Occupation and Completion Certificates in Haryana: What to Check Before You Take Possession

Two certificates sit behind every safe handover: the completion certificate (CC) and the occupation certificate (OC). Buyers often treat them as interchangeable and assume that a builder who shows an OC has built what was promised. Recent Haryana reporting shows why that assumption is risky. This guide explains what the documents are, how Haryana's self-certification route changed the process and what to verify yourself.

This is separate from our step-by-step guide to verifying a DTCP licence and HRERA registration, which covers whether a project is licensed and registered at all.

OC and CC in plain terms

ThePrint describes the occupancy certificate as the document that authorises residential occupation after construction is complete, subject to compliance checks and adherence to the sanctioned plan. The completion certificate certifies that construction is complete in accordance with the approved plan. Normally the completion comes first and the occupation certificate follows. The RERA Act, 2016 puts the responsibility on the promoter to obtain the completion or occupancy certificate and make it available to allottees, so ask for it in writing.

How Haryana's process changed

ThePrint reports that Haryana's Department of Town and Country Planning introduced self-certification in November 2022, allowing registered architects to issue OCs without mandatory departmental physical inspection. The Tribune's August 2023 report confirms the November 2022 scheme date.

HRERA orders also refer to a deemed provision: Code 4.10(5) of the Haryana Building Code, 2017, under which, if no communication is received from the competent authority within 60 days of an OC application, the owner may occupy the building and the application form acts as the OC. In one order the builder was allowed to offer possession after DTCP confirmed deemed occupation. We read this through a search summary of those orders and not the Code itself, so confirm the current text and any amendments with a lawyer.

What the reporting found

• ThePrint reports that about 2,000 OCs were issued illegally between 1 July 2025 and 15 March 2026.
• In April 2026 flying-squad inspections of 22 Gurugram buildings found 14 still under construction despite holding valid OCs (ThePrint).
• Violations identified included buildings without plaster, flooring or functional kitchens and bathrooms, construction beyond the approved floor-area ratio, extra floors or units, and conversion of basement or stilt parking into living or commercial space (ThePrint).
• A Sector 61 project had its OC issued in 2024 before the CC in 2025, reversing the normal order (ThePrint).
• DTCP recommended blacklisting 15 architects for improper certificates (ThePrint).
• In August 2023 the Tribune reported over 100 illegal buildings across licensed colonies, mostly stilt-plus-four, and DTCP enforcement teams; the district town planner said many had managed to get OCs despite violations.

What this means for you

A certificate on paper is a starting point, not proof. ThePrint's account includes a Sector 102 buyer who booked in 2019, received possession in 2024 and found missing entry gates, an incomplete clubhouse, drainage, power backup and boundary walls. The certificate existed; the habitable project did not. Architects who certify compliance are typically hired by the builder, a conflict ThePrint highlights.

A practical verification checklist

• Ask for the OC and CC with their dates and issuing authority, and check the sequence. A CC dated after the OC is a flag.
• Compare the sanctioned plan with the building: number of floors, units per floor, stilt and basement use, balconies and setbacks.
• Inspect the unit and common areas yourself on handover day: finishes, lifts, fire systems, power backup, drainage, boundary and entry gates.
• For new projects, check that the project is on the HRERA Gurugram portal and compare the declared completion date, approvals and quarterly updates; see our guides to reading a RERA project page.
• For builder floors, ask whether the OC covers the specific floor and whether the fourth floor, if any, is approved in the sanctioned plan; our independent builder floors guide covers the ownership side.
• Ask DTCP or your lawyer to confirm a certificate's validity if anything looks off. The department has taken action against improper certificates.
• Do not release the final payment or accept possession on a snag list that you have not signed off.
• Check that utility connections (electricity, water, sewer) are in your project's name and not temporary construction connections.

If something is wrong

Document the defects with dated photographs, write to the promoter, and consider a complaint to HRERA if the project is registered; our guide to the HRERA complaint process sets out the steps. For a suspected improper certificate, you can also write to DTCP with your evidence.