Kolkata Municipal Corporation is planning to introduce occupation certificates for new buildings, which will be a proof that the structures are ready for living with drainage and water supply lines connected to the civic networks, officials said.
The KMC now issues a completion certificate once the construction of a building is over. The document does not certify the building is fit for living.
According to the plan, which officials said would help buyers, the completion certificate will be considered as an occupation certificate once the drainage and water supply connections of the building are established.
“At present, only a completion certificate (CC) is issued. It is given after the construction of a building is complete and the KMC is satisfied that the approved building plan has been adhered to. The CC does not state that the building is fit for occupation,” a KMC official said.
Drainage and water supply lines on a premises are connected to the civic networks after the CC is issued.
“In the system that is being planned, a CC will be treated as an occupation certificate only when drainage and water supply connections have been provided and the building is considered fit for living,” the official said.
“The CC will be issued after the builder pays for the drainage and water supply connections. It will be mentioned on the certificate that the payments for the services have been made.”
Buyers often move into a new flat, based on the completion certificate, without knowing that the drainage or water supply connections are not yet ready.
This happens because the completion certificate is issued after the KMC ascertains that the construction of the building has not deviated from the approved plan.
The builder is responsible for setting up the drainage and water supply connections inside a building, but the external connections — linking the pipes on the premises with the civic networks — are provided by the KMC.
The civic body provides the service only after the builder pays certain fees.
In the current practice, the builder applies for the external connections and pays the fees after the completion certificate is obtained.
“As a result, the builder often hands the CC to buyers and leaves without doing the needful for providing the water and drainage connections,” said the KMC official.
According to the proposed plan, the fees will be collected before the CC is issued.
Officials said that once the builder pays the fees, he will insist on getting the work done and keep prodding the KMC to provide the connections.
“Since the builder has paid the money, he will not want his reputation to be tarnished. He will ensure that the water and drainage connections are provided before buyers move in. He can hand these documents to the buyers,” the official said.
Since it will be written on the completion certificate that the document will be considered as the occupancy certificate after water and drainage connections have been provided, buyers are expected to ask the builder for documents to prove that water and drainage connections are ready.