 Press Release
CQRA ties up with CIDC to provide Joint Quality Certification to Construction Industry
Pune, September 19, 2007
Durocrete Construction Quality Rating Agency Pvt. Ltd (CQRA) to roll out the first of its kind Joint Certification Program for Construction Quality has collaborated with Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC), a representative organization of the Indian Construction Industry jointly set up by the Planning Commission - Government of India and the Indian Construction Industry.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed today by Ujwal Kunte - Managing Director, CQRA and P. R. Swarup, Director General, CIDC. This Joint Certification Program would be for the buildings in Public and Private sector and for Infrastructure Projects being set up by the Governmental Organizations.
For buildings, 'CIDC - CQRA Joint Certification for Construction Quality' would be offered in categories like RCC - Structure and Overall Construction Quality. Now a days various aspects like environmental impact on construction projects, safety during construction and occupational health of construction workers is also getting its due importance, in sync with this trend CIDC - CQRA would also be offering OHES (Occupational Health, Environment & Safety) certification during construction.
Commenting on this tie-up P. R. Swarup, Director General, CIDC said," We feel, this is a first step forward that will provide momentum to the efforts of raising overall quality standards across industry."
Ujwal Kunte, Director, CQRA said, "This Certification would assure the end users, Financers and the Promoters of the project about the reliability of construction quality and would help in bringing the much required focus on Quality of Construction".
This Certification Program will be based on the unique quality indexing system and software developed by CQRA, which can benchmark construction quality levels on a scale of (score cards) 0 - 10. Here data is periodically captured from construction sites in objective formats then analyzed and comprehensive stagewise reports are generated. This model is operating successfully since the past 3 years and some of the most renowned Builders and Promoters in India have been befitted by the same.
An Independent Grand Jury will be constituted, which will have stalwarts from the Construction Industry. Dr. A Ramakrishna - Ex CEO of L&T - ECC has consented to be the Chairman of this Independent Grand Jury.
CQRA audits will be verified by External Auditors and their assessment will be presented to the Grand Jury .The Jury will meet once every quarter and will asses the performance of the projects during the Quality Audits and shall then take a final decision to award the 'CIDC - CQRA Joint Certification for Construction Quality'. The cost involved in this Certification process would be close to 1% of the construction cost. There would be four levels of Certification.
Under this tie-up CQRA will be the operating partner, who would be investing in necessary infrastructure and engaging manpower. CIDC will help popularizing this concept amongst Construction Industry and especially at the Governmental Organizations.
CIDC will also help in sourcing the trained manpower that will be required for periodical data collection as it already has a well established network of Training Centers across the country, where specialized training pertaining to construction is offered. Moreover, the professionals involved in conducting the Quality Audits on site would also be certified by CIDC.
CQRA would be launching this Joint Certification Program all across the country in a phased manner. Initially, it would be offered from Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore where CQRA already has a presence.
Reputed developers like City Corporation Ltd. for their Amanora Park Town Project, Gera Developments and Kalpataru Constructions have already submitted letter of interest for the enrollment purpose of this Joint Certification Program.
About CIDC
Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC) has been set up jointly by the Planning Commission, Government of India and the Indian construction industry. The Indian construction industry is very large and is important to various sectors of the economy. It employs about 31 million persons - second only to agriculture in terms of employment. It consumes 40-50% of the National Plan outlay and contributes 20% of GDP. CIDC, therefore, is the representative organization of the Indian construction industry and seeks to further its collective interests. The Council, for the first time in the country, provides the impetus and the organizational infrastructure to raise quality levels across the industry. This would help to secure a wider appreciation of the interests of construction business by the Government, industry and peer groups in the society.
CIDC seeks to be a change agent to initiate and accelerate a process of self-reform that would enable the Indian construction industry to face the challenges of the future.
About CQRA
CQRA is in the business of Construction Quality Audit and Rating of buildings. It was established in Pune in the year 2002 specializing in inspection, auditing and improvement of building construction projects. IT has developed a unique quality indexing system and software that can benchmark construction quality levels on a scale of 0 - 10.
Currently it employs over 100 employees and is operational from the cities like Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Since its inception, the company has been growing at an average growth rate of over 100% and has conducted Quality Audits of projects totaling to 15 million square feet. It is the first company in India to offer such services.
For more information log on to www.cqra.com and www.cidc.in.
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