Building, renovating or doing up a home in Pune

• Renovating a flat you own: read "Renovating a flat in Pune" for what your society and the city need from you, then the costs below.
• Doing up a new flat: check the building's occupancy certificate (OC) before you take possession or start interiors.
• Building a house: your plans need approval before any work on site, filed by a registered architect.

Housing societies in Pune follow Maharashtra's model bye-laws: structural changes need the local authority's prior permission and supervision by a structural engineer, and your society's managing committee gives a conditional NOC for non-structural work. We found no official PMC list of repairs that need no permission (Mumbai has one, under section 342 of the MMC Act), so get PMC's advice and a structural engineer's certificate before removing any wall.

• Don't enclose terraces or balconies. In July 2026 the Bombay High Court ordered illegal terrace enclosures removed in a Panvel case, and asked the state to frame rules on which alterations need permission, due by January 2027.
• Debris must go to PMC's authorised construction-waste plant. PMC fines ₹25,000 per truckload dumped illegally.
• Working hours, deposits and lift use are set by your society; ask for them in writing with the NOC.

Check the occupancy certificate (OC) before possession. MahaRERA held in December 2025 that "fit-out possession" without an OC is not valid possession. PMRDA issues OCs online, so the builder can give you the reference.

• Which authority: PMC for Pune city, PCMC for Pimpri-Chinchwad, PMRDA for the wider region. The 23 villages merged into Pune moved from PMRDA to PMC in February 2026.
• All three follow the Unified DCPR (UDCPR 2020). Small residential plots get a simplified route; sources disagree on the exact threshold, so check the notified text with your architect.
• PMC runs online building permission, piloting a faster system in Baner and Kothrud from July 2026, and no longer needs a separate non-agricultural (NA) permission from the Collector.

• Water: PMC moved to alternate-day supply in June 2026 and stops supply every Thursday since October 2026. Many fringe societies (Undri, Mohammadwadi, NIBM) rely on tankers; plan curing and wet work around it.
• Old wadas: PMC surveys dangerous structures before each monsoon and declared 32 wadas dangerous in 2026. Get a structural check before renovating an old building.
• Rain: far less than Mumbai (about 490 mm June to August), but years vary a lot: July 2026 was the wettest July in 119 years.
• Seismic zone III, under the 2016 code.