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Flat Inspection Checklist

What to actually check on a site visit, beyond the sample flat.

Free, no sign-up. 7 sections, 45 checks. Edit it to fit your own transaction.

A site visit is arranged to sell you something. The sample flat has better fittings than the one you will get, the visit is booked for a dry weekday morning, and the marketing plan shows a super built-up number that has no bearing on the space you can furnish. A written list is the correction: it makes you ask the same questions at the fourth project as at the first, when enthusiasm has worn off and the differences finally show.

Take a measuring tape, a phone torch and a plug-in phone charger. The things that decide whether you regret a purchase are unglamorous — where water comes from, where it goes in the monsoon, what the maintenance actually costs, and whether the approvals exist.

The template — this is exactly what you download

Before the visit

Twenty minutes online changes what you notice on site.

Find the project on your state RERA portal and note the registration number
Check the promoter name on RERA matches the name on the brochure and the booking form
Read the RERA-declared completion date, not the one the sales team quotes
Look at the approved plan on the portal and compare it with the marketing layout
Search the promoter name with "complaint", "RERA order" and "delay"
Visit the locality once at peak hour and once after dark, separately from the sales visit

Area: the number that matters

Carpet area is the only one RERA requires to be stated. Everything else is marketing.

Ask for carpet area in writing, in square feet and square metres
Measure two rooms yourself and check they match the plan you were given
Ask what the super built-up figure includes, and what loading percentage it implies
Confirm balcony, utility and terrace areas are stated separately, not folded in
Check whether the price quoted is per square foot of carpet or of super built-up
Get the same figures on the cost sheet as on the plan, with no third version

Water, drainage and the monsoon

The most expensive problems in Indian buildings are water problems.

Source of water: corporation supply, borewell, tanker, or a mix, and the hours it runs
Overhead and underground tank capacity, and how many days it covers if supply stops
Seepage stains at ceiling corners, below windows and along the bathroom wall line
Fresh paint on one patch only, or a wardrobe pushed flat against a single wall
Ask what the basement and approach road looked like in the last heavy monsoon
Storm water drains present, and where the ground slopes when it fills
Sewage: connected to the municipal line or to an STP the society must run and fund

Power, lifts and backup

Sanctioned electrical load for the flat, and whether it covers an AC in each bedroom
DG backup: full, partial or lift-and-lights only, and what it costs per unit
Number of lifts per tower and per floor, and whether one is a service lift
Lift on DG backup, and what happens on a power cut at the top floor
Plug a charger into sockets in each room and check they are live and positioned sensibly
Provision for inverter wiring, and where the battery would sit

Parking, common areas and the society

Parking: covered or open, allotted in writing, and whether it is sold separately
Drive the ramp and turn into the actual bay — many are unusable for a mid-size car
Visitor parking marked and real, not a marked strip already full of resident cars
Monthly maintenance per square foot, and what it is expected to be after handover
Corpus or sinking fund demanded at possession, and what it is for
Whether the society is formed, and if not, who runs it and until when
Amenities promised in the brochure that are built, versus phase-two promises

Papers to ask for on the visit

A sales office that will not show these on a second visit is answering the question.

RERA registration certificate for the project
Approved building plan and the layout sanction
Commencement certificate, and occupancy certificate if the building is complete
Title documents or the title search report the bank relied on
Encumbrance certificate for the land
The standard allotment letter and agreement for sale, to read at home before paying
Latest property tax receipt and, for resale, the khata or equivalent record

For a resale flat, additionally

Age of the building, and the last time the external walls were waterproofed
Outstanding maintenance dues, and a no-dues certificate from the society
Whether an existing home loan is on the flat, and which bank holds the papers
Society NOC for transfer, and what the society charges for it
Chain of previous sale deeds, and whether any transfer was by power of attorney
Who the electricity and water connections are in the name of

Check this locally. This template is a general starting point, not legal or tax advice. Stamp duty, registration charges, tax thresholds and notice periods are set by each state and change from year to year, so no rate or limit is stated here. Confirm the current position with the sub-registrar for the property, your state revenue portal or a qualified professional before you sign, pay or serve anything.

Score rows, do not tick them

Mark each row "fine", "check again" or "priced in" rather than ticking it. A week later a tick tells you nothing, and by the fourth project every flat has blurred into the others. "Priced in" is the most useful of the three: it records that you saw a problem and decided what it was worth.

Visit twice, and once unannounced

Every site visit is arranged for when the project looks its best. Go back on a weekday evening, in the rain if you can, and walk the approach road and the basement yourself. Water, parking, noise and lift queues only exist at particular hours, and the sales visit is scheduled to avoid all of them.

What a checklist cannot do

This gets you to the point of paying for proper advice, and no further. A lawyer's title search and, for a resale or an older building, a structural inspection are separate jobs. The purpose here is to decide which one property is worth spending that money on.

Common questions

What is the difference between carpet area and super built-up area?

Carpet area is the usable floor area inside the walls of the flat. Super built-up adds a share of common areas — lobbies, staircases, lifts — using a loading percentage the promoter chooses. RERA requires carpet area to be stated, which is why it is the only figure worth comparing between two projects. A price per square foot is meaningless until you know which area it is divided by.

The project is registered on RERA. Is that enough?

No. Registration means the promoter filed the project and its declared timeline; it is not an approval of the title, the construction quality or the promoter. It is useful because it gives you the declared completion date, the approved plan and the promoter’s other projects in one place — all of which you should read rather than assume.

Can I ask for the occupancy certificate before possession?

You can and should ask whether it has been applied for and where it stands. Taking possession of a building without one leaves you in a flat that is not formally certified fit for occupation, which affects connections, resale and any dispute later. If it is not available, get in writing when it is expected and what happens if it does not arrive.

Related templates

Site visits, builder questions, home loan papers, allotment and registration.

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