BU Permission in Ahmedabad: What It Is and How to Check It Before You Buy

BU permission, short for Building Use permission, is the certificate AMC or AUDA issues once a finished building is inspected and found to match its approved plan. It is Gujarat’s name for the occupancy certificate. Without it, nobody is supposed to occupy or use the building, and AMC’s FAQ says drainage, water supply, solid waste service and electricity are obtained only after it is granted.

If a flat is sold to you as ready to move, BU permission is the one document that proves the word “ready”.

What is BU permission in Ahmedabad?

The rule sits in the state’s building regulations. Regulation 3.8 of the Comprehensive GDCR 2017, Part I says it is mandatory to obtain a building use permission from the competent authority “prior to occupancy or use being made of any building”, and that use without one “shall be deemed to be unauthorized use”.

Which authority issues it depends on where the building stands. Inside Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation limits it is AMC’s Town Development Department. Outside those limits, in the area AUDA plans, it is AUDA. A GujRERA project page names the plan passing authority, so you know where the BU will come from.

AMC issues BU permission in a standard format along with what its building plan procedure calls a B.U. smart card, a digital card that records the area and use of each floor, including the areas earmarked for parking and open space.

Is BU permission the same as an occupancy certificate?

Yes. AMC’s own procedure heads the section “Occupancy certificate (Building use permission, B.U. smart card)”. GujRERA records it as “Building Use Permission Details/Occupation Certificate Details”. Other states say OC; Gujarat says BU.

What matters more is what the permission does not prove. Regulation 3.9.2 lists what the authority is not vouching for when it grants BU:

• title, ownership and easement rights of the plot
• workmanship, soundness of material and structural safety
• variation in area from the recorded area of a unit
• the location and boundary of the plot
• the safety of the building’s users and structural reports

So BU permission tells you the building matches its sanctioned plan and may be used for its sanctioned purpose. It does not replace a title search, and it does not confirm the carpet area in your agreement.

How does a builder get BU permission?

AMC’s procedure and the CGDCR set out these stages.

The 90 day and 7 day figures come from AMC’s FAQ on building plan approval and its procedure document; the 21 days is in both the CGDCR and AMC’s procedure. Before granting BU, AMC also checks that trees have been planted (three for every 200 sq m of plot), that parking is paved and signposted as per the plan, that a percolating well has been built, and, for high rise buildings, that fire department and lift inspector certificates have been submitted.

When a builder tells you “BU is applied”, ask on what date the completion notice went in. If it is months old and nothing has come, the authority has likely raised queries, and you want to know what they are.

How do you check BU permission for a building?

For any RERA registered project, start on GujRERA. Search the project, open Progress & RERA Actions and scroll to the project end compliance section. It has fields for the BU or OC received date, the BU document, the BU plan and the BU number. If those are filled and the document opens, you have the permission in hand.

Our guide to checking a project on GujRERA shows how to reach that page. Take an example from our own data: Embrace in Shantigram is nearing completion, with a RERA declared possession date of November 2027. That is the kind of project where you should watch the BU fields before paying the last instalment, not after.

For resale flats and older buildings, often in established areas such as Satellite, GujRERA may have nothing because the building predates the Act. Then ask for:

1. the BU permission copy, or the smart card, with its number and date
2. the approved plan it refers to
3. the floor and unit wise use shown on it, to confirm your flat is shown as residential and the parking you are being sold is shown as parking

Have the permission number matched with the issuing office. A copy of the document and an independent check beat any screenshot.

What happens if a building has no BU permission?

Four things change.

• Use is unauthorised. Regulation 3.8 treats occupation without BU as unauthorised use, and the authority can revoke a permission already granted.
• Utilities can be a problem. AMC’s FAQ states that drainage, water supply, solid waste service and electricity are obtained after building use permission.
• GST can follow you. GST is not charged on a flat when the entire price is paid after the completion certificate. In a 2020 ruling, the Gujarat Authority for Advance Ruling treated the BU permission as that completion certificate, so money paid before BU can attract GST.
• Resale and loans get harder, because the next buyer and the next lender will ask for the same document.

Gujarat did open a route for existing unauthorised construction. The Gujarat Regularisation of Unauthorised Development Act, 2022 came into force on 17 October 2022, with a four month window for applications that closed on 16 February 2023. An amendment in 2023 lets the state extend that window by notification. Whether a window is open, and whether a particular building qualifies, is for the local authority to confirm, not the seller.

Does BU permission matter for offices, shops and converted flats?

Yes, a lot. A BU permission is granted for a sanctioned use, and regulation 3.9.4 of the CGDCR says no building or premises may be converted to another use without the authority’s prior written permission. A ground floor flat turned into a clinic, or a residential bungalow let out as an office, is a change of use that needs its own permission.

The penalty for unauthorised use, under regulation 3.9.6, is four times the development permission scrutiny fee on the area used. The practical cost can be bigger. A tenant or later buyer who finds that the papers describe one use while the unit runs as another has a reason to walk away.

For commercial buys, we read the smart card floor by floor. If you are looking at offices for sale in Ahmedabad, the BU should show office use for that floor, and the parking you are paying for should appear as parking.

Should you ever buy before BU permission?

Yes, if you are buying an under construction flat on purpose, with GST in your budget and a registered project behind it. That is a different decision, and our post on ready to move versus under construction covers it.

We would not buy a flat described as ready, pay in full and move in while the builder calls BU “just a formality”. If the permission never comes, the risk sits with you.

When you are ready to look at completed buildings, our residential services team can shortlist ones with BU in place. If you already have a flat in mind, bring the papers to a consultation and we will check the BU permission against the plan with you.