BUILDER’S HANDOVER PROCESS OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY

The date of handover from builder to the registered owners association is an important day for new apartment owners and all residents. It has to be taken seriously and detailed due diligence must be done when interacting with the builders during this handover process. Once the formal handover to the Owners Association is completed, the onus is on the association to run the affairs of the society and to ensure its smooth functioning. The association must be prepared for this day for 3+ months leading to this event.
It is recommended that owners collaboratively engage with the builder right from late construction stages that will help them to take-up this responsibility in future. The builders can also reach out to representatives from the owners group to assist in the selection of maintenance agency which prepares them for the handover process.
Based on our experience in interacting with various builders and associations, we have collated a check list that associations can use when in dialogue with the builder on the handover process:
1. Get approved building plan which includes block-wise and floor-wise details
2. Collect the Completion Certificate which ensures adherence of the approved plan
3. No Objection certificates from pollution, fire, water and electricity authorities
4. Hard copy and soft copy (in CD) of all approved engineering drawings; look for approval seal on the drawings
5. Registration and parent documents
6. Drainage, sewage, Fire protection and common area power layout drawings
7. Car parking layout drawings (with numbering)
8. Asset Inventory of all movable and immovable equipment purchased; numbered in order (list needs to be exhaustive)
9. Record of recent service history on key equipment’s like lifts, DG sets, STP and WTP
10. AMC and warranty details; Original bills of equipment purchased (motors, Sewage and Water Treatment Plant, Generators, Gym items like treadmill)
11. Lift license details and next renewal date
12. STP/WTP vendor details, plant layout, operation manual and drawings
13. Receipts of property, electricity and water payments paid
14. Handover of corpus amount to the association
15. Share recent expenses incurred on various maintenance activities and account heads; will assist to budget coming year (staff salaries, purchase of cleaning material, swimming pool maintenance etc)
16. Contract signed with maintenance agency; agreed SLAs
17. Insurance taken for assets and third party lift insurance
18. Audited account statement at the time of handover
19. Arrange for introductory meeting with important suppliers and vendors