Flat handover: what to check before you pay the balance
By Bdproperty Editorial Team · Updated:
Handover is the last point at which you have leverage, because the final payment is usually still outstanding. Before you accept keys, confirm the flat matches the agreement in area and specification, that gas, water, electricity and lift are actually connected and working rather than promised, that the parking bay is the one allocated to you in writing, and that the deed is ready to register in your name. Anything unresolved at handover tends to stay unresolved.
Does the flat match the agreement?
Measure the carpet area against what the agreement specifies and ask how the quoted figure was calculated — a saleable area including a share of common space is not the same as what you can use. Check the specification list item by item: fittings, flooring, doors and windows are where substitutions appear.
Are the utilities actually connected?
Gas, water, electricity, lift and generator, tested on the day rather than described. A titas gas connection in particular can take far longer than a developer suggests, and moving in without one is a materially different proposition from what you agreed to buy.
What about parking and common areas?
Confirm the parking bay is allocated to your flat in writing and that it is the bay you were shown. Walk the common areas — stairs, roof, generator room, water reservoir — and check the fire exits are exits rather than storage.
Is the paperwork ready?
The deed should be ready to execute and register in your name, and the building's approval should match what stands. If registration is to follow handover, get the date in writing, because possession without a registered deed is not ownership.
Common questions
Should I pay the final instalment before or after handover?
Keep something outstanding until the checks are done. The final payment is the only leverage you have to get defects fixed, and it is very hard to get attention afterwards.
What if the flat is smaller than the agreement says?
Raise it before accepting handover and ask how the area was calculated. The gap is often the difference between saleable and carpet area, which should have been defined in the agreement — if it was not, that is worth taking advice on.
Is possession the same as ownership?
No. Ownership passes on execution and registration of the deed. Holding keys to a flat whose deed has not been registered in your name leaves you exposed.
Sources: Real Estate Development and Management Act 2010 · rajukdhaka.gov.bd. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects a transaction with your Sub-Registrar or AC (Land) office.