What is commencement certificate?
Also called: CC, commencement certificate Maharashtra, IOD and CC, construction permission
Before the first pillar goes up, a builder needs a commencement certificate: the planning authority's go-ahead to start work on an approved plan. The term is used mainly in Maharashtra, where it's issued under the MRTP Act, 1966, and any construction without it is unauthorised.
Anyone who has followed a Mumbai redevelopment knows the sequence. The municipal corporation first issues an IOD, the Intimation of Disapproval, which approves the plans subject to conditions. Once those conditions are met it grants the CC. The first CC is often only "up to plinth". Further CCs follow, floor by floor, as the developer pays premiums, buys TDR and clears pending NOCs.
That staging matters to a buyer. If a Kandivali tower has a CC up to the 14th floor and you're booking on the 23rd, your floor isn't approved yet. Ask for the latest further CC, which is normally uploaded on the MahaRERA project page, and see how high it goes.
Other states use other names. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu talk of a building licence or planning permit. North Indian development authorities issue a sanctioned building plan with a validity period, and Haryana's DTCP approves building plans inside licensed colonies. The idea is the same everywhere: work done without a live permission can be sealed or demolished.
RERA links registration to this document. Section 4(2)(c) requires the promoter to file authenticated copies of the approvals and commencement certificate, and, where the project is in phases, for each phase. That gives you a free check on the state portal before you pay anything.
A Malad West redevelopment is marketed at 28 floors, but its MahaRERA file shows a further CC only up to the 18th floor. Booking the 24th floor at ₹2.1 crore is a bet that the developer buys the TDR and secures the next CC.
Hearing "CC received" in Maharashtra and assuming the building is complete. It's the permission at the start of the process, not the end.
Questions people ask about commencement certificate
Is a commencement certificate needed for RERA registration?
Yes. Section 4(2)(c) requires authenticated copies of the approvals and commencement certificate, phase by phase where the project is phased.
Does a commencement certificate expire?
In Maharashtra it lapses if work doesn't begin within one year of issue unless it is renewed. Other states set their own validity for building permission.