Official-Records Checklist for an Under-Construction Flat

You've picked out a flat from a scale model and a floor plan. The tower it belongs to is currently a foundation pit with rebar sticking out of it. And you're being asked to wire a booking amount today, with the promise of possession three years from now. This is the reality of buying an under-construction (UC) flat, and it's a fundamentally different diligence exercise from buying something you can walk through and inspect.

For a resale flat, you're checking documents that describe something that already exists — a completed building with an Occupancy Certificate, a settled ownership history, dues you can confirm are paid. For a UC flat, several of those documents simply don't exist yet, because the building doesn't exist yet. What you have instead is a bundle of live, regulatory records — RERA registration, sanctioned plans, a commencement certificate, and periodic progress reports — that tell you what's been approved and where construction currently stands. This article is a checklist of exactly those records, where to find each one, and why noting the date on each matters. DrawMagic is an information platform here to help you organize what you find — not a broker, lawyer, or guarantor of any project's completion.

Why UC Diligence Is RERA- and Approvals-Centric

The single biggest structural protection introduced for UC buyers in India is the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA), which requires most real estate projects to register with a state regulatory authority before advertising, marketing, or accepting bookings. Once registered, projects are legally required to disclose specific information — sanctioned plans, promoter details, timelines, and periodic progress — on the state RERA authority's public portal. That portal, not a builder's brochure, is where a UC buyer's diligence should start.

Two documents that matter enormously for a resale flat — the Occupancy Certificate and the Completion Certificate — simply do not exist for a UC project, by definition, since the building isn't finished. So the checklist below substitutes the live, in-progress records that stand in for them until completion.

Step-by-Step: Reading the Live Records

1. Open the project's page on the state RERA portal

Every state runs its own RERA authority and portal — MahaRERA for Maharashtra, K-RERA for Karnataka, UP-RERA for Uttar Pradesh, TS-RERA for Telangana, and equivalents elsewhere. Search for the project by its registered RERA number (which should appear in every advertisement and brochure for the project) and open its public listing yourself, rather than relying on a builder's printout.

2. Check the registration status and validity

The RERA page shows the registration number, the registration date, and the projected completion date declared at registration. Read this as a public, statutory fact as of the date you check it — RERA registrations and their declared timelines can be updated by the promoter through amendments, so note the date you pulled this information.

3. Read the approved/sanctioned building plan

The plans filed with and approved by the local development authority are what the promoter is legally permitted to build. This is the reference point for confirming that what's being marketed to you (unit layout, tower height, amenities) matches what's actually sanctioned — a mismatch between brochure renderings and the sanctioned plan is worth raising with your lawyer, not something to assume is a minor rounding.

4. Confirm the commencement certificate (CC)

The commencement certificate is the local authority's formal permission to start construction, issued after the building plan is sanctioned. Before you book, it's worth confirming a CC exists for the specific phase/tower your flat is in — some large projects launch phases at different times, and not every phase may have started construction with the same approvals in hand.

5. Check the RERA-declared carpet area

RERA requires promoters to sell based on defined carpet area, not the older loosely-used "super built-up area" convention. The declared carpet area on the RERA listing is the reference figure — cross-check it against what your Agreement for Sale (and any brochure) states for the same unit, using a carpet-area calculator if it helps to work through the numbers.

6. Read the latest Quarterly Progress Report (QPR)

RERA-registered projects are required to submit periodic (commonly quarterly) progress updates to the state authority, showing construction status against the declared timeline. Read the latest QPR on the portal, note its reporting date, and note the declared percentage of completion as of that date — this is a public disclosure, not marketing material, and it's the closest thing to an independent snapshot of where the project actually stands.

7. Cross-check the Agreement for Sale against the RERA data

Once you've paid roughly 10% of the price, builders are required to execute a registered Agreement for Sale. Read the possession date stated in this agreement against the completion date declared on the RERA listing — the two should be consistent, and any material difference is worth clarifying before you sign.

The Under-Construction Checklist at a Glance

Statutory Points to Know

RERA also requires promoters to keep a defined proportion — commonly discussed as around 70% — of amounts collected from buyers for a project in a separate escrow-like account, to be used only for the construction and land costs of that specific project, under Section 4 of the Act. This is a public statutory requirement, worth knowing as context for why the RERA account structure exists, though the exact operational details are a matter for the promoter's compliance and the regulator's oversight — not something DrawMagic verifies or certifies on your behalf.

State RERA portals to check directly, depending on where you're buying: MahaRERA (Maharashtra), K-RERA (Karnataka), UP-RERA (Uttar Pradesh, including Noida and Greater Noida), and TS-RERA (Telangana, including Hyderabad). Each portal's exact layout differs, but all are required to disclose the same categories of registration, approval, and progress information.

A Noida Buyer's Mini Scenario

A buyer evaluating a project in Noida opens the UP-RERA portal and pulls up the latest QPR for the specific tower their flat is in. The report, dated for the most recent quarter, states a certain percentage of structural work complete as of that date. Rather than taking the sales team's verbal "we're on track" at face value, the buyer notes down the QPR's stated percentage and its reporting date in their own records, and plans to check the next quarter's QPR after it's filed to see whether progress between quarters looks consistent with the declared completion date. This kind of quarter-over-quarter tracking, using a public disclosure rather than a sales pitch, is a reasonable way to form your own picture over time.

UC-Specific Traps to Watch For

• Brochure renderings vs. sanctioned plan. Marketing visuals sometimes show amenities or configurations that differ from what's actually filed and approved — cross-check the two.
• Revised completion dates. A project's originally declared RERA completion date can be amended over time; always check the current listing rather than an old brochure date.
• Carpet-area changes between booking and agreement. The number quoted verbally at booking should match what's declared on RERA and stated in your registered Agreement for Sale.
• Missing CC for a specific phase. In multi-phase projects, confirm the commencement certificate covers the specific tower/phase your unit is in, not just the project generally.

Pro Tips

1. Bookmark the project's RERA page and revisit it each quarter to track new QPRs as they're filed.
2. Read the sanctioned plan yourself rather than relying only on the brochure's floor plan graphics.
3. Cross-check the carpet area at every stage — booking, Agreement for Sale, and RERA listing — using a carpet-area calculator.
4. Note the exact possession date in your Agreement for Sale and compare it to the RERA-declared completion date.
5. Keep a simple dated log each quarter of the QPR's stated completion percentage — a pattern of stalled progress across a few reports is more informative than any single one.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Relying only on the builder's brochure instead of opening the project's actual RERA listing yourself.
2. Not checking whether the CC covers the specific tower/phase of your unit.
3. Skipping the QPRs entirely and only checking the registration date once, at booking time.
4. Not comparing the Agreement for Sale's possession date against the current RERA-declared completion date before signing.

Organizing Your UC Checklist in One Place

Reading a RERA listing, sanctioned plan, and QPR is free, and you can do it yourself in minutes on the relevant state portal. What DrawMagic adds is a private place to keep track of what you found: start your private buyer workspace at /buyer/dream-home and use the voice-first companion to build your UC checklist — RERA number, CC status, latest QPR date and percentage, and the possession date in your agreement — all in one place you control. The evolving /buyer/intelligence workspace (shipping soon) is being designed specifically to help buyers keep RERA facts and their as-of dates organized across a multi-year construction timeline. Cross-check your unit's carpet area with the carpet-area calculator, and see DrawMagic's buyer resources for related reads on RERA registration and QPR tracking.

Because a UC checklist often includes financial commitments and personal notes over a multi-year period, it's fair to expect that data stays private. Per Deloitte India's summary of the DPDP Rules 2025, Indian law now requires consent before personal data is shared with third parties, with penalties of up to ₹250 crore for serious violations (Deloitte India, 2025). DrawMagic follows that same consent-first principle for whatever you choose to record. Read more on DrawMagic's responsible-AI page.

Key Takeaways

• UC diligence centers on RERA registration and approvals, since completion documents like the OC don't exist until the building is finished.
• Always open the project's page on the relevant state RERA portal yourself, rather than relying on a builder's printout.
• Confirm the commencement certificate covers the specific tower/phase your unit belongs to.
• Cross-check the RERA-declared carpet area against your Agreement for Sale and any brochure figures.
• Read the latest Quarterly Progress Report and note both its stated completion percentage and its reporting date.
• Compare the possession date in your registered Agreement for Sale against the current RERA-declared completion date.
• RERA's Section 4 escrow-style account requirement is a statutory protection worth understanding, though its operation is a matter for the promoter and regulator, not something DrawMagic certifies.
• Tracking QPRs quarter over quarter gives a more informative picture than checking the RERA listing only once at booking.
• Keeping your own dated UC checklist is free, and DrawMagic keeps that checklist private to you.

FAQ

Does a RERA registration guarantee the project will be completed on time? No. RERA registration and its associated disclosure requirements are meant to increase transparency and accountability, but they are not a guarantee of a specific completion date. Reading the QPRs over time gives you an ongoing, evidence-based picture rather than a one-time assurance.

What if the project isn't listed on the state RERA portal at all? Most residential projects above certain size thresholds are required to register under RERA before marketing or accepting bookings — an absence of a RERA listing for an actively marketed project is worth raising directly with your lawyer before proceeding.

Can DrawMagic confirm whether a specific project is progressing normally? No. DrawMagic is a software and information platform, not a certifying authority. We help you organize the public facts you gather from the RERA portal and your agreement so you can track them over time and discuss them with your own advisors.

Ready to start tracking your UC project's RERA facts and QPRs in one private place? Start your buyer workspace at /buyer/dream-home, and review how your data is handled on DrawMagic's responsible-AI page.