Most people are aware how a Registration Certificate is important for a vehicle. We often ensure that the ‘book and paper’ of the vehicle are in order, lest we get into trouble during routine police checking. The Registration Certificate or the ‘book’ is an important document that contains all the information about the vehicle and its ownership. Moreover, RC should be strictly produced in cases related to the Motor Vehicle Act. The Occupancy Certificate is as important to a building as a Registration Certificate is to a vehicle. However, common people do not seem to understand the significance of OC.
As per the Kerala Building Rules that came into existence in all panchayats on June 6, 2007, the building permit should be acquired before starting the construction. It is the responsibility of the owner to acquire the Occupancy Certificate by submitting the completion certificate along with the detailed plan of the building at the local governing bodies.
It must be noted that the Occupancy Certificate is also called the usage certificate. So, a building that isn’t in use may not get the Occupancy Certificate. A building would be allotted a unique number and impose tax only on the basis of OC. Meanwhile, the building number has no significance other than being just an identity number.
The details of the building would be in the Occupancy Certificate while the number of floors, the area of each floor, types of building (trade/ business/ residence, etc) and the distance from the road would be included in the completion drawing that is attached to the OC. The building number may change with time; besides, there may be more than one door number in a building. While determining the tax for the door numbers, it is likely that the area of the common spaces isn’t considered.
Occupancy Certificate is essential to claim insurance (especially from insurance companies) in case of damage to the building or complete destruction. Moreover, in case there is a dispute with the local governing bodies regarding the area of your building, you could use the Occupancy Certificate and the completion drawing to prove your claim, as OC is a conclusive document issued by the local governing body, certifying the actual area of your building.
The owner should make sure to acquire the Occupancy Certificate as soon as the construction is over as it might come in handy in case of any legal issue.
It must be noted that buildings that have tax exemptions too require Occupancy Certificate.
(Jubeesh Velayudhan is an overseer in the engineering department of Local Self Government department)
