Between possession and a functioning residents' association sits the handover: the period when a building's daily life, money and records pass from the developer to the owners. Done well, the first committee inherits a running society. Done badly, it inherits cartons of paper, a WhatsApp group at war, and a year of forensic accounting. This checklist covers what changes hands, in what condition, for both sides of the table.
Documents that must change hands
- Registered bye-laws (or the draft, if registration is in process) and society registration papers.
- Sanctioned building plans, completion and occupancy certificates.
- Flat register: every unit with carpet/built-up area, parking allocation and ownership record.
- All AMC and vendor contracts: lifts, DG sets, pumps, fire systems, security, housekeeping.
- Warranties and O&M manuals for common equipment.
- Insurance policies for the structure and common areas.
The money handover
- Corpus fund and maintenance advances collected from buyers: amount, account, statements.
- Audited accounts for the maintenance period the developer ran, with per-flat dues statements.
- Deposits held (utility, statutory) with receipts, and any pass-through liabilities.
- Opening balances the association will carry into its own books, flat by flat.
The single most common handover dispute is maintenance arrears from the possession period: which flats paid what, against which rate. If the developer's estate team billed transparently (each bill showing rate, area and period) the argument dissolves; a lump-sum register invites years of conflict.
Operational continuity
- Gate and visitor process: whatever system the guards use should transfer with its history.
- Staff records: guards, housekeeping, technicians: who employs them after handover?
- Resident roster with contact details, tenancies and vehicle records.
- Complaint and repair history: the building's medical file.
The sequence that works
- Before possession: the developer sets up the systems the society will inherit: flat register, billing configured from the draft bye-laws, gate process. Collecting maintenance transparently from day one is easier than reconstructing it later.
- During the estate period: bill monthly, publish accounts, keep dues per flat. Buyers judge the project by this period more than the brochure.
- At association formation: transfer administration, not just files: logins, registers, histories and balances move to the committee in working order.
- After: the developer retains read access for the defect-liability period; the society runs itself.
Developers launch the society on Basaira at possession: flats and areas loaded from the sales register, charges configured from the draft bye-laws, gate live from day one. The estate team runs it with management logins, every bill shows its math, and at association formation, governance transfers inside the software: the first committee inherits running books, live registers and full history, not cartons. Details for developers at basaira.com/for-developers.
Common questions
When should the association legally form?
State laws set thresholds (commonly tied to percentage of units sold or time from occupancy). The operational handover above can and should be prepared well before the legal date, so formation is a transfer, not a scramble.
Who pays for common utilities before handover?
The developer, recovered through the disclosed maintenance charges. Keeping these bills in the open ledger avoids the classic dispute at transfer.