Construction boom opens new vistas for MEP service market

Mumbai: The growth of the construction sector in India is heralding wider opportunities for the Mechanical-Electrical-Plumbing (MEP) services market.

Increasing investments from commercial (IT and retail), industries, residential, hotels, and hospitals, etc. have given the required impetus to the growth of this market. The value of Indian real estate projects that touched US $100 billion in 2010 is expected to touch $265 billion in 2020.

According to analysis from Frost & Sullivan, if the total construction projects are valued at $265 billion, then at least 25 per cent of them can be attributed to MEP design and works. This represents a potential opportunity of $67 billion in the next 10 years. The market is witnessing a growth rate of around 9 percent in 2013.

The commercial segment, particularly office and mall space, has remained flat and showed signs of slowdown in the recent past; however, new office space, malls, hospitals, hotels, and construction projects are expected to be back on track once credit rates and inflation lessens.

According to industry sources, the area for the commercial building sector in India is expected to reach 1.9 billion square feet by 2030, as against the present 659 million square feet. Of the real estate projects, about 75 per cent of the value is contributed by the residential segment, which include not only single homes, ground (G)+2/3/4 floors, but also taller and increasingly complex structures touching up to 30-40 storeys.

“Current MEP projects are not only large in size but are also complex. Complexity arises due to revisions or amendments in building codes that call for mandatory installation of certain products and systems. Apart from standard services like plumbing and heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R), the Indian construction industry is undergoing a sea change with respect to the installation and usage of extra-low voltage/low voltage (ELV/LV) systems, keeping in mind the design and safety aspects of the electrical equipment,” says Sasidhar Chidanamarri, Industry Manager, Environment & Building Technologies Practice, Frost & Sullivan

Increasing penetration of green buildings is also creating a requirement for high quality and reliable MEP work because of the complexity of designing and constructing a green building. Presence of multiple unorganized participants who cater to small, commercial, and residential buildings, make the market highly cost competitive.

This along with low awareness about integrated MEP offerings, shortage of qualified, skilled, and competent manpower serves as challenges for the growth of this sector. At the same time, absence of codes and standards for MEP works in India allows easy entry for the participants, but it creates an environment where quality is often neglected for sub-standard work. Globally and in India, there are an increasing number of smart city initiatives that are witnessing more usage of information technology (IT) in buildings, transforming them into smart buildings.

This will be a trend in the real estate and construction sector in the coming years. The study finds that with the advent of convergence of technologies, such as pre-casting, building automation, energy management, etc., MEP players will be dealing with a whole new competitive environment and may have to partner with companies from different industry verticals as never before.

“MEP players have to adapt business models and value creation to work with other industry sectors. There is also a strong possibility that MEP players will find new verticals (end-user segments) and markets that were never before part of their strategy. As a result, they have to bring in new competencies, new products, and solutions to reach out to the rapidly evolving needs of the future customer,” notes Chidanamarri.

By 2030, it is expected that the competitive landscape will become more organized and large MEP players will seek out new and technologically complex opportunities.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the growth partnership company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants.

Premia’s Corporate City offers hosts of sustainable features

New Delhi: Premia group is developing the first of its kind Corporate City at Greater Noida incorporating a host of green features. 

The eco-friendly project 'Premia Corporate City', which is coming up on a 15 acre plot, will offer a complete corporate city experience to the inhabitants that includes Corporate Offices, 5-Star hotel, retail mall, service studios, an amusement park, golf course, theme based restaurants, clubs, cultural food courts and an endless list of one of a kind facilities and services.

The state-of-the-art designed boundary wall with the beautifully designed gate has been constructed to ensure the safety and cleanliness during the construction phase, according to a company release.

“Premia Group has adopted eco-friendly practices and materials that reduce its impacts, before we reach a point of irreversible damage to our life supporting systems for construction of its project. It is using new and improved energy efficient equipment, following the standards of the eco friendly construction. chemical pollutants from paints, solvents, plastics and composite timbers, along with biological pollutants such as dust mites and moulds are known to cause symptoms such as asthma, headaches, depression, eczema, palpitations and chronic fatigue syndrome,” it said.

The eco-friendly construction eliminates these problems through good ventilation design, breathable walls and use of natural, non-toxic products and materials. To make the building sustainable, the contractor has been instructed to implement smart energy strategies like works commissioning, taking care of efficient design and construction, use of efficient appliances, systems and lighting etc.

As buildings are considered to be the main consumers of potable water supply, the group has taken seriously to use water efficiently. “Normally, we see huge wastage of water during any building development, so, recycled water is used in the construction of the building to save the environment. Apart From this the use of environmentally preferable building materials and specifications can save lot of wastage and pollution.  The waste and toxic chemicals generated while constructing a building can be reduced by Reuse, reduce and recycling of the building material,” the company said.

Premia Corporate city is planned in a way to give world-class facilities. The first corporate city will fulfill the entire needs of urban class consumer with new definition of luxury. The Unique feature, design and architecture would differentiate this city from other players and products from market.

The project is a commercial venture that would have dedicated corporate towers with different category of offices as per the consumers choice and satisfaction. The space and required facilities are planned in all corporate offices and Business Centre.  Star attraction of this corporate city would be, exclusive lobby, conference room, convertible work stations, theme restaurants, banks and ATM, coffee shop, spa, international gym, bar, multiplexes, business centre etc.

Special care of kids has been taken and so kids’ zone and crèche are beautifully designed keeping in mind all requirements. Premia Corporate City will also have its door open for masses, as it would be a complete corporate and shopper's destination with unmatched range of services, facilities and amenities of world-class standards.

Premia group is a 2800 cr. business conglomerate with diversified business interests in real estate, healthcare, infrastructure and hospitality sectors with a pan- India presence. All the projects are strategically located in areas where fast development is taking place with international quality infrastructure.

Infra sector to face huge shortfall of professionals

India’s infrastructure sector is in peril, it seems. If the recent reports released by a top industry body and a leading international consultant to be believed, the sector, where billions worth projects are underway across the country, is facing a significant dearth of skilled workers, which includes project management professionals, engineers, safety experts and planners.

While industry body ASSOCHAM has estimated that the sector needs one million project management professionals, a joint report by Project Management Institute (PMI) and global consultants KPMG, said that the sector should add three million worker force, from project managers, planners to civil engineers, surveyors and safety experts by 2022.

The ASSOCHAM report, ‘Road Sector Role in Futuristic Development of India’, gave a thumbs down to the existing staff in the sector as most of them, according to the survey, in infrastructure construction space are not trained properly to handle big projects..

“Infrastructure sector is a project-oriented industry and has cost runs in several billions of rupees. So, project management should be high importance which connects all concerned department of the construction industry for a smooth execution of projects,” said DS Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM.

He also said, “As the projects in infrastructure sector are becoming increasingly complex they require optimizing allocation of resources and coordination with multiple vendors which require professionals having project management skills.”

With dozens sub-contractors and contractors, thousands of workers and hundreds of vendors spread across miles of project site, some should be there to coordinate with all of them and in the absence of such system, the projects face unique set of challenges that generally lead to severe delays and cost overruns.

Blaming that severe skill shortage and the growing demand-supply gap for qualified construction professionals are affecting the sector, PMI India’s Managing Director Raj Kalady said, “The dearth of qualified white collar professionals is a challenge to the infrastructure sector as they prefer alternative career options in lucrative industries such as IT and financial services."

According to the government sources, over 550 infrastructure projects across India are facing huge escalation in overall project costs to the tune of about Rs two lakh crore due to a series of factors like land acquisition, environmental rules and regulatory approvals and shortage of well-trained, skilled, certified, and competent specialists in infrastructure sector like engineers and other such professionals.

In its study, the ASSOCHAM has suggested that India should enhance the quality of vocational education and training as per the demands of infrastructure sector.

To meet the talent crunch for highly critical jobs, many companies are now hiring foreign professionals. Many organisations are also looking at short-term training programmes to enhance the skill sets of their project teams.

"The Government, too, realises the urgency of meeting the skill dearth. During the 12th Plan (2012-17), the Government plans to focus on improving project management skills across the country. But at the same time, there is also a pressing need for industry and academia to introduce project management into their curriculum," he noted.

How to Sell Your Home in a Slow Market

Selling home at a time when the real estate market is showing downward trend or at consolidating mode is a painful decision. Those who buy home for investment purposes will not do this mistake as it will incur them huge loss in profit margin or increase the losses when the current prices were lower than the purchasing price.

For those genuinely want to sell their property to meet some urgent personal needs like medical emergency or family functions will have no option but to choose the best possible offer in the slow moving market. This is also the time when buyers will have the say and try to dominate buyers by offering lowest possible price than the prevailing market price.

If one has time, say one month or two months, to sell the property to raise funds, he or she should carefully collect basic information about the property such as prevailing market price in the area, brokerage charge (if one goes through a broker), guideline value, stamp duty and registration charges, etc.  One should also understand the nuances of preparing agreement papers and for that an advocate should be kept for reference.

Now-a-days online property websites are the most popular option to advertise about the property on sale or rent. One should upload the photos or videos of the property, whether it is flat/independent house/land, and provide vital information such as amenities, facilities, proximity to markets, educational institutions, medical centres and banks. One can save on brokerage if the deal is through from these websites.

One should not give any fictitious or false information about the property as there is a chance that he may lose out genuine home seekers or buyer can sue him in the court of law against the seller if he had provided false information in the net, which can go against him in the court.

If one wants to sell the property in shortest possible time, relying on genuine brokers in the respective area will not be a bad idea. But since the market is filled with unscrupulous people and fly-by-night brokers, it is essential to check the antecedents of the brokers. As the real estate regulation bill is still a distant dream, which once implemented, would make the brokers accountable, it is mandatory for a seller to check the past records of the broker/s before handing over the copies of the document to him.

“I had a property in Vasundara in Ghaziabad. Since I was transferred to Mumbai, I wanted to sell the property. I did not know anyone in the locality nor am I a net savvy to advertise about the property on net. I knew one sub-broker, who was doing real estate business as a part time job in my complex. I told him about my requirement and expected value of my flat.

“Within a month, he brought five people to me and ultimately, I got a good deal. Though I sold it at a marginally lesser value compared to the existing market value, I could raise money for my urgent family need at a shortest possible time. Since I knew the broker, I did not have any apprehension about cheating or malpractice,” says Kumar Gaurav, an engineer from a PSU in Kurla. So, are you ready?

Chennaiites are landing on right plots!

True to the saying that ‘the best investment on earth is earth’, Chennaiites are now more inclined towards investing in land notwithstanding the strained economic condition and stagnancy the real estate sector has been witnessing for the last few years.

With buying homes becoming increasingly difficult for lower and middle class segments, people who could invest as low as Rs one lakh to 10 lakh are increasingly looking for land on the outskirts of Chennai for investment purposes and what more, land promoters are jumping into the fray to tap the God sent opportunity offering land in newer locations around the southern metropolis at affordable prices.

However, real estate experts warn that the overwhelming rush towards buying land would encourage fly-by-night promoters to cheat the gullible land seekers.

“The city has been dotted with posters of various sizes informing people about the availability of land in various places like Redhills, Chengelpet, Oragadam, Avadi, Periapalayam, Sriperumbudur, Madurandagam, Melmaruvattur etc from prices ranging between Rs one lakh to Rs 10 lakh. Some even offer DTCP approved plots of 600 to 1200 sq ft for as low as Rs 6 lakh. People have a good chance to invest in properties at low price as land has less chance of depreciation unlike homes,” says Sathish Kumar, Managing Director of Anandam Foundation.

Though investment in land properties would be ideal considering the present slowdown, care should be exercised in choosing the property under one’s budget. 

What made people to go after land in Chennai? S Stalinraja, Senior Manager, Sales and Marketing of Omshakthy Homes Private Limited, says, ‘The present market condition guarantees more value appreciation for land properties compared to flats. For the last few years, some of the areas of Chennai have witnessed depreciation in capital value for flats whereas prices of land have been increasing steadily.’

Agrees Mayank, a property investor from South Chennai. ‘I bought a DTCP approved plot measuring 2400 sq ft in Madurandagam for Rs 6 lakh in 2012. It was sold to me at Rs 250 per sq ft. Presently, developers are offering land at Rs 450 per sq ft in the same area, almost 100 per cent appreciation one can say in one year,’ he says.

In the recent years the state government has been focusing on the infrastructure of Chennai and the surrounding suburbs. Adding to market growth, south Chennai suburbs are experiencing heightened activity as multi crore companies are changing the skyline.

Chennai City has grown and expanded exponentially, embracing what was once known as the outskirts, Guduvanchery, Singaperumal Koil and Oragadam, now becoming the hot hubs of Chennai with multi national companies investing in crores. With industries booming and the demand for real estate escalating, areas of south Chennai will continue to grow, no doubt the investment on land property will double in few years from now, says Sathish.

Of the promising investment hotspots for land around Chennai, Chengalpet on GST Road remains on top, offering varied investment options for middle class and upper middle class people. The reasons for those choosing Chengalpet for property investment are many with some of them being, close proximity to manufacturing & IT hubs and Mahindra World City, the business township of TIDCO.

Being the southern gateway to Chennai city, Chengalpet has been one of the fastest developing municipalities in recent times and situated just 30 km from the city center. Apparently termed as ‘New Chennai’, it is the metro’s first integrated business city and India’s first operational Special Economic Zone.

Air, road and rail networks have been expanded to provide handhold service to the public in South Chennai. New master plans have been proposed by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) in terms of rail route that includes laying of the second lane between Chengalpet and Arakonam, which is about 60 km from Chennai. According to some front-line developers, Chengalpet will become a well-equipped metropolitan city in the next four years.

Chengalpet also has both quality education and medical facility under its belt. The district is equally endowed with top autonomous and affiliated educational institutions in the state.

“Apart from Chengalpet, which provides short-term gain for investors, other places which offer quick appreciation of land value are Oragadam, Sriperumbudur, Singaperumal Koil, Poonamalle, Madurandagam and up to Thiruvallur. One should also look for transport, educational, medical, employment facilities before choosing a land for either investment or residential purposes,” feels Badal Yagnik, Managing Director – Chennai and Coimbatore, Jones Lang LaSalle India, a leading real estate research firm.

Making a pitch on southern and western outskirts of Chennai to get fast and consistent appreciation of land value, Bala however, cautions against buying land in northern and north eastern localities such as Redhills, Periyapalayam, etc, which he feels, have less chances of appreciation in short term. ‘Even for long term also, compared to southern parts, these areas will have less appreciable values. So, one must be very careful from the road-side advertisers offering plots in these areas at affordable prices with hosts of freebies such as free patta, registration, EC, gold coins, scooty etc,” says Badal.

On the percentage of appreciation, southern Chennai areas can appreciate between 30 per cent to more than 100 per cent depending upon the location with in 3-5 years, people who are investing in other areas can expect appreciation between 30-50 per cent in the span of 5-10 years.

The price also varies depending upon the appreciable values, which depend on the infrastructure facilities available and future prospects in the area. For example, a person having a budget of Rs one lakh can look for a land at far off places near Thiruvallur or Arakkonam and can wait for ten years to get a decent appreciation, where as those who look for a fast appreciation of their money can buy a land measuring 1200 sq ft for Rs 10 lakh at places like Oragadam or Sriperumbudur and book profit within three to five years, says Stalinraja.
Legal side

Though there has been a landslide rush towards buying land in Chennai, legal experts believe that buying land through reputed promoters and verifying the documents through a lawyer would save them from being cheated.

It is always not true that lands bought through prominent developers would have less chances of having title deed-related problems. “Before buying any property, it is always better to verify the documents through a competent legal authority,” feels K Ramasamy, advocate, Madras High Court.

Explaining further he says, “We generally check thoroughly the sale deed and other types of deeds registered in the name of present owner/s, parent documents, EC for fifty years, patta, chitta, adangal, competency of the vendor, and at the end we also check the original documents before issuing the clearance certificate.”

While purchasing land, one should also see for appropriate approvals from local panchayat, DTCP or CMDA authorities for using the piece of land for residential or commercial purpose. Encumbrance certificate gives the details of liabilities, if any, on the property to be purchased. Transition of legal heir/s should be thoroughly screened for any anomalies in subsequent property sales over the years.

Lack of awareness drives people to buy land from unscrupulous developers without checking the documents, feels advocate Ramasamy.

Most of them do not even ask for a copy of documents for legal verification. They simply pay the advance money and give the rest at the time of registration. If any problem arises after few years at the time of building home or selling the property, landowners seldom find those who sold the property to them. So, it is better to check the documents before registering a land.

Places to ponder

Areas for short term gain (3-5 years)	Areas for long term (5-10 years)
Oragadam, Sriperumbudur, Singaperumal Koil, Poonamalle, Madurandagam, Kanchipuram, Thiruporur, Sholinganallur, Chengalpet, Padappai, Mahabalipuram, Guduvanchery, Chungavarchathram, Melmaruvathur, Walajabad, Karapakkam	Dindivanam,  Marakkanam, Periapalayam, Redhills, Paruthipattu, Tiruvottiyur, Thiruvallur, Kalpakkam, Uthiramerur, Putlur, Minjur, Athipattu, Thirumazhisai,

Property buyers! EC too can deceive you!

K Ramanathan

CHENNAI: Property buyers beware! Your most authentic document for judging the ownership and also to find the liability factor of a property you want to buy, may deceive you. Confused?

If the recent submission made by the state’s registration authority before the honourable High Court in Chennai is to be believed, the Encumbrance Certificate (EC), which has been considered as the most reliable document by property buyers, will now have to search for some other means to authenticate the genuineness of a property they are buying.

To escape from land grabbing bids by using all available illegal means, realty buyers and investors in the state solely believe on EC while making purchases. But their hope was shattered recently when the state registration department told the Madras High Court that ‘It is difficult to issue encumbrance certificates without any fault.’

An EC is the most basic document, which tells about the current status of an immovable property. It contains the details of ownership and whether the property has been mortgaged or encumbered in favour of a bank or any individual.

Responding to an anticipatory bail petition of a landowner who purchased another person's property, as the EC did not reflect the latest ownership details, the inspector-general of registration told the court that, "The ECs are prepared by making search based on survey numbers, boundaries, extent, period, etc. It is because of mismatch in present survey number and old survey number and boundaries, encumbrance certificates, at times, do not reflect all the details relating to a property."

Piqued by the submission, Justice S Nagamuthu, told the registration authority that he could not agree with the argument that ECs could be faulty. Observing that there has been a rise in the number of cases related to improper ECs issued by the registration authority, the judge said, "Due to advancement in technology, it could be possible to evolve an error-free mechanism by which ECs could be issued flawlessly, reflecting all liabilities.”

The State registration dept told the court that though issuing an accurate EC was difficult with the present set up, it would soon come up with a better system.

However, one should understand a fact that unless the mortgaged or encumbered documents are registered properly, the chances of getting it reflected on EC is remote,’ said Rathnagiri, a property consultant in Thiruvanmiyur, who further added that property buyers should get an ownership and ‘no-due’ affidavit from the seller/s before registering a property. This will save them from future embarrassments.

EC can be applied for 25 to 50 years, depending upon the availability of information pertaining to a piece of land with the concerned registration authority. In some cases, the EC would be required for a tiny piece of land, segmented by land developers from a huge parcel of land, owned by a single entity. In such cases, the EC should take care of the survey number/s of the requisite property along with the surrounding ones and present and previous owner of the immovable property.

Tekla comes out with Tekla Structures V20

Jaipur: Tekla India, a leader in bringing Building Information Modeling (BIM) software to the engineering and construction markets, today announced the availability of Tekla Structures 20 at its 7th Annual User Meet here.

 

The newest version of Tekla’s BIM software can improve construction workflow efficiency by providing the means to better organise models, manage tasks and avoid structural clashes. It can also incorporate more detailed information than ever before, according to a press note from Tekla.

Over 300 participants from industry’s leading companies such as L&T Engineering, Prothious, ICAD, Structure Online, Simon India, B G Shirke, M N Dastur and Alstom Engineering were at the meet.

With the new version launch, the event also aimed at bringing together its customers to discuss the latest developments and technologies in the rapidly growing sector and laying the foundation for BIM (building Information modelling) adoption to this space amongst the huge potential education market in India.

One of the main highlights of the event was Tekla India Model Competition, which is arranged yearly and facilitates as a platform for Tekla customers to showcase their success stories worldwide.

The model competition winners were chosen amongst total of 62 entries across five categories:

• Best Best Complex Steel Project was awarded to Insteel Engineering Pvt. Ltd. - Mexico Football Stadium
• Best Concrete Project was awarded to L&T EDRC Kolkata - Sinter Storage Building
• Best Special Project was awarded to Simon India Limited - Sulphuric Acid Expansion Plant
• Best BIM Project was awarded to FLSmidth Pvt. Ltd., Chennai - Windbox GSA Tower    
• Tekla BIMagician was awarded to Design Excellence  - Chemical plant Dismantling   

The People’s Choice award went to Eversendai Construction Pvt. Ltd., Chennai who made ‘TCS Signature Tower.’

  

Recently, Tekla India along with Trimble Buildings, a part of the Engineering Construction segment of US-based Trimble Navigation Ltd., strengthens its presence in India with end-to-end Design-Build-Operate (DBO) lifecycle.

Speaking on the occasion Nirmalya Chatterjee – COO & Business Director, Tekla India said, “Our continuous effort is to introduce new developments and technologies for the infrastructure industry, this year it’s Tekla Structure Version 20. The Tekla India User Meet gives us a platform to communicate with our customers in India as well as in the neighboring countries, and exchange trending ideas with latest technological updates. The user responses that we have garnered year on year has been simply incredible, witnessing the highest number of participates from top companies in the space”.

Chatterjee further added that, “Trimble’s launch in India through Tekla has been remarkably successful as it has proved to be of great relevance to its growing construction and real estate market. India is a very important market for us as we see great potential here. Our technologies enable industry professionals such as Architects, Structural Engineers, MEP Trades, General Contractors, and Building Owners to do their jobs better, while achieving greater accuracy, efficiency, and cost management”.

These new technologies include a portfolio of synergistic software and hardware helping companies to digitize workflows and minimize rework across the Design-Build-Operate lifecycle (DBO). They are focused on optimizing collaboration so that managing the moving parts of complex building programs becomes easier and smarter.

As BIM penetrates construction industry processes, architectural trends produce increasingly complex shapes, and buildings include more refined technology, information exchange becomes progressively more important. While information management remains at the core of BIM, building today’s structures requires more information than ever before. Tekla Structures 20 meets this requirement by expanding the capacity of constructable Tekla models to easily handle the large amounts of information needed to accurately reflect the detail contained in complex build structures.

“Tekla Structures 20 contributes to the essential processes of today’s information-intensive construction industry,” said Risto Räty, Executive Vice President of Tekla and General Manager of Trimble Buildings’ Structures Division.

“Ultimately, construction is about collaboration. When information is missing it is hard to work effectively with other construction team members to avoid preventable delays and cost overruns. Tekla Structures 20 dramatically improves project team communication and collaboration by providing the detail needed for building complex structures, offering process-improving tools, and effortlessly working with other software applications, thereby delivering on the promise of BIM for the construction industry,” Räty said.

New Tools for Better Information Management

Tekla Structures 20 brings even more detailed information and flexibility to modeling, while reducing the need for manual data transfer. Information now flows more efficiently from design, purchasing and production to the shop floor. Tekla also provides more links to analysis and design (A&D) solutions to remove the technical and compatibility barriers that compromise workflow between project teams and subcontractors using different types of applications.

To ease the management of the massive amounts of constructable building information needed for contemporary structures, Tekla Structures 20 also offers several improved tools:

Organiaer delivers more efficient model information management and increased automation. Task Manager offers a systematic way to plan detailing, fabrication and erection on site.

Clash Check Manager allows communicating, assigning, coordinating and avoiding structural conflicts before they appear on site to help save money and time.

About Tekla Structures

Tekla Structures is the most advanced BIM (Building Information Modeling) software on the market. The construction industry utilizes it for creating, combining, managing and distributing highly detailed, accurate and information-rich models of all structures and all materials. The software interfaces with other solutions and manufacturing machinery, allowing the users to achieve efficient and error-free collaboration.