Handover is not a formality. It is the point where a legal right – the five-year liability for defects that Karnataka RERA gives every buyer – starts running against a clock you control less than you think, and where whatever you accept in writing becomes far harder to argue about later. Most of what goes wrong at handover is not fraud; it is a letter signed too quickly, and a snag that is easier to fix before you take the keys than after.
This guide takes the process in order: the written possession notice and what Karnataka’s model agreement for sale actually promises you, what to read carefully before you sign anything at the site office, how to check the flat’s carpet area against what you paid for, a room-by-room way to inspect the flat before you accept it, the documents to collect on the day, what you should never alter yourself once you move in, and how to report a defect that only shows up later.
From notice to keys
Handover is not one event. It runs from the occupancy certificate through a written notice, your own inspection, and finally the keys and the deed. Karnataka’s model agreement for sale – the form every RERA-registered project in the state must use – sets this sequence out in clause 7.
Occupancy certificate
The building is signed off under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024. This date starts the clock: you have two months from it to take possession once the builder offers it. Our OC and CC guide explains what the certificate covers.
Written offer of possession
The builder must offer you possession in writing after the OC is issued. Read the letter itself against clause 7.2 – the specimen below works through what to look for.
Your inspection
Before you sign anything back, walk the flat against the room-by-room list further down this guide, and put every snag you find in writing.
Taking possession
You sign the possession certificate and any indemnities the builder asks for, and take the keys. Maintenance charges become payable from the date of the completion certificate, whether or not you have moved in.
Deed and keys to the record
The conveyance (sale) deed follows, with the deed of apartment where the building is registered under the 1972 Act. The builder hands over the OC for your specific flat at the same time.
The possession letter
The offer of possession is the first document you will be asked to accept, and it is usually handed to you with a possession certificate and an indemnity to sign there and then. Read it against clause 7.2 of the model agreement before you sign anything back. The specimen below marks the lines worth slowing down on.
To: [Allottee name(s)]
Re: Apartment [no.], [Tower], [Project name] 1
Date: [date]
Dear Allottee,
We are pleased to inform you that the Occupancy Certificate for the project was issued on [date]. 2
In terms of clause 7.2 of your agreement for sale, we hereby offer you possession of the above apartment. Please take possession within two months of this letter, failing which you will continue to be liable for maintenance charges as set out in the agreement. 3
The final carpet area of your apartment, as measured after completion, is [x] sq ft against [y] sq ft in the agreement. 4
Possession is offered on an as-is-where-is basis. On taking possession, you shall have no further claim of any nature against us, and shall execute the enclosed indemnity-cum-undertaking to that effect. 5
Maintenance charges are payable with effect from [date]. Kindly sign and return the enclosed possession certificate. 6
For [Builder name]
- The reference. The flat number, tower and project name should match your agreement exactly, and the letter should name every co-owner on it.
- The OC date. This is what starts your two-month clock under clause 7.2. Ask to see the certificate itself, not just the date claimed here, and check it covers your block if the project has more than one.
- The two-month window. This much matches the agreement, and continuing to owe maintenance if you delay matches clause 7.3 too – it is not itself a red flag. Watch instead for a shorter window, or a maintenance charge dated before this letter.
- The carpet area. Clause 1.7 sets what happens next: a shortfall is refunded with interest within 60 days; an increase is capped at 3% of the agreed area and billed only at your next payment milestone, at the rate you already agreed. If the letter states a new figure with no working shown, ask for the calculation in writing before you sign anything.
- “No further claim”. This is the line to slow down on. Your five-year right to a structural-defect rectification under RERA cannot be signed away – the Act overrides any inconsistent term in a contract – but a broad waiver like this is still something a builder can point to in a dispute later. Record your snag list first, and do not sign an indemnity wider than “as inspected and noted below”.
- The maintenance date. It should be the completion-certificate date the agreement sets, not an earlier one. A backdated demand is the other common way this letter tries to claim more than the agreement allows.
Measuring the carpet area
Carpet area is a defined term, not a marketing figure. The Act describes it as the net usable floor area of the flat, excluding the external walls, any service shaft, and an exclusive balcony, verandah or open terrace, but including the internal partition walls inside it. The carpet-area guide covers how far that differs from the “saleable” figure in the brochure; this section is about what can change between booking and handover.
The model agreement requires the builder to confirm the final carpet area once construction is complete and the OC is granted, and to recalculate the price against it. If the flat has shrunk, you get the excess back, with interest, within 60 days. If it has grown, the builder may charge you for the difference, but only up to 3% of the area you were allotted, only at your next payment milestone, and only at the same rate per square foot you already agreed – not a fresh valuation. A change beyond that 3% is outside what the agreement lets the builder simply bill you for.
Get the final figure in writing, with the working shown, before you pay any balance it changes or sign the possession certificate. If the number moves and the letter does not say which way, or by how much, ask before you accept it.
A room-by-room snag list
Do this before you sign the possession certificate, in daylight, with the electricity connected. Bring a torch, a coin, a mobile charger, and the specification schedule from your agreement. Test every point in every room, not a sample, and write down what you find as you go, with its location and a photo.
| Area | What to check | How to test it | What good looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walls and plaster | Cracks, damp, unevenness | Run a hand and a raking torch-beam along every wall; sight along it from one end | No crack wider than a hairline, no damp patch or salt bloom, no visible wave in the plaster |
| Tiles | Hollow bonding, level, grout | Tap every floor and dado tile with a coin in a grid; listen for a dull, hollow note against a sharp, solid one | A consistently solid sound; no edge you can feel lift under a fingernail; even grout lines |
| Doors and windows | Alignment, hardware, seals | Open and close every door and window fully; let a window swing free to see if it drifts; try every lock and hinge | Closes and latches without force, does not swing on its own, no daylight through a closed frame |
| Plumbing | Pressure, leaks, drainage | Open every tap fully, including the farthest fixture, at the same time as another; flush every WC twice; watch joints under sinks for ten minutes | Steady flow at every point, no drip at a joint, water clears from every floor trap and basin without backing up |
| Waterproofing | Wet areas hold water without seeping | Plug the floor drain in each bathroom, balcony and utility area, flood it a few centimetres deep, mark the level, leave it 24 hours | The water level is unchanged, and no patch appears on the ceiling of the room below |
| Electrical | Every point, earthing, the DB | Test every switch and socket with a charger or a socket tester; press the test button on the ELCB/RCCB and confirm it trips, then reset it | Every declared point works, the tester shows an earth connection, the DB is labelled by circuit |
| Balcony and railings | Fixing, height, drainage | Push firmly on the railing at several points along its length; check the floor slope runs to the outlet, not the door | No wobble or movement, no gap a small child could pass through, water runs away from the door |
| Fittings | Against the specification schedule | Go through Schedule D/E in your agreement item by item – brand, model, count – against what is fitted | Every listed fitting is present and matches; any substitution is one you agreed to in writing |
Mark anything that fails as a numbered snag, with its room and a photo, and hand the list to the builder’s site engineer before you sign the possession certificate – not after. The agreement itself bars the builder from changing the fixtures, fittings and amenities in Schedule D/E without your written consent, so a mismatch there is worth raising even if it is minor.
What to collect at handover
The full list of what to ask for – the OC for your tower, the fire service’s clearance where the building needs one, permanent electricity and water connections in the flat’s name rather than a temporary supply, the khata position, the registered deed of declaration and your deed of apartment, and the as-built plans – is in the documents guide. Collect it at handover rather than later: some of it, like the as-built plans, is far easier to get from the builder on the day than from an authority afterwards. For moving the electricity and water into your own name, see our guide to power and water connections.
What not to touch after move-in
Two things change the moment you take possession. The builder’s defect liability starts running, and you become responsible for keeping the flat “in good and tenantable repair” under the agreement. Some parts of the flat, even though they sit inside your walls, are not yours to alter on your own.
Waterproofing. Breaking the floor of a bathroom, balcony or utility area to relay it, moving a drain point, or enclosing a balcony all risk puncturing the membrane beneath. A leak that shows up in the flat below afterwards is now your alteration to answer for, not a defect the builder is liable to fix.
Structural walls. The agreement bars you from removing any wall, including a load-bearing or outer wall, and from doing anything that damages or jeopardises the building’s support. Under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, the rules on constructing a building apply equally to altering one; done without approval, it is treated as unauthorised and can be ordered demolished, and the Commissioner can withdraw the building’s occupancy certificate over it.
The fire-safety system. Any detection or firefighting equipment in your flat or the common areas, including what sits in the basement pump rooms, is part of what the building’s occupancy certificate was granted against. Disconnecting or blocking it carries the same kind of risk as a structural change.
None of this means you cannot fit interiors. It means anything that changes the sanctioned plan, breaks a waterproofed surface, or touches a shared system should go through the builder or the association first, in writing, rather than through a contractor working to your instructions alone.
Reporting a defect later
A defect that shows up after you move in – a crack that opens up, a wall that dampens in the next monsoon, a fitting that fails – is still the builder’s to fix if it falls within the five-year structural-defect window, provided you told them.
- Write to the builder, by email or letter, describing the defect, where it is, and the date you noticed it. Attach photos, and reference clause 12 of your agreement and section 14(3) of the RERA Act.
- Keep proof it reached them: a delivery or read receipt, or a signed acknowledgement if you deliver it by hand.
- Give them the 30 days the Act sets for rectification, and follow up in writing if nothing happens in that time.
- If it is still not fixed, a breach of clause 12 and section 14(3) can be raised with the Karnataka RERA Authority on Form N, for a ₹1,000 fee. A specific claim for compensation over the defect goes to the adjudicating officer on Form O, for the same fee, since compensation under section 14 is decided there rather than by the Authority itself.
An association of allottees can also complain on behalf of the building, which matters for a defect in a shared area – a leaking terrace, a cracked beam in the basement car park – rather than inside one flat.
Before you take the keys
- Get the offer of possession in writing, and check the OC date and your block against the certificate itself, not just the letter’s word for it.
- Work the room-by-room snag list before you sign the possession certificate, not after.
- Get the final carpet area in writing, with the working shown, before you pay any balance it changes.
- Read any indemnity before you sign it; do not accept a blanket “no further claim” waiver.
- Collect the OC, khata position, deed of declaration and as-built plans at handover, not later.
- Keep every snag and defect report in writing, with photos and the date, from day one.
- Do not alter waterproofing, structural walls or fire-safety fittings without going through the builder or the association first.
Sources, checked 10 Sep 2026. Possession, the two-month window, carpet-area reconciliation, defect liability and the restrictions after possession: Karnataka RERA Rules, 2017, rule 8A and Annexure A, clauses 1.7, 7.2, 7.3, 12, 14 and 15 (Karnataka RERA). Carpet-area definition, structural-defect liability, the Act’s overriding effect, and the right to complain: Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, sections 2(k), 14(3), 31, 71 and 89 (text). Complaint forms and fee: Karnataka RERA Rules, 2017, rules 29 and 30, and K-RERA’s (complaint user manual). The occupancy certificate and the rules on altering a building: Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, sections 241, 242 and 243 (text).
This is a general guide, not legal advice. For a dispute over a specific defect, or over the wording of a possession letter or indemnity you have been asked to sign, have a lawyer read your agreement and the letter together before you sign anything.