Possession Handover Checklist 2026 — 42 Snagging Items Before Taking Apartment Keys

Before any inspection, ask for and physically receive a copy of the Occupancy Certificate issued by the local municipal authority. Verify the OC number, date of issue, and that it covers your specific tower and floor. Possession without an OC is legally risky and must be refused.

Confirm that the Sale Deed has been signed and registered at the Sub-Registrar Office. The registered Sale Deed is your title document. An Agreement for Sale alone is not ownership — registration is mandatory under Section 17 of the Registration Act.

Read the possession letter draft carefully before signing. Watch for clauses that waive your rights under RERA Section 14(3) or that say you are accepting the unit "as is". Insist on the right to annex a defect list. The handover letter must mention the actual date of possession — not a backdated one.

Ask for a written schedule of when common-area amenities (lift, generator, STP, club, pool, gym, garden) will be commissioned and handed over to the Apartment Owners Association. Common-area defects fall within RERA Section 14(3) just like in-flat defects.

RERA mandates that the Apartment Owners Association be formed within 3 months of more than 50% of units being booked. Ask the builder for the AOA formation timeline in writing. AOA formation is the legal mechanism through which common areas, maintenance corpus, and statutory accounts pass from the builder to the residents.

Inspect every wall surface in good light. Hairline shrinkage cracks (under 1 mm) are normal for new construction and are usually plaster, not structural. Cracks above 2 mm, diagonal cracks, or cracks running across walls and ceilings are structural and must be flagged. Photograph with a scale.

Place a small ball or marble on the floor in each room. It should not roll continuously in one direction. A slope of more than 6 mm across a 3 m span indicates a level defect that will trap water during mopping and warp wooden furniture.

Check every tile in floors and walls. Gaps wider than 2 mm, chipped corners, hollow tiles (tap and listen for a drum sound — indicates poor bedding), and lippage above 1 mm between adjacent tiles should be flagged. Hollow tiles will pop out within 2 years.

For premium projects, check that marble and granite surfaces have uniform polish, no etching, and no chemical stains. Patches of dull surface or visible cement residue between slabs are workmanship defects that should be rectified before handover.

Measure the parapet wall height on every balcony and terrace. National Building Code of India mandates a minimum 1.05 m parapet height for safety. A shorter parapet is a code violation and a serious safety risk — especially with children. Insist on rectification before signing.

Look at every visible beam soffit and column. Diagonal cracks, cracks at beam-column junctions, or rust staining (indicates corroding rebar inside) are serious structural warnings. These cannot be patched — they need structural remediation. Photograph and demand a structural engineer's certificate.

A handheld moisture meter (rentable, or buy for ₹1,500) gives a quantitative reading. Readings above 16% on internal walls in dry weather indicate active dampness. Common dampness points: external walls behind the kitchen sink, balcony walls, walls shared with bathrooms.

Pour a 5-litre bucket of water on the balcony floor near the wall furthest from the drain. Water should flow toward and exit through the drain within 60 seconds, with no standing puddles. Standing water on a balcony will eventually leak into the flat below — a Section 14(3) defect.

Open every tap (kitchen, bathrooms, balcony, utility) for at least 30 seconds. Pressure should be steady, not dribbling or sputtering. Air sputtering indicates trapped air in the line; weak flow indicates a partial blockage or undersized pipe. Both are pre-handover defects.

If geysers are part of the agreement, switch each one on, wait 10 minutes, and confirm hot water reaches the connected outlets. Check that the geyser body is properly earthed (no shock at the casing). Note the brand and model on the handover document.

A common workmanship error is swapped hot and cold supply lines. Open the hot tap and the cold tap on the same outlet — the labelled side must match. Swapped lines on shower mixers are dangerous and need rerouting, not just relabelling.

Pour 5 litres of water into every floor drain and basin drain. Water should clear within 30 seconds with no gurgling. Slow drainage indicates a blockage or undersized trap. Test the kitchen sink with the dishwasher and washing machine connections too, if applicable.

Flush each toilet at least 3 times. Check that the cistern refills within 90 seconds, the flush clears the bowl in one push, and there is no continuous water trickle after the cistern fills. A continuously running flush will inflate your water bill.

Open the cabinet under every sink (kitchen and bathroom). Run the tap for 60 seconds and then check the trap, P-bend, and supply connections with a tissue. Any moisture on the tissue is a leak. Slow leaks inside cabinets cause silent damage that emerges 6 to 12 months after possession.

Carry a phone charger and a small plug-in tester. Operate every switch, plug into every socket, and confirm live, neutral, and earth pins are correctly wired. A mis-wired socket can damage appliances and is a serious shock hazard.

Open the distribution board (DB) and verify MCB ratings: 6 A or 10 A for lighting circuits, 16 A or 20 A for general power and AC circuits, 16 A for geyser circuits. Undersized MCBs trip nuisance-frequently; oversized MCBs fail to protect the wiring from overload. Both are defects.

Use a plug-in socket tester (₹400 on Amazon) on every socket. The tester's three lights confirm correct live, neutral, and earth wiring. A missing earth is the single most dangerous wiring defect — your appliance metal bodies will be at mains voltage during a fault.

Test the intercom by calling the security gate from the apartment handset and vice versa. Verify call clarity, ringer volume, and that the video display (if applicable) shows the gate camera. A non-functional intercom is a security and convenience defect.

Press the doorbell from outside the main door. Confirm it rings inside the flat at audible volume. Wireless doorbells should have working batteries documented. Wired doorbells should be on the apartment circuit, not requiring a separate switch.

AC points are 16 A or 20 A 3-pin sockets. If no AC is installed, plug a phone charger into each AC point to verify live mains. Confirm the AC point is on its own dedicated circuit (single-room MCB) so that AC current does not trip lighting circuits.

Test every door lock with both keys. Key should turn smoothly, latch should engage without forcing, and the door should close fully against the frame without rubbing. Stiff locks on a new flat will only get worse — get them adjusted or replaced before handover.

Open each door to 45 degrees and let go. A correctly hung door stays at the angle you left it. A door that swings open or closed on its own has out-of-plumb hinges, which strain the latch and wear out the hinges within months.

Open and close every sliding window through its full travel. Movement should be smooth with no scraping, no gaps at the closed position, and the locking latch should engage easily. Grit in the bottom track or warped tracks should be cleaned or rectified now.

If mosquito mesh on windows is part of the agreement, inspect every panel for tears, gaps at the frame, and proper tension. Even a 5 mm gap defeats the entire mesh. Note any missing meshes in the defect annexure.

The main entry door should have a working peephole at standard height (around 1.5 m). Look through both directions: the outside view should be wide-angle and clear, and the inside should not be visible from outside. A missing or scratched peephole is a security defect.

If grills are part of the agreement, check the welding quality, paint finish, and clearance from the parapet. Grills should be flush with the parapet, not standing proud. Loose welds or visible rust at welds will fail within 2 monsoons.

If chimney is part of the agreement, switch it on at every speed, confirm the duct vents externally (not into the false ceiling), and verify the lights work. The chimney brand and model should match the agreement specifications.

Open and close every drawer and shutter in the modular kitchen. Gaps should be uniform (3 mm tolerance), soft-close mechanism should function (if specified), and handles should be flush. Misaligned shutters look cheap and indicate poor installation.

For furnished or semi-furnished units, inspect every wardrobe: shutter alignment, drawer travel, hanging-rod stability, and internal finish. Particle-board panels with raw cut edges (instead of edge-banded) are a workmanship defect.

Check that the mirror is installed plumb, with no cracks at corners (mounting stress fractures), and properly sealed at the back if installed against a wet wall. Loose mirrors are dangerous and need rectification before handover.

Pull firmly on every wall-mounted bath fitting (towel rod, soap dish, shelf, grab rail). Anything that wobbles is poorly anchored and will pull out within months. Anchor through tiles into the masonry behind, not into the tile alone.

Take every lift in your tower from the lowest to the highest floor. Note any unusual noises, jerks at start or stop, level mismatch at floors (above 10 mm step is a tripping hazard), and that the overload alarm works. Demand the most recent lift inspection certificate.

Walk every staircase from your floor to the ground floor. Emergency lights should be installed at landings and should illuminate when mains power is cut. Test a few by switching off the staircase light and waiting for the emergency unit to activate.

Ask the security team to briefly cut mains power (or do it at the DB). Generator backup should kick in within 30 seconds. Confirm which load is on backup (lights, fans, lift, water pump) — if your AC sockets are not on backup, plan for an inverter.

Ask to physically see the overhead and underground water tanks. Confirm the tanks are clean, properly covered, and that the float switch is operational. A poorly maintained tank is the source of every water-quality complaint you will hear over the next 3 years.

Physically walk to your allotted parking spot. The spot number should match your Sale Deed, the dimensions should match the agreement (minimum 2.5 m by 5 m for a car), and access should not be obstructed by columns. Take photographs with the spot number visible.

Visit every committed amenity. Equipment installed and functional? Pool filled, chlorinated, and lifeguard arrangements documented? Club furniture in place? Any amenity not ready on possession day is a deferred deliverable and must be annexed to the handover letter with a written rectification date.