It shouldn’t be too easy to drive a nail into a wall

Remain habitable for the maximum period of time

Not entail huge repair and maintenance costs

Have good resale value if one decides to sell it

These aspects are next to impossible to discern,especially when the construction is mint fresh,or is only a couple of years old.

Most developers ensure that everything looks ship-shape on the surface even if the quality is suspect. Even on the resale market,we find that owners will undertake cosmetic fixes to make their home look as new and flawless as possible.

Banks do only a cursory check on a project’s overall construction quality while evaluating a home loan proposal. It has become a common marketing practice for developers to claim that their projects are of high-grade construction. Those who do so without justification are aware that most home buyers are not equipped to make a value judgement on such claims.

How to judge quality

To begin with,a developer’s brand is a fairly good indicator. Good developers,because of their reputation for quality,employ only trusted contractors and ensure proper quality control throughout the construction process. The most important hallmark of quality construction is that it endures.

There are various ways in which a home buyer can check on the general quality of construction:

Foundation: Patched cracks on a building’s exterior can be an indicator that the project has a faulty foundation. Other signs to look for are small cracks in walls of a flat,creaking or sticking doors and windows and improperly aligned or uneven floor,bathroom and kitchen tiles.

Design: A good quality project is designed such that the weight of the overall structure is scientifically distributed. Also,a developer focused on quality will not spare costs when it comes to providing detailed finishing and intricate detailing,both in the building’s common areas and within the residential units themselves.

Fixtures: Developers who pride themselves on quality do not allow their contractors to use cheap taps,window frames,door handles,electrical outlets and fittings. Likewise,common facilities such as lifts will be by established manufacturing brands and will be under a maintenance contract by a reputed facilities management agency. Any evidence of obscure,unfamiliar brands should be viewed with suspicion.

Paint: Cheap paint on walls and doors is easy to detect. Good paint not only enhances their visual appeal but also prolongs the life of these surfaces. If cheap paint has been used,this is evidence that the developer does not feel that investing in good paint makes sense because the surfaces themselves are not made to last.

Concrete quality: The quality of the concrete used in a building depends on what grade of concrete has been used,what the concrete/sand ratio is and whether the concrete was allowed to cure for a sufficient amount of time. One rule of thumb is that it should not be too easy to drive a nail into the walls.

Open areas: Though it may not be immediately obvious,the presence of sufficient open areas and landscaping has a symbiotic significance with relation to construction quality. The availability of open areas implies that the builder has not made filling every available square foot with saleable construction,and that he intends to provide a wholesome and pleasing experience to his customers.

True mark of quality

The average life-span of a project that has been built on quality construction parameters is around 80 years. After this period,a project will usually come up for reconstruction. It should be remembered that the true investment value of a residential unit does not actually lie in the flat itself,but in the flat owner’s share of the land that the building occupies.

In other words,it is the undivided land portion of the investment that one has made in a flat that amounts to the actual value of one’s investment.

However,in real estate market terms,the longevity of a building is very much linked to how much it will fetch on the resale market,or how long an investor can derive rental income from it. Quality construction ensures that the owner will incur much lower maintenance and repair costs and enjoy its security and comfort for much longer.

—The author is CMD,Amit Enterprises Housing,Pune