Approvals and documents you need to build a house

Design IRL Editorial · Figures checked 7 November 2026 · For plot owners getting ready for building plan sanction · How we make our guides

Approvals are slow and a little dull, but skipping them can cost you the house. Here is what you need, in the order you usually need it.

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Start with clean title

Before any drawing, make sure the plot is legally yours and free of claims. The local authority will ask for these papers with your plan, and a bank will ask for them before a loan.

Title deed or sale deed.
Encumbrance certificate (EC), showing no loans or claims on the land.
Mutation or khata extract in your name.
Up-to-date property tax receipts.
In Tamil Nadu, also patta, chitta and adangal.

The approvals, in order

The exact list depends on your state and city, but most houses go through the same steps. Times and costs below are approximate. Add 20–30% to whatever timeline the portal promises.

Step	When it applies	Time (approx.)	Cost (approx.)
Land-use conversion or NA certificate	Agricultural land only	30–120 days	₹10,000–50,000
Building plan sanction	Every house	30–90 days, often 2–4 months	₹20,000 to ₹1 lakh
Utility NOCs: water, sewer, power	Every house; airport or heritage NOC where relevant	Varies	Varies
Fire NOC or environmental clearance	Only above size thresholds	Varies	Varies
Commencement certificate	Where the state requires it	15–45 days	₹5,000–25,000
Completion and occupancy certificates	At the end	30–60 days	₹10,000–50,000

From a cement-brand guide to approvals. Your local authority's fees may differ.

Overall, approvals usually come to about 1–3% of the project cost, or 2–5% where development charges apply. Some cement-brand estimates put plan sanction and approvals at ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh for a typical house.

City	Rough approvals allowance for budgeting
Mumbai	about ₹35 per sq ft
Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad	about ₹20 per sq ft
Bengaluru	about ₹20 per sq ft, or about ₹1 lakh minimum for G+1
Kolkata, Ahmedabad	about ₹20 per sq ft

Our planning allowances, drawn from city cost research. Your authority's actual fees may be higher or lower.

Land-use conversion

If the plot is recorded as agricultural, it must be converted for residential use before a plan can be sanctioned. This is often the slowest step, at 30 to 120 days. Check the land records before you buy, not after. Conversion fees are usually about ₹10,000 to ₹50,000, but the waiting time matters more, because nothing else can move until it is done.

Building plan sanction and bye-laws

Your architect prepares the drawings to meet local building bye-laws, and usually handles the submission for you. These set how far the house sits from each boundary (setbacks), how much of the plot it can cover, and how much floor area you can build in total (FAR or FSI). The submission usually includes the architect's drawings, a structural stability certificate and a survey sketch.

Many cities now take applications through an online building permission portal. Ask your architect which system your local authority uses, and keep copies of every receipt and acknowledgement. Fees change from time to time. In Kerala, for example, permit fees were raised sharply in April 2023 and then cut by 50–60% from August 2024.

Commencement, completion and occupancy

Commencement certificate: some states need one before you start work on site. It takes about 15 to 45 days.
Completion certificate: confirms the house was built as sanctioned.
Occupancy certificate: confirms the house is fit to live in. Together these take about 30 to 60 days.
Some banks keep back a final part of a construction loan until the occupancy certificate is issued.

What happens if you skip approvals

The risk is real

Without a completion or occupancy certificate, water, power and sewer connections may be refused. Unapproved construction can face demolition.

Build the approvals time into your plan. Expect 2 to 4 months before you break ground, and keep the 10% contingency for fee changes and delays. Figures here vary by city, so check your local authority's current schedule and ask 2 to 3 architects how long sanction is taking in your area.

Find the people

Sources

Most published cost figures come from firms that sell the work. We give ranges and you should get 2–3 quotes.