TDR & FSI Audit

What is being audited rather than estimated?

An FSI review reconciles the development calculation with the land, applicable regulations and permissions. A TDR review examines the rights instrument, availability, permitted loading and use in the proposed scheme. The word audit here describes a scoped legal and technical examination; it is not a statutory audit opinion or a planning authority’s approval. The engagement should say whether it concerns a proposal, a sanctioned plan or an executed TDR transaction.

Begin with a common area statement: gross parcel, deductions, net plot, road and reservation effects, existing consumption and proposed use. Every ratio or allowance must identify the applicable regulation and conditions. Regulations differ by planning jurisdiction and date, so an attractive calculation used on another site cannot simply be imported. Separate as-of-right assumptions from premium, incentive or transferable components requiring additional evidence.

• Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966: official planning-law resources
• Maharashtra Directorate of Town Planning: verify the jurisdiction-specific regulations, edition and sanction

How are Development Rights Certificates checked?

Obtain the actual certificate and relevant authority records, not merely a seller’s summary of available development rights. Check the holder, transferable extent, earlier endorsements, transfers, utilisation and any conditions. The available balance needs to be reconciled with the authority’s records and the proposed transfer documents. A certificate may exist without being usable on the receiving plot in the proposed quantity or category.

The receiving site assessment should test location, access, permissible loading, sanctioned use and restrictions. Ask who bears the risk if the authority accepts less than the commercial term sheet assumes. Payment sequencing and evidence of endorsement or utilisation belong in the transaction checklist. Technical calculations and legal transfer requirements must both be satisfied; one cannot substitute for the other.

What does the landowner or developer receive?

The report should provide a traceable calculation, a document register and a schedule of assumptions, mismatches and approvals still needed. Distinguish arithmetic errors from missing legal entitlement. A scenario showing potential additional area should be labelled as conditional and should not be quoted as sanctioned saleable area in a negotiation or advertisement. The client should understand which findings could change the commercial bargain.

Before relying on the result, confirm the design and land inputs have not changed and that the cited regulation remains applicable. A later reservation modification, survey correction or plan revision may require recalculation. FSI is not the same as marketable carpet area, and neither establishes project profitability. Specialist tax or valuation advice, acquisition of TDR and obtaining approval are separate unless expressly included in the engagement.