Checklist before Taking Possession of Your New House

Today property is one of the secured investments where you will get profit or good deal on your investment in short period. Increasing demand for property, cut down in interest rate and easy registration process has attracted more property buyers to invest on their dream home. Checklist for taking possession helps you to ensure that the property or apartment are build according to plan and there are no cracks or major repair works required after taking possession of your new flat.

Important checklist for possession of flat or home

• List of amenities: Some builders or developers offers or promise list of amenities for apartment you are buying such as playground, lift, swimming pool etc. After completion of construction, buyers or investors find that builder has not provided all amenities as per promised or agreed. Check your agreement to see the list of amenities and make sure each one is provided as per specification.

• Doors and windows: Ensure your apartment is provided with required doors and windows for proper ventilation in all rooms, including bathroom and kitchen. Improper ventilation can cause numerous problems in future. Ensure all the sliding door/windows work smoothly.

• Wall Painting: Wall painting need to be checked before taking possession of home or flat from the builder or developer. Some builders or developers provide single coat wall painting in some rooms instead of double coat. Check if all walls have double coat. Exterior painting should be complete along with window and balcony grills.

• Cracks on the wall: Look for cracks in the foundation, ceilings and walls, which indicate movement of the structure caused by settling, soil expansion. Check for cracks on the walls, especially between electrical sockets.

• Drainage outlets: This one of important thing you need to check before taking the possession of flat or home. Clogged outlets are a menace if not done before you move in. Water collects in bathrooms, kitchen and balconies and creates a mess. Check if all Drainage outlets such as balcony, bathroom, kitchen, utility, etc. are working and not clogged.

• Check for Leakages: Check for all bathroom fittings are as per specification. Check the working of taps and bathroom fittings. Ensure there is no leakage when opening or switch on taps. Make sure granite platform in kitchen is not leaking. Pour bucket of water on granite platform and observe for any leakage below it. Check hot and cold mixer. Also check for water flow from kitchen, bedrooms, and hall. Slope should be towards bathrooms or terrace. Make sure water is completely draining out and not accumulating at one place. Observe if any leakages are seen in your bathroom. These leakages can cause major headaches later.

• Check switches and plug-points: Make sure that all the sockets, plugs, bulb holder are connected to mail supply. Also check if main fuse in the house is controlling complete current supply. If you have an inverter, ensure the supply shift to the inverter if the main switch is switched off. Check if all switches and plug-points are working. Check if the extra electrical sockets/switches you had asked for are provided as per requirement.

• Measure size of room: Some builder or developer divert from sanction planned resulting reduction in size of room and bathroom. Ensure that all rooms are provided enough space by Measure hall, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom sizes.

• Safety measures: Ensure that your building is constructed according to safety rules provided by fire department and National building code. Check if your gas leak detector is working by burning a piece of paper and allowing the smoke to fill the kitchen.

• Possession letter: If your building or apartment is provided with all amenities, size of rooms as per approved and you have checked all things in your apartment, it is time for taking possession of your flat or home. While taking possession of flat or home, ensure that you have receive all documents from the builder. Possession letter, Blue print, No Objection Certificate, Development agreement, power of attorney, Commencement Certificate, Search Report of the Builder’s Advocate, Receipts of payments made to the builder, Letter of allotment etc are some of important documents required from builder or developer during possession of apartment.