Lesson A1·08 · Approvals overview
RERA, CC, OC, sanction — what each paper actually proves
5 min read · 4 approvals · 1 timeline
The trap, first
A family takes possession of their "ready" flat. Housewarming done, EMIs running. Then the small facts surface: the electricity is a temporary builder connection. The water too. The society can't get registered. Why? The building never received its Occupancy Certificate — the builder handed over homes the municipality never certified as fit to occupy.
Every approval in a property's life exists to answer one specific question. Buyers get hurt when they let one paper answer a question it was never designed for — like letting "possession offered" stand in for "legal to occupy." Here's the full map: which paper, which question, which moment to demand it.
The four approvals — in the order a project earns them
| Approval | What it proves | When you demand it |
|---|---|---|
| Layout / plan sanction | The authority approved what can be built here — the drawings, floors, setbacks, coverage. The reference against which everything else is checked. | Before booking. Especially for plots and builder floors — count your floor on it (Lesson A1·06). |
| Commencement Certificate (CC) | Construction was legally allowed to start. Work begun without a CC is unauthorised from brick one. | Before booking any under-construction unit. |
| RERA registration | The project may legally be sold: money goes to a 70% escrow, the completion date is filed and binding, delay penalties apply, carpet-area pricing is enforced. | Before paying a rupee. Verify the number yourself on the state portal — never from the brochure. |
| Occupancy Certificate (OC) | The finished building matches the sanctioned plans and is fit and legal to occupy — the paper that makes "ready" true. (Its sibling, the Completion Certificate, certifies construction finished per plan; the OC certifies you may live in it.) | Before taking possession of anything "ready" — and before buying any resale flat in a newer building. |
Why "no OC" is not a technicality
Without an OC: permanent water, sewer and electricity connections can be refused; the residents' society may struggle to form and register; some banks resist lending against units in the building, which quietly shrinks your future resale market; and in the worst cases, occupation itself is unauthorised — municipalities have penalised and even ordered evacuation of OC-less buildings. The builder's incentive is to hand over fast and let the OC "come later." Later has a habit of never arriving, because the OC is often missing for a reason — a deviation from the sanctioned plan the municipality won't certify.
The analyst's cut
Test yourself — the final 5 of Module A1
1. The document that makes a building legally fit to live in is:
The OC certifies the finished building matches sanctioned plans and is fit for occupation. Everything before it governs building and selling — only the OC governs living.
2. The Commencement Certificate proves:
No CC = unauthorised from the first brick, regardless of how good the towers look later.
3. The correct way to verify a project's RERA registration is:
Brochures have carried lapsed, wrong, and borrowed numbers. The portal shows the registration live — with the filed completion date and any complaints attached.
4. Living in a building without an OC can mean:
The OC is frequently missing because of a plan deviation the municipality won't certify — which is exactly why "aa jayega" so often never arrives.
5. You're buying a "ready-to-move" flat. The builder offers possession now, OC "in process, 2–3 months." The analyst's move:
"In process" prices a certainty that doesn't exist yet. If the OC truly is routine, the builder can wait for it — or contractually bind possession to it. Resistance to either tells you what "in process" means.
📹 Watch this explained in 60 seconds on the Videos page.