Top 5 Things a Home Owner Should Know before taking over your new home!
WE ADVISE YOU TO TALK TO YOUR LAWYER YOUR SPECIFIC LEGAL AND STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS & CLARIFICATIONS
You are here either because you have just purchased a home or are about to.
Either way its all good, nothing is lost. We are here to share with you based on our experience the predominant pitfalls that occur and how to avoid them.
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#1 LEGAL
In India for the vast majority of us, buying a home is an aspiration. Apart from being an aspiration it is one of the most expensive purchases we’ll ever make.
Many if not most of us ask ourselves these very questions
“is this a structural crack and non structural crack?”
“what is the wall seepage solution?”
“where to look for home inspection?”
These are all questions that reflect the need of a home-buyer who wants to assure themselves of peace of mind — Nemmadi — you are at the correct place.
Title Deed
One of the most important things that a homeowner needs to get correct or checked is the title-deed or the moola patra. This document shows the continuous continuity of path of ownership of the property — from acquisition to the currents state of ownership. It is a good idea to go up to 30 years in history of this document.
Encumbrance Certificate
Issued by the sub-registrar’s office and shows that the land or the property is not encumbered. Meaning that nobody else has any right over this property, and that the seller has absolute right to sell it to you. Meaning that nobody has any claim over it.
A home buyer can also apply for the certificate for a fee, which depends on the history of the check. Which will show if the property has any loan against it or has been mortgaged etc.
Building Sanctions
There should be an approval for the commencement of the building. The builder gets a sanctioned plan, and after this is got the builder starts construction. Once the work commences, the authorities visit and ensure that the columns are positioned as per the sanctioned drawing then the authorities issue the commencement certificate.
Commencement Certificate
The authorities after visiting the building site issue this if the builder is following all the rules and regulations to commence work
#2 STATUTORY
Completion Certificate
This is document issued by the Statutory Authority (Local body) who in the first place gave permission to start the construction by approving the submitted drawings. This is known as sanctioned plan for the building. They will inspect all the construction to ensure the building is built as per the sanctioned plan without any deviations in all aspects.
The completion is also checked for other building services like Electrical, Plumbing, Firefighting etc., and the norms will change if the building is categorised as “High Rise” when the height is 15 metres above ground level. These rules vary from state to state which has to be ascertained.
Occupancy Certificate
This document will be issued by the statutory authority when the clearance is obtained by all other statutory agencies like Dept. of Fire and safety, Water supply and Sewerage Board, Electrical Inspectorate, Airport authority (for High rise buildings) and many more.
Occupancy certificate ensures that the building is complete in all respects and fit and safe for occupation. As a Home Buyer this is the most important document you should be looking for.
Latest Tax paid receipts
These are required to be checked to ensure that all taxes are paid up to date by the builder. If these remain unpaid, the individual owner or the Association has to bear the claim by the authorities after take over from the builder, depending on whether it pertains to individual flat or the common area.
Pollution Control Board clearance
This clearance is very crucial as it covers operation of the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), Emission by Diesel Generators including the Noise levels. They ensure that the treated water is as per the statutory norms and fit for use in Gardens or flushing and in some cases it is fit for discharging outside. Any non-compliance will result in closure of Apartment Occupancy certificate along with hefty fines.
#3 RERA
Carpet Area, if you think about it, is the most expensive unit of your apartment or villa purchase. Many of us either, don’t know how or what are the ways to be aware of your home dimensions. Many of us are as usual confused by what the builders or developers have to say about area
Super built-up area
Built-up area
Salable area
Carpet area
etc.
which of these is what we need?
Carpet Area
Thank fully, RERA has come to the rescue of the common-man, the authority has now defined clearly what is carpet area and how it needs to be measured. To ensure that home owners are in the know we have been publishing some blog posts too. The most important fact is that while conducting Home Inspection by Nemmadi, you will be shown not only where there are small or major issues with your home but also what the Area of your home is as prescribed by RERA — this is a major value add.
#4 QUALITY
Workmanship and Material quality
How does a common man, not conversant with construction materials and workmanship ensure that the house/flat that he is taking over meets the Industry Quality standards both in workmanship and in materials ?
It is difficult and almost impossible for a common man.
Structural Stability:
One may want to know whether the Quality of Concrete, Cement and Reinforcement steel that are incorporated into the structure are of ‘Good Quality’.
All reputed builders adopt a system of ‘Quality Control and Quality assurance’ during the process of construction. On request, they will show the systems and procedures adopted by them to maintain good quality and adherence to code requirements. A professional in the field will able to interpret the test results
RWA Association can request for the test report and keep them for posterity.
Materials and Workmanship:
Needless to say, apart from use of best quality of materials workmanship is of utmost importance and they go hand in hand. There is a saying in Kannada, roughly translated means ‘a precious stone in the hands of monkey’ will not result in the best of jewelry piece.
Few examples:
- An expensive white marble floor, if not cut to square corners and not laid on laid without using appropriate backing materials could result in a bad laid flooring.
- If door hinges of appropriate size and numbers are not use depending upon the size and weight of the doors could one day sag and not only destroy the marble flooring but also make it difficult to move it.
- Water pipes have to be ‘pressure tested’ to ensure that the joints are not leaking before the wall tiles are laid.
- Insufficient balcony floor slopes could damage the carpet in your living room, if the rainwater backs up during a thunder shower.
- Electrical wiring: Has the work been executed as per the safety requirements and functionality? Without conduction an inspection, it is impossible to assure that the whole electrical system is safe.
Therefore, it would be prudent to engage the services of professional to conduct a thorough inspection before you move in to ensure safety of you and your family.
#5 AMENITIES
We not only help RWA of projects which are completed in all respects and are due for taking over by the association, but also projects in progress where we conduct inspection for sections which are currently ready and inspect the rest after total completion.
Proper take-over of all common areas and amenities by the association from the builder is critical to ensure hassle free operations thereafter. More importantly doing so in such a manner that there are no hurdles or issues in the future while running the association. Audit by Nemmadi makes sure nothing is missed during takeover, by covering all areas mentioned below…
Nemmadi assists the association/RWA by conducting an audit which includes:
- Inspection and Snagging of common areas (civil & building services).
- Reporting on condition and quality of common areas.
- The checklist of documents that a RWA must collects from a builder could be divided into these groups.
- Property
- Operations
- Finance
- Legal
- Guidance on the desirable statutory documents to be handed over to the association.
