illegal architectural practice in india

8/13/2019 Illegal Architectural Practice in India

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Term Paper

IllegalArchitectural

Practices In IndiaProfessional Practice



Introduction

Currently there are 900 Companies practicing architecture in India. The most

imperative requirement for a practicing architect is:

1.

To be registered with the C.O.A(Council of Architecture) as an architect.2. To be registered as an architectural practice with the Tax Department

of India.

Registration with Council of Architecture

One cannot use the title ‘Architect’ if they are not registered with COA in India.

The following qualifications are required to register, as specified by the

Architect’s Act, 1972:

1. To hold a recognized architectural degree or diploma.

2. Resides in India

3. If he/she is not an India citizen, but has been engaged in the practice

for not less than 5 years.

4. Possesses other qualifications that certify his application.

(www.coa.gov.in)

Types of Practices

The two types of practices are sole proprietorship and partnership.

Sole Proprietorship Partnership

Ownership A business structure in which

an individual and his/her

company are considered a

single entity for tax and liability

purposes.

A partnership is an

unincorporated association of

two or more persons or entities for

the purpose of operating a

business with the intention of

making a profit.

Income

and Tax

It not registered with the state

as a limited liability company

or corporation.

The owner does not pay

income tax separately for the

company, but reports business

income or losses on his/her

individual income tax return.

The partnership, however, is not a

separate legal entity distinct from

the partners, and general

partnerships are not required to

file state organizational

documents or federal tax

identification forms.

Legal

Obligations

The sole proprietor herself is

legally responsible for all

obligations of the business,

including liabilities.

Each partnership statutes

presume that all partners share

income and losses equally, and

do not commonly recognizes a

partnership’s intention to treat

certain parties differently with

respect income, losses, or both.



Illegal Partnerships

Currently there are 3 aspects under which the profession is being illegally

practiced.

1. Illegal Practice 1

a. Foreign Company Practicing with Local Partners

b. Has Unregistered Foreign/Indian Directors

c. Company is registered to pay Service tax for Architecture


a. Indian Company Practicing

b. Has Unregistered Foreign/Indian Directors

c.

Company is registered to pay Service tax for Architecture


a. Indian Company Practicing Architecture

b. Registered Indian Directors

c. Company is not registered to pay Service tax for Architecture

If any of these pointers are true then the practice is Illegal and can be tried in

the court of law. These illegalities concern the constitution of the firm or

practice. If the firm is legitimate, there are various other laws that stipulate the

code of conduct for a practicing architect. (Bij, 2012)

Illegal Practices

The ARCHITECTS (PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT) REGULATIONS was incorporated

in the Architects Act in 1989 to promote the standard of professional conduct/

self-discipline required of an Architect.

It is certified by the Council of Architecture, with the approval of the Central

Government, and stipulates the regulations practicing architects, in sole

proprietorship and partnerships, should abide by.

Every architect, either in practice or employment, subject to the provisions of

the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 or any other similar rules

applicable to an Architect, he shall :-

1. ensure that his professional activities do not conflict with his general

responsibility to contribute to the quality of the environment and future

welfare of society,

2. apply his skill to the creative, responsible and economic development

of his country,3. provide professional services of a high standard, to the best of his ability,



4. if in private practice, inform his Client of the conditions of engagement

and scale of charges and agree that these conditions shall be the basis

of the appointment,

5. not sub-commission to another Architect or Architects the work for which

he has been commissioned without prior agreement of his Client,

6. not give or take discounts, commissions, gifts or other inducements for

the introduction of Clients or of work,

7. act with fairness and impartiality when administering a building contract,

8. maintain a high standard of integrity,

9. promote the advancement of Architecture, standards of Architectural

education, research, training and practice,

10. conduct himself in a manner which is not derogatory to his professional

character, nor likely to lessen the confidence of the public in the

profession, nor bring Architects into disrepute,

11. compete fairly with other Architects,

12. observe and uphold the Council's conditions of engagement and scaleof charges,

13. not supplant or attempt to supplant another Architect,

14. not prepare designs in competition with other Architects for a Client

without payment or for a reduced fee (except in a competition

conducted in accordance with the Architectural competition

guidelines approved by the Council),

15. not attempt to obtain, offer to undertake or accept a commission for

which he knows another Architect has been selected or employed until

he has evidence that the selection, employment or agreement has

been terminated and he has given the previous Architect written noticethat he is so doing :

a. provided that in the preliminary stages of works, the Client may

consult, in order to select the Architect, as many Architects as he

wants, provided he makes payment of charges to each of the

Architects so consulted,

16. comply with Council's guidelines for Architectural competitions and

inform the Council of his appointment as assessor for an Architectural

competition,

17. when working in other countries, observe the requirements of codes of

conduct applicable to the place where he is working,18. not have or take as partner in his firm any person who is disqualified for

registration by reason of the fact that his name has been removed from

the Register under Section 29 or 30 of the Architects Act, 1972,

19. provide their employees with suitable working environment,

compensate them fairly and facilitate their professional development,

20. recognize and respect the professional contribution of his employees,

21. provide their associates with suitable working environment, compensate

them fairly and facilitate their professional development,

22. recognize and respect the professional contribution of his associates,

23. recognize and respect the professional contribution of the consultants,



24. enter into agreement with them defining their scope of work,

responsibilities, functions, fees and mode of payment,

25. shall not advertise his professional services nor shall he allow his name to

be included in advertisement or to be used for publicity purposes save

the following exceptions :-

a. a notice of change of address may be published on three

occasions and correspondents may be informed by post,

b. an Architect may exhibit his name outside his office and on a

building, either under construction or completed, for which he is

or was an Architect, provided the lettering does not exceed 10

cm. in height

c. advertisements including the name and address of an Architect

may be published in connection with calling of tenders, staff

requirements and similar matters

d. may allow his name to be associated with illustrations and

descriptions of his work in the press or other public media but heshall not give or accept any consideration for such appearances

e. may allow his name to appear in advertisements inserted in the

press by suppliers or manufacturers of materials used in a building

he has designed, provided his name is included in an

unostentatious manner and he does not accept any

consideration for its use,

f. may allow his name to appear in brochure prepared by Clients for

the purpose of advertising or promoting projects for which he has

been commissioned

g. may produce or publish brochures, pamphlets describing hisexperience and capabilities for distribution to those potential

Clients whom he can identify by name and position,

h. may allow his name to appear in the classified columns of the

trade / professional directory and/or telephone directory/

website.

The most common lllegal practices are the submission of false drawings to the

government and the negligence to follow building by-laws. Some examples

are given below

Uphaar Cinema Fire Tragedy

The Uphaar Cinema fire, occurred on Friday, June 13, 1997 at Uphaar Cinema,

Green Park, Delhi, during the premiere screening of the movie, Border. Trapped

inside, 59 people died, mostly due to suffocation, and 103 were seriously injured

in the resulting stampede.



The fire broke out at 5:10 pm.

According to reports, it was

caused when a 1000 kVA

electricity transformer,

maintained by the Delhi Vidyut

Board (electricity Board) (DVB),

and housed in the theatre’s

overcrowded basement car park,

burst, and engulfed some 20 cars,

where some 36 cars were parked

instead of the admissible 18. The

fire eventually spread to the five-

storey building which housed the

cinema hall and several offices. Most of the victims were trapped on the

balcony and died due to suffocation as they tried to reach dimly marked exits

to escape the smoke and fire and found the doors locked.

A case was filed against Sushil Ansal &Gopal Ansal, the owners, by the family

and friends of the victims. The case identified this faults with respect to the

building:

1. The decision to install a DVB transformer, contrary to sanction plan and

without the permission or approval of the Licensing Authority and MCD

2. Absence of fire safety measures within the transformer room, again contrary

to regulations;

3. The Structural Deviations in the cinema hall;

4. Use of several portions of the cinema hall for commercial purposes;

5. Negligent management of parking;

6. The decision taken to completely shut the right side gangway in the balcony,

that reduced the number of gangways, correspondingly increased the seats

and also crucially blocked the right exit;

7. Failure to ensure proper supervision within the cinema at the time of the show

contrary to the mandate of DCR 1953 & 1981



8. Failure to ensure functioning fire safety equipment

that would have warned patrons to leave the cinema

hall immediately upon the outbreak of fire or an

emergency and also facilitate their escape through

proper lighting, were directly attributable to the owners

and occupiers of this cinema hall.”

Almost 15 years later, the high court ordered that the

total compensation amount awarded was Rs18.50

crore (DESHMUKH)

Hafeez Contractor BanIn its letter of March 24, 2009, the council, an autonomous body of the Central

government, has ruled that Contractor be suspended from practice for one

year "from the date of issue of letter conveying the order''. During the

suspension period, Contractor must surrender the certificate of registration

issued to him by the council, and is not permitted to undertake any work.

The council, which is empowered by

parliament to take action against

erring architects, commenced its

inquiry after a complaint against

Contractor by Delhi-based architect

Sudhir Vohra in 2008. The complaint

related to professional misconduct

by Contractor for advertising his work

as an architect, his "skills and

philosophy as an architect'' and for

proclaiming himself to be "India's

favourite architect''.

The ad, in which Contractor endorsed a computer, described him as "India's

favourite architect''. This violates the 25 rule in the architects (professional

conduct) regulations.

The letter, signed by registrar-secretary Vinod Kumar stated:

"The committee finds Mr Hafeez Contractor guilty of having allowed his

photographs/himself to appear in an advertisement in a very prominent

manner in a national newspaper and an international magazine, thus

violating Regulation 2(1) (xxv) of the Architects (Professional Conduct)

Regulations 1989,''

(Bharucha, 2009)



What is being done?

The CoA is asking illegal entities to shut down or change their MoA. It is

summoning unregistered practioners. Companies are also facing criminal

charges.

1. On 10th October 2011 a circular was released by Ministry of Corporate Affairs

(MCA), instructing all ROCs and RLLPs to not register any company that have

architecture in their Memoranda of Association (MoA). In their notice they

clearly index Architects Act 1972 Section 36 and 37.

2. On 1st March 2012 another circular was released by MCA to ROCs and RLLPs.

This time, commenting on the profession of Chartered Accountant, Cost

Accountant, Architect, Company Secretary etc. Here, the October circular

was reinforced and all ROCs + RLLPs were instructed to refer the respectiveregulatory body before registering a company.

Clearly that would mean that for Architects the CoA was to be refered and

CoA in turn indexes the Architects Act.

3. On 16th July 2012, TOI highlighted some of the issues regarding foreign

practices. It used the case filed against RSP Architects as an example too.

In short the purging of the profession has begun.

(Bij, 2012)



Bibliography

(n.d.). Retrieved from www.wikipedia.com.

(n.d.). Retrieved from www.coa.gov.in.

Architects, C. o. (1989). Architects(Professional Conduct) Regulations. In

Architects Act.

Bharucha, N. (2009, March 27). Architect Hafeez barred for 1 year for figuring

in ad. Times of India.

Bij, A. A. (2012, August). Architecture Live. Retrieved from

http://blog.architecturelive.in.

DESHMUKH, V. (n.d.). Uphaar Cinema fire . Retrieved from

http://www.moneylife.in/.

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