Just Got Possession? Do These Six Things First
Updated 18 August 2026 · D Woods Villa Interior
Before hiring anyone, check the flat against the builder specification, test the electrical load, check floor level, photograph everything, confirm your society's interior rules, and get a measured drawing. Six tasks, roughly a day, and they change what you should spend money on.
1. Snag the flat against the builder specification
Your builder agreement lists what was promised: flooring type, fittings, paint finish, electrical points. Walk the flat with that list before you accept possession or, if already accepted, before interior work starts.
Anything short of specification is the builder's problem while the defect liability period runs, typically twelve months from handover. After that it becomes yours. Common findings include hollow floor tiles, doors that do not close cleanly, missing electrical points and inadequate waterproofing in bathrooms.
2. Test the electrical load properly
Switch on everything at once: all air conditioners, geyser, microwave, iron. If the MCB trips or lights dim noticeably, the sanctioned load or the internal wiring is inadequate for how you will actually live.
This matters before design, not after. If load enhancement or rewiring is needed, it belongs in phase one while walls are open. Retrofitting later means chasing finished walls.
3. Check the floor level
Put a spirit level or a straight edge across the floor in each room, particularly where kitchen and wardrobe runs will go. Anything more than about 10 mm of variation over 2 metres will show up as misaligned shutter gaps once modular units are installed.
Levelling costs roughly ₹45 per square foot and it is far cheaper to know now than to discover when cabinetry will not sit flat.
4. Photograph everything before work starts
Photograph every wall, floor, ceiling and fitting, with the date visible. This protects you twice: against a builder disputing a pre-existing defect, and against a contractor being blamed for damage that was already there.
It takes fifteen minutes and it resolves arguments that otherwise have no evidence on either side.
5. Get your society's interior rules in writing
Visit the maintenance office and ask for the interior work policy. You need five things: NOC procedure and timeline, permitted working hours and days, service lift access windows, refundable deposit amount, and debris disposal rules.
Get it in writing rather than as a conversation. Interior schedules are built on working hours, and a society allowing Saturday work versus one that does not changes a 45-day project by about a week.
If your project is RERA registered, its details are available on the UP RERA portal, which is also where the promised specification is filed.
6. Get a measured drawing before you get quotations
Builder drawings are frequently inaccurate by 50 to 100 mm, which is enough to make a modular kitchen not fit. Have the flat measured properly, and use that drawing for every quotation you collect.
This also puts every firm on identical information, which is the only way two quotations become genuinely comparable. Most firms, including us, do this measurement free.
Then decide scope, in this order
- All electrical work, everywhere, including rooms you plan to finish later. This is the single most expensive thing to retrofit.
- Kitchen. The hardest room to live without and the hardest to add later.
- Wardrobes in the bedrooms you will actually use.
- Ceiling and lighting in living and dining.
- Everything else, phased as budget allows.
The timing advantage
An empty flat finishes about a week faster than an occupied one for the same scope, because trades run in parallel and nobody is managing dust around furniture. If you have taken possession and not yet moved in, that window is the cheapest opportunity you will get.
The mistake we see most often is moving in first, living with it for a year, then doing interiors around furniture and a family routine. It costs more, takes longer and is considerably less pleasant.
Frequently asked questions
What should I check first in a new flat?
Snag it against the builder specification, test the full electrical load, check floor level, photograph everything, get the society's interior rules in writing, and obtain an accurate measured drawing before collecting quotations.
Why does the electrical load matter before design?
Because if load enhancement or rewiring is needed it belongs in phase one while walls are open. Switch everything on at once and see whether the MCB trips or lights dim noticeably.
How accurate are builder drawings?
Frequently out by 50 to 100 mm, which is enough that a modular kitchen will not fit. Get the flat measured properly and give every firm the same drawing so quotations are genuinely comparable.
Should I do interiors before moving in?
Yes if possible. The same scope finishes about a week faster in an empty flat, because trades run in parallel and there is no dust management around furniture.
What should I get from my society before starting?
NOC procedure and timeline, permitted working hours and days, service lift access windows, the refundable deposit amount and debris disposal rules. Get all of it in writing rather than verbally.
On our pricing. D Woods Villa Interior designs, manufactures and installs across the NCR. What you read here is what we charge, with grades and brands named.
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