Require Periodic Safety Certification for High-Risk Buildings

Getting permission to construct a building does not guarantee that it will remain safe throughout its life.

Buildings deteriorate. Owners make unauthorized structural alterations. Residential buildings are converted into hostels, coaching centres, offices, restaurants or other higher-occupancy uses. Fire exits may be blocked, electrical systems overloaded and required safety equipment poorly maintained.

India already has building regulations covering structural safety, fire protection and occupancy. The National Building Code includes structural-safety certification, fire and life-safety requirements and provisions for managing existing buildings.

The problem is therefore not simply an absence of rules. It is ensuring that buildings continue to comply after construction and that violations are detected before an accident occurs.

India should require periodic building-safety certification based on the risk and use of the building.

This should not mean inspecting every private house every few years. Requirements should concentrate on buildings where failure could endanger larger numbers of people, including:

High-rise and large apartment buildings → Hostels and student accommodation → Hotels → Schools and coaching centres → Hospitals → Malls and commercial buildings → Assembly spaces → Older or structurally vulnerable buildings

Each covered building should have a digital Building Safety Record linked to the property and containing its sanctioned use, occupancy certificate, fire-safety status, structural assessments, inspection history, major alterations and current certification status.

Certification should examine the risks relevant to that building, including:

– structural integrity;
– fire exits and evacuation routes;
– functioning fire-protection systems;
– electrical safety;
– unauthorized structural modifications; and
– whether the building is being used for a purpose or occupancy substantially different from what was approved.

India’s building standards are already moving in this direction. The 2025 draft revision of the National Building Code proposed periodic fire inspections every three years for covered buildings, multidisciplinary inspections generally every three to five years, and structural audits beginning according to the age and category of the building.

India We Deserve would turn that principle into a transparent municipal enforcement system.

Make Certification a Condition for Operating

A hostel, hotel, coaching centre, school, hospital or other regulated high-occupancy establishment should not be able to obtain or renew its municipal trade/operating licence unless the required building-safety certifications are current.

The systems should communicate digitally:

Property ID → Approved Building Use → Safety Certification → Fire Clearance → Business/Operating Licence

This is crucial. Instead of discovering an unsafe hostel only after an accident, the system should prevent an uncertified building from legally operating as one.
Inspections should be conducted by qualified, registered professionals, with municipal authorities auditing a sample of certifications and inspecting high-risk cases directly. Professionals who knowingly issue fraudulent certificates should face suspension and penalties, while owners who deliberately operate unsafe premises should face escalating penalties and, for serious imminent danger, closure.

Municipalities should publish the certification status of covered buildings online and provide a QR code or registration number at the premises so that a student, tenant, parent or customer can verify:

Certified / Certification Expired / Violations Pending / Unsafe—Use Prohibited

India’s National Urban Digital Mission already provides digital workflows for Fire NOCs, including applications, renewals, notifications and dashboards, demonstrating that this type of municipal certification can be digitized.

TIndia does not need to invent an entirely new building-safety system. Elements of this approach already operate in parts of the country.

Delhi provides a useful example of periodic fire-safety certification. For buildings covered by the Delhi Fire Service rules, fire-safety approval is required before construction and a Fire Safety Certificate is required before occupancy. Certificates must then be renewed periodically—currently every three years for non-residential buildings, including hotels, and five years for covered residential buildings. Owners must also maintain required fire-safety systems and keep exits unobstructed.

This demonstrates an important principle: building safety should not be treated as a one-time approval.

The same principle is particularly relevant to education hubs such as Kota and Delhi, where large numbers of students use coaching centres, hostels and other rented accommodation. Rajasthan’s guidelines for coaching centres already require their buildings to comply with fire and building-safety codes and obtain appropriate Fire and Building Safety Certificates. Rajasthan Government Portal

The reform is to make this approach systematic, digital and enforceable across high-risk buildings and to connect certification directly to permission to operate.
Approve safely → Certify before occupancy → Inspect periodically → Renew certification → Link certification to the operating licence → Make safety status visible to the public.

A student or parent choosing a hostel or coaching centre should not have to determine for themselves whether a building is safe. The system should make that information verifiable before they enter it.