It is an important matter for new apartment owners and residents, when builders/developers hand over the property to the registered RWA/owners association/housing society, and this process should be handled with attentive diligence. Once the formal handover process is completed, the responsibility is entirely on the association to run the society affairs and to ensure its smooth functioning. It is recommended for the association members to be regularly engaged with the builders, as they can assist with the right maintenance solution that will help them to take care of the property in the future.

Every housing society has some common areas and as per the RERA (Real Estate Regulation and Development Act) the builder is accountable for giving basic society maintenance services to the residents; with doable charges billed to the residents.

This is probably the most important point as once the builder has done the handover to the society, any future compliances of the building will fall under the society’s responsibility.

Two most important papers to be collected in the handover process are;

1. Occupancy certificates, is a proof from the builder that the building is completed as per the approved plan and government compliances. If the builder is unable to provide you with these certificates, then either the building laws are violated or deviated from the original construction plans.
2. No Objection Certificate (NOC), is issued where there is no objection to the covenants of the certificate. A builder has to compulsory submit a NOC from the fire safety, water, and pollution departments to the RWA (Residents Welfare Association). Let’s look at the fair handover checklist that needs to be covered as well in this process;

1. Original registration document
2. Architectural and Structural Drawings (Electrical wiring, water piping, Drainage, sewage, Fire protection and common area etc.)
3. No Objection certificates from pollution, fire, water and electricity authorities
4. Property Insurance details
5. Car parking allocation record
6. AMC Documents (Lift, Generator, Transformer, etc.)
7. Invoices and Warranties (Pumps, Generator, Transformer, Pool and Gym Equipment, Lift, etc.)
8. Vendor details of STP/WTP
9. Asset Inventory of all equipment purchased
10. Maintenance schedule for all the assets
11. List of amenities offered

Once the documents are rightfully handover to the association, the next important step is the formation of the society.

Some of the most important aspects while assembling a society is;

• Formation of the management committee
• Creation of residential manual
• Maintenance charges
• Asset & Amenities
• Getting the right Facility Management System

The administration is an important part of the society management process involving responsibility for the effective planning, guidance, and regulation of a community, in the fulfilment of a given task. To regulate any society forming a fitting management committee is crucial. The management committee takes the responsibility of managing all the affairs of the society and managing people systematically. The management committee takes needed actions and handles matters smoothly within the community.

Usually, there is a certain maintenance charge remains by the developers during the time of a handover. Once the Management Committee is formed, they can formulate their own set of maintenance charges. Maintenance charges are critical as they are applicable for everything that is required for the society’s maintenance and safety for example lobbies, elevators, gardens, parking areas, centralized services like electricity, air conditioning, and more.

Builders transfer the utility connections such as electricity and water connections to the RWA during the handover of the amenities. It is then the responsibility of the RWA to ensure all the equipment’s supplied by the builder such as Generators, STPs, Pool, fire fighting systems, etc. are in proper working condition

The Resident Manual is basically a comprehensive set of guidelines that all the residents of the building must follow going forward. This is generally created over a few months with the inputs of all the residents. This principally includes the maintenance charges, payments process, funds allocation, clubhouse management, timings for external vendors to work, parking rules, etc. This manual would be handed over to anyone that moves into the building and shall govern the process and systems that all the residents must follow.

Apartment maintenance plays a key role, keeping residential facilities safe, habitable, and enjoyable. And facility management system helps apartments RWA, ideally channelled by facility managers, managing residential buildings and units creatively and with flexibility. It uses technology to serve and support the residents by taking care of the properties, assets, amenities, and maintenance requests on time and appropriately.

A facility management solution like Ohhpro Junction gets everything on a digitized, automated system. It enables the apartment society to plan, review, execute, control, and monitor tasks precisely and improve efficiency.

It is a futuristic solution, befitting hundreds of apartment properties (with apartment maintenance, assets, amenities, AMCs etc.), builders, society facility managers for long-lasting maintenance of the society.