VBDL Ltd., (the Builder) is a company engaged in the business of construction of multi-storey flats in Mumbai. It started working on a project named as 'Sare Jahan Complex' in Panvel, Navi Mumbai. At the site, the builde

CS Professional · Labour Laws & Practice · PYQS · December 2022
VBDL Ltd., (the Builder) is a company engaged in the business of construction of multi-storey flats in Mumbai. It started working on a project named as 'Sare Jahan Complex' in Panvel, Navi Mumbai. At the site, the builder opened its office and employed two persons named as Sonali and Kamal, to book flats, receive money from the prospective buyers through cheques, and to do all other managerial, supervisory and administrative work. Besides Sonali and Kamal, one peon was also appointed for their office purposes. While Sonali was taking care of the in-office work, whereas Kamal was overseeing the field duty, like inspection of the work done by the labours, purchase of building raw materials etc. The builder engaged KCPL, a contractor company engaged in the construction work. The KCPL provided the labours at site, to do the civil work. One day, an Inspector came to site for checking, whether adequate safety measures are being followed on not. During his inspection, he observed that some labours have defective vision and some labours are deaf too. He prepared a detailed report and summoned to the contractor to give explanation. Amrish, who is a regular employee of KCPL was given the task of pulling the chain, operated through electricity, to lift the mixture of cement and concrete. One day, while he was doing this work, the chain broke and fell down on the land which caused a serious bodily injury to Amrish. Sonali's father Hari Ram is having a small piece of land in a village near by Panvel. Hari Ram thought to construct a dwelling house for his family. So he contacted a person named Ashutosh, who takes contracts for small house projects (not the multi-storey project) costing around 15-20 lakh rupees. Ashutosh agreed to construct the house for Hari Ram for a total cost of 15 lakh rupees including the building material, labour cost, sanitary and electrical fittings and flooring. Based on the above fact, answer the following questions: Whether the construction work on the land owned by Hari Ram (Sonali's father), amounts to 'Building or other construction work'. Quote the relevant provisions of the law.

Answer & Explanation:

In terms of Section 2(1)(d) of the Building & Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment & Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, 'building or other construction work' means the construction, alteration, repairs, maintenance or demolition, of or, in relation to, buildings, streets, roads, railways, tramways, airfields, irrigation, drainage, embankment and navigation works, flood control works (including storm water drainage works), generation, transmission and distribution of power, water works (including channels for distribution of water), oil and gas installations, electric lines, wireless, radio, television, telephone, telegraph and overseas communications, dams, canals, reservoirs, watercourses, tunnels, bridges, viaducts, aqueducts, pipelines, towers, cooling towers, transmission towers and such other work as may be specified in this behalf by the appropriate Government, by notification but does not include any building or other construction work to which the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948, or the Mines Act, 1952, apply. Any building or construction work to which the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 or the Mines Act, 1952 are applicable are not covered under the definition and hence workers employed therein will not get benefit under 'The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act'. In the given case, Hari Ram (Sonali's father) thought to construct a dwelling house for his family, hence, it is the construction work for own residential purpose in individual capacity. Therefore, the labour work being done by Ashutosh along with his co-labours at the village site, will not come under the category of 'Building or other construction work'.

Topics: Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996

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