Sports courts, parks, outdoor gyms and other recreational facilities inside private housing societies in Gurugram are governed by construction and maintenance rules, but there is no prescribed mechanism for their periodic safety audit or certification by a government agency, HT found after reviewing Haryana’s applicable regulations and speaking to officials.
The Haryana Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017, also link common areas and facilities in group housing projects to the Apartment Ownership Act. Srishti Singh, Founder, SSV and Partners, a legal firm handling RERA, property cases, said, “If an accident involving common amenities causes damage to a resident or their property, the builder can face strict liability under RERA 2016, as it is required to exercise reasonable care in maintaining such facilities. However, once the builder hands over the premises, no such automatic strict liability applies to the RWA under the current HRERA Rules 2017 and the Haryana Ownership Act.
The Haryana Building Code, apartment ownership laws and real estate regulations prescribe requirements for construction, structural safety and upkeep of common areas but do not set a fixed inspection schedule for facilities such as basketball poles, badminton courts, children’s play equipment, goalposts or outdoor gym installations once a project is operational. Societies are also not required to periodically submit safety-audit reports covering such facilities to the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) or the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP). Under the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act, gardens, yards, common installations and community facilities can form part of the common areas and facilities of a project and are subject to maintenance, repair and replacement under the Act and bye-laws. RERA places obligations on promoters relating to essential services and structural defects. Instead, the victim must prove negligence by the RWA, which can be an uphill task given the strict standards of proof under Indian law. The municipal corporation conducts inspections only if they receive any complaint, but even that mechanism is not established. Their upkeep and operational safety primarily become the responsibility of the RWA or residents’ association.”
Uttam Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram, told HT, “There is no such specific audit or check on the sports complexes inside residential areas. Rajan Yadav, Director, Roots Developers, said, “There is no uniform requirement for periodic safety audits of recreational facilities after handover.
