The agreement for sale clauses worth reading twice
The agreement for sale is the document that governs everything if the transaction goes wrong, and it is the document buyers read least carefully. Most of it is standard. A small number of clauses decide what happens on delay, on area shortfall and on defects, and those are worth genuine attention before you sign rather than after.
The possession clause
This is the most important clause in the document, because the date stated here is the date that creates your legal entitlement if the project runs late. Brochures and sales conversations are irrelevant; this is the date that counts.
Read the grace period carefully. A clause allowing an extension beyond the stated date effectively moves your entitlement, and grace periods in some agreements are longer than buyers realise.
Read the force majeure wording just as carefully. Broadly drafted force majeure clauses can excuse delay for a wide range of reasons, and this is the most common basis on which a promoter resists a delay claim.
Our guide to MahaRERA rights when a builder delays possession covers what the law provides, and it operates against the date in this clause.
- The stated possession date creates your entitlement, not the brochure
- Check the length of any grace period
- Check how broadly force majeure is drafted
Carpet area and the area variation clause
The area stated must be carpet area on the RERA definition. If the agreement refers to built-up or saleable area as the operative figure, that is a problem worth resolving before signing. Our guide to carpet area versus built-up area covers the distinction.
Then read the variation clause, which sets out what happens if the delivered area differs from the agreed area. The law provides for adjustment where the variation exceeds a threshold, and the agreement should reflect that rather than contradict it.
Check whether adjustment works in both directions. Some drafts allow the promoter to charge for an increase while limiting your remedy for a shortfall, and that asymmetry should be challenged.
The payment schedule
For an under-construction purchase the payment schedule should be linked to construction stages rather than to dates, so that you are paying for work completed rather than time elapsed. Our note on slab-wise payment plans covers how these work.
Check what triggers each instalment and who certifies that the stage has been reached. A schedule where the promoter is the sole judge of its own progress is weaker than one tied to verifiable milestones.
Check the interest rate payable on your delayed payments and compare it with the rate payable to you on the promoter's delay. These should be comparable, and where they are not, that is a negotiating point.
Confirm all payments are to be made to the designated project account, which is the mechanism our note on the RERA escrow rule describes.
- Stage-linked rather than date-linked instalments
- Verifiable milestone triggers, not promoter self-certification
- Compare your delay interest with the promoter's
- Payments to the designated project account
Specifications, amenities and common areas
The specification schedule should list actual materials and brands rather than descriptive language. Wording such as premium fittings or reputed make gives you nothing enforceable.
Amenities promised in marketing should appear in the agreement. An amenity described in a brochure and absent from the document is not a commitment, and this gap is deliberate more often than it is accidental.
Check what is defined as common area and what the promoter retains. Retained areas, parking allocation and rights over terraces and open spaces are all worth reading closely, because they affect both use and future society disputes.
The defect liability clause
The law provides a defect liability period for structural defects and specified workmanship issues, running from handover. This is a genuine protection and buyers should know it exists.
Read how the agreement handles it. The clause should reflect the statutory position rather than narrowing it, and any wording that shortens the period or restricts what counts as a defect deserves scrutiny.
Check the process for reporting a defect and the promoter's obligation to rectify. A clause with no timeline for rectification is considerably weaker than one with a defined response period.
Keep the agreement accessible after possession. This is the clause you are most likely to need, and it is usually needed at a point when the original excitement has long passed.
Transfer, assignment and cancellation
Check whether you may transfer or assign your interest before possession, and on what terms. Some agreements restrict this or impose a charge, which matters if your circumstances change during a long construction period.
Check the cancellation terms in both directions: what you forfeit if you withdraw, and what the promoter may do if you default. Forfeiture provisions are frequently one-sided and are a legitimate subject of negotiation.
Check whether the promoter may vary the layout, the plan or the amenities unilaterally. Broad variation rights undermine much of the rest of the document.
- Whether pre-possession transfer is permitted, and at what cost
- Forfeiture terms on your withdrawal against the promoter's default
- Any unilateral right to vary layout, plan or amenities
How to approach the review
Ask for the draft in advance rather than reading it at signing. A promoter unwilling to share it early is telling you something useful.
Have it reviewed by a property lawyer who acts for you rather than for the developer or the agent. The cost is small relative to the transaction and to what a single poorly drafted clause can cost.
Raise queries in writing and keep the responses. Where a change is agreed, ensure it appears in the executed document rather than in correspondence, because only the document governs.
Then confirm the practical position separately: our checklists for buying a resale flat and verifying title cover the diligence that sits alongside this review.
