What is builder floor?
Also called: independent floor, floor in kothi, BF
When a builder rebuilds a house on a residential plot and sells each storey as a separate home, each of those units is a builder floor. It's the most common housing format in South and West Delhi and in the older plotted sectors of Gurugram, Faridabad and Noida.
The usual arrangement starts with a landowner who hands a 200 to 500 sq yd plot to a small builder. The builder demolishes the old house, builds stilt parking with three or four floors above, gives one or two floors to the landowner and sells the rest. Each buyer gets a registered sale deed for their floor with a proportionate share of the land, often stated as 25% or 33%.
What makes builder floors attractive is also what makes them risky. There's no big developer, little common area and no clubhouse, so maintenance is minimal. But many such projects fall below the RERA registration threshold of 500 sq m of land or eight units, and so the buyer doesn't get RERA's protections on delays, carpet area or defect liability. Quality depends entirely on the individual builder.
The rules on how many floors are allowed have changed several times. Haryana in particular has tightened and relaxed its stilt-plus-four policy since 2023, with conditions linked to road width and parking. Before buying in Gurugram or Faridabad, check that the building plan approval and the occupation certificate cover your floor specifically.
Settle roof and basement rights on paper. Traditionally the top floor gets the roof and the ground floor the basement, but only the sale deed decides it.
On a 300 sq yd plot in Gurugram Sector 46, a builder constructs stilt plus four floors of about 1,800 sq ft each and sells them at ₹2.2 crore apiece. Each deed conveys the floor with a 25% undivided share in the plot.
Buying a floor in a building with no occupation certificate or with an extra floor beyond the sanctioned plan. Banks may refuse the loan, and the unauthorised floor can be sealed.
Questions people ask about builder floor
Is a builder floor registered under RERA?
Only if the plot exceeds 500 sq m or the building has more than eight units. Most single-plot builder floors don't cross either threshold.
Who owns the roof in a builder floor?
Whoever the sale deeds say owns it. Usually the top-floor buyer gets roof rights, but that has to be written into the deed to be enforceable.