. Since most buildings in the city have been constructed in violation of approved building plans, architects face problems in issuing completion certificates because they may lose their licences if they side with illegality. That's why they want the RMC to make room for disclosure of deviations," a civic official explained.

An occupancy certificate suggests that the building, irrespective of its size, height and nature, has been constructed according to the approved plan.

An architect present at the meeting said: "We want simplification of rules. Since building by-laws offer 10 to 30 per cent scope of deviation from the original plan, architects should get an opportunity to disclose the departures before issuing completion certificate."

Municipal commissioner Kumar said that taking the suggestions of architects was important as they had to issue as many occupancy certificates as possible as per a directive of the urban development department. "The department has asked the RMC to issue at least three occupancy certificates if it approves one building plan," Kumar added.