What is a Commencement Certificate? Find out before Booking a property in an under construction project

A real estate transaction has many aspects attached to it. There are many documents, agreements, permissions, etc. that have to be checked and understood. One of the most crucial and vital out of all these is the commencement certificate. Especially if you are booking in an under construction property with a property developer, the commencement certificate can help you confirm the legality of the project. Read on and find out the details about the same.

Commencement Certificate is the permission given by the local municipal authority to a property developer to commence construction (hence the name commencement certificate). The local authority issues this certificate post ascertaining the fact that the real estate builder has been given all the other mandatory clearances and approvals from the relevant authorities. In short this certificate is the first legal document that helps the developer to actually start the construction of the project on the ground. Technically any development company cannot start work without the same.

The important part that one has to understand is that the builder will get the commencement certificate only upon arranging other necessary and critical documents such as licenses, sanctions and permissions.  for the map, he has to lay the foundation of the superstructure and build boundaries before constructing the walls. He has to then inform the authority about the intention to start work on the building site.

The CC (short for commencement cerificate) is issued by the Municipal Corporation and it is the actual permission for the real estate developer to start his/her constrcution process. All the conditions required to vail the cc have to be first complied, completed by the property builder to get this certificate and hence it is a very strong indication that the project is moving in the right direction.

After about half a month of receiving the application from the realty developer, authorised personnel from the town planning and engineering department come to inspect the actual site of work.

Upon verifying and approving the foundation work which has to be as per the submitted sanction plan, the next step begins. In case everything is in place and all rules have been followed, the developer receives a CC. In case there are any rule violations, the CC will be denied along with the relevant reasons stated within two months.

The reson for refusal could be multiple inclduing violations by the real estate developer in terms of starying away from the original submitted plan of construction brought forward at the time of submission of the master plan.

One of the biggest factors is that the Commencement Certificate is now generally provided in stages. In the initial stage it is be given for construction up to the plinth level; only upon the developer following all rules for this portion of construction, the next permission is available in the second stage and is provided for construction up to the seventh floor; and, in the third stage it is provided for construction up to the fourteenth floor, and so on. But all stages of permissions are connected with fulfilment of terms and conditions fo all previous ones.

This certificate is compulsory for all flats, apartments and complexes that rea constructed in our country.

It is therefore vital to inspect the Commencement Certificate if the property is under-construction. Simply request for approval of drawings and plans of the project. This will give you certainty that the under construction property that you are booking is clear and technically fit for construction.

If a property developer fails to obtain the Commencement Certificate before beginning construction of the building, the final Occupancy Certificate (OC) will be denied to him by the concerned authority later. Technically, without OC, the building is not menat to be occupioed and moved into. If the residents do not possess an OC, the said building is deemed illegal and the occupants would be fined and can be made to vacate the building by the authorities.

In case, the customer who has booked in an under construction project comes to know after booking that the Commencement Certificate was not in place and is afraid that his money might be blocked in such a project then the customer may claim suppression of facts, misrepresentation against the developer in a legal way. However, the prudent step would be to approach the relevant authorities and inquire as to whether a particular developer or project has been granted the necessary approvals to start construction and pre-sales. This will ensure that you never book in a project that might get stuck later, at least not due to the lact of permissions.