Changing the Sanctioned Building Plan Needs Members' Consent

In Mumbai redevelopment, a developer cannot quietly change the sanctioned building plan, the approved layout, your flat's carpet area or the promised common amenities without first obtaining the written consent of the flat purchasers who are affected. This protection has run through Maharashtra flat-ownership law for decades and is now written plainly into Section 14 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA). A change to your own flat needs your consent; a change to the sanctioned plans, layout or common areas of the whole project needs the previous written consent of at least two-thirds of the allottees. Section 14(2) opens with the words "notwithstanding anything contained in any law, contract or agreement", so no clause in your development agreement can sign that protection away. This page gives you the arithmetic — how to count the allottees and work out your own two-thirds figure — and then the exact sequence of forums, provisions and deadlines to use if the developer proceeds anyway. This is general legal information, not legal advice for your specific project.

What the "sanctioned plan" actually is

When your society appoints a developer, the developer applies to the planning authority — the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM/BMC), MHADA, SRA or MMRDA, depending on the plot — for approval of the building. The drawings that authority stamps and approves are the sanctioned plans. They fix the number of floors, the position and size of every flat, the carpet areas, the parking, the lifts, the staircases, the open spaces, the podium and the common amenities. "Carpet area" is defined by Section 2(k) of RERA as the net usable floor area of the flat — it includes the area covered by the internal partition walls, and excludes the external walls, service shafts, the exclusive balcony or verandah and the exclusive open terrace. That definition, not the builder's, is the figure that decides how big your home really is, so make sure every area in your agreement is stated on it.

These sanctioned plans, read with the approved layout, are the foundation of your Development Agreement (DA) and your Permanent Alternate Accommodation Agreement (PAAA) — the two registered contracts that record what the developer will build and what each member will receive. Under the Registration Act, 1908 (Section 17), the DA, the PAAA and the eventual conveyance must all be registered, and the sanctioned plan should be annexed so it becomes part of the registered record. The plan is the difference between a firm promise — "we were to get a 700 sq ft carpet flat with two lifts and a podium garden" — and a vague hope. If it is not attached to your agreement, you have very little to hold the developer to, a point we cover in common agreement mistakes societies make.

From MOFA to RERA: the principle of consent before change

The idea that a builder cannot change the deal after taking your commitment is not new in Maharashtra. Under Section 7 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963 (MOFA) — the law that governed flat sales for decades before RERA — a promoter who had disclosed the plans and specifications was bound by them and could not make alterations or additions to the structure without the consent of the persons who had agreed to take the flats. If your agreement predates RERA registration, that is the section to cite. MOFA also cast a lasting duty on the promoter: Section 11 requires the developer to convey clear title to the society and, until conveyance is done, to bear the outgoings and taxes. That continuing responsibility is one reason the sanctioned plan matters long after possession — you can read more in our conveyance guide. RERA has now absorbed and strengthened the consent principle for every registered project.

Section 14 of RERA, in plain words

Section 14 is titled "Adherence to sanctioned plans and project specifications by the promoter." Stripped of legal language, it says three things:

• The project must be developed and completed strictly as per the sanctioned plans, layout plans and specifications approved by the competent authorities.
• The promoter cannot make additions or alterations to those sanctioned plans, or to the amenities and common areas, without the previous written consent of the allottees — and the level of consent depends on what is being changed.
• A change to a single flat needs that allottee's consent; a change to the sanctioned plans, common areas or the project as a whole needs the previous written consent of at least two-thirds of the allottees.

"Allottee" simply means a person to whom a flat has been allotted or sold. In a redevelopment, the existing members are allottees of their new flats, and the incoming purchasers of the sale flats are allottees too. So a developer who wants to redraw the layout to squeeze in extra saleable area usually needs a genuine two-thirds written consent — not a signature from the managing committee alone, and not a line buried in the fine print of the agreement.

How much consent does the developer need?

RERA draws a clear line between a change to your own flat and a change to the whole project. The table below shows what level of consent each kind of change needs.

Note that some amenities are not the developer's to give away at all. Under the Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR 2034) for Greater Mumbai, mandatory open spaces, recreation grounds and set-backs must be provided as a condition of the sanction itself. A developer cannot lawfully erase them even with member consent, because the planning authority requires them. Before you sign, it is worth checking your promised area against what the plot can actually deliver using the FSI calculator, and reading our note on standard amenities in redevelopment so you know what should be in the plan in the first place.

Work out your own two-thirds figure

"Two-thirds" is simple until someone asks two-thirds of what. Section 14(2)(ii) counts allottees, not flats, and it leaves the promoter out. Get the denominator wrong and a developer clears a bar he never actually cleared. Do this arithmetic yourself before you accept anyone's word that the consent is in place.

Step 1 — build the allottee roll

• Count people, not flats. The Explanation to Section 14(2)(ii) says that an allottee who has booked more than one apartment — in his own name, in the name of his family, or through a company, firm, association of individuals or an associated or related entity — is counted as one allottee only.
• Leave the promoter out. The clause reads "at least two-thirds of the allottees, other than the promoter". Unsold flats sitting on the developer's own books are not votes he can cast.
• Put the sale-component buyers in. Every outside purchaser who has agreed to take a flat in that building is an allottee too. In a redevelopment the roll is society members plus booked sale-flat purchasers.
• Fix the date. The roll is as on the date consent is sought, because Section 14(2) requires previous consent — taken before the change, not collected after the slab is cast.

That example shows two things worth arguing about. First, if the promoter's 10 unsold flats were let into the count, the roll would be 80, two-thirds would be 54, and the promoter would begin with 10 votes of his own — needing only 44 genuine allottees instead of 47. The words "other than the promoter" exist to stop exactly that. Second, a signature from the managing committee is not a consent. Section 14(2)(ii) asks for the previous written consent of the allottees, counted one by one, and a resolution "authorising the committee to approve revisions" is not a substitute for it.

Step 2 — round up, never down

Because the statute says "at least two-thirds", any fraction goes up to the next whole allottee. If your roll divides by three the answer is exact; otherwise add one. Find your roll size in the table below.

Source: Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, Section 14(2)(ii) and the Explanation to that clause. The arithmetic is ours; the rounding follows the statutory words "at least two-thirds".

Step 3 — test the "it is only a minor change" defence

The proviso to Section 14(2)(i) does allow a promoter to make minor additions or alterations necessary for architectural or structural reasons — but only where they are recommended and verified by an authorised architect or engineer, and after proper declaration and intimation to the allottee. Ask for that written verification and that intimation by date. If they do not exist, the defence does not exist.

The Act then fixes the outer limit of "minor" by listing what it excludes. If the change involves any of the following, it is not a minor alteration and the consent requirement applies in full:

• an addition to the area, or a change in height
• the removal of part of a building
• the construction, removal or cutting into of any wall or part of a wall, partition, column, beam, joist or floor, including a mezzanine floor or other support
• a change to, or the closing of, any required means of access, ingress or egress
• a change to the fixtures or equipment

Source: Explanation to Section 14(2)(i), Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.

What Section 14 gives you, sub-section by sub-section

This is a statutory entitlement, not a matter of the developer's goodwill. Quote the sub-section by number when you write — it changes the tone of the reply you get.

Source: Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, Section 14. Paraphrased for reading; read the bare section before you file anything.

Three connected provisions decide what happens next. Section 61 penalises a promoter who contravenes any provision of the Act other than Sections 3 and 4, which are the registration provisions — so a breach of Section 14 falls squarely inside it, carrying a penalty which may extend up to five per cent of the estimated cost of the real estate project as determined by the Authority. Under Section 37 the Authority can issue directions binding on the promoter, and that is the relief a Section 14 complaint normally asks for. If the promoter then ignores the order, Section 63 adds a penalty for every day the default continues, cumulatively up to a further five per cent of the estimated project cost.

And no private clause can displace any of this. Section 14(2) begins "notwithstanding anything contained in any law, contract or agreement", so a "the developer may amend the plans as required" clause in the development agreement is not a substitute for the consent the section demands.

Consent works both ways

Section 14 protects members, but the consent it asks for is a formal, written, dated act — and once given, it is acted upon. The promoter revises the plan, the authority re-endorses it, other allottees sign on the strength of it, and money is spent. The Act provides no machinery for taking a Section 14 consent back, so a member who signs and then changes his mind is arguing an uphill point about contract and estoppel, not exercising a statutory right. This is why the consent process must be honest and informed from the start: members should see the actual revised plan, understand in figures how it affects their carpet area and their amenities, and vote on it openly, rather than sign a blanket "power to amend" clause. It also connects to a related principle that a validly given redevelopment consent is not something an individual can unilaterally take back once the society has acted on it — explained in our note on why consent generally cannot be withdrawn.

How plans quietly get changed without real consent

In practice, disputes rarely begin with a formal notice. They begin when members notice that the building coming up does not match what they were shown. Typical warning signs include:

• The promised carpet area quietly shrinking between the brochure, the agreement and the final sanctioned plan.
• An amenity that sold the project — a garden, gym, extra lift, podium or parking bay — disappearing from a "revised" plan.
• A new wing, extra floors or a merged adjoining plot appearing without members being told how it affects their flats, the common areas or the corpus.
• The developer relying on a broad "the developer may amend the plans as required" clause instead of taking real, documented consent.

That last point is why a one-sided power-to-amend clause is one of the biggest red flags in a development agreement. A private clause cannot override the statutory consent that Section 14 gives each member; at best it papers over a change the developer was never entitled to make alone. Understanding how area and corpus are fixed — see possession, area and corpus explained — helps members spot the moment a plan starts drifting from the promise.

If the promoter proceeds without the consent: the sequence, with dates

Work to a clock. Each step below names the document to obtain or serve, the office to approach and the provision to cite, so you can start on the same day you notice the deviation.

1. Day 0 — get the plan as it stands sanctioned today. File a written application under Section 6 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 with the Public Information Officer of the sanctioning authority — for most Mumbai societies that is the Executive Engineer (Building Proposals) of your ward at MCGM, otherwise MHADA, SRA or MMRDA. Ask by name for: the latest approved building plan, the Intimation of Disapproval (IOD), every amended plan with its date of approval, and the Commencement Certificate with all endorsements. The information is due within 30 days under Section 7(1); if it does not come, a first appeal lies under Section 19(1) within 30 days.
2. Day 0 — save the MahaRERA project page. For a registered project, download and date-stamp the plans and the architect's, engineer's and chartered accountant's certificates uploaded against the registration number. That is the developer's own account of what he told the Authority, and it is the cheapest evidence you will ever get.
3. Day 1 to 7 — object in writing. Send a dated letter to the promoter, copied to the society's secretary, by registered post with acknowledgement due and by email. State the deviation in measurable terms, identify the clause of the DA or PAAA it breaches, record that your consent under Section 14(2) was never taken, and demand inspection of the consent register. Keep the postal receipt and the AD card — they are what date your objection.
4. Day 1 to 7 — get the society's own papers. Under Section 32 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 a member may inspect the society's records and obtain copies on payment of the prescribed fee, and the society must furnish them within one month. Ask for the minutes of every general body and committee meeting at which the plan change was discussed, and for the consent papers filed with those minutes.
5. Within one month — force a special general body meeting. On a members' requisition under Section 77 of the MCS Act, 1960, the committee must call a special general meeting within one month. The number of signatures needed is fixed by Section 77 read with your registered bye-laws, so check both before you circulate the requisition. If the committee still does not call the meeting, apply to the District Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies for your ward.
6. Day 7 to 30 — get the deviation certified. Appoint an independent architect or structural engineer — not the project's — to produce a comparison sheet: sanctioned dimension against as-built, flat by flat and for every common area. Insist that areas be stated as carpet area under RERA Section 2(k), which includes the internal partition walls and excludes external walls, service shafts, exclusive balcony or verandah and exclusive open terrace. Fixing the definition now stops the figures being argued away later.
7. Day 30 — file at MahaRERA. A complaint under Section 31 goes to the Authority online; you do not have to approach a court first. Ask for a direction under Section 37 that the promoter comply with Section 14 and restore the sanctioned position, and for penalty under Section 61. The Authority can call for records and hold an inquiry under Section 35.
8. Same week — report the construction itself. If work is going up against the sanction, write to the Executive Engineer (Building Proposals) of your ward seeking action under Section 351 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 for work carried out contrary to the sanctioned plans, and under Section 53 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 for removal of unauthorised development.
9. If the slab is being cast now — injunction. A civil suit for a perpetual injunction under Section 38 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963, with an interim application under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, is the only remedy that can stop work tomorrow. Delay is fatal here: the longer the wrong building stands, the weaker your balance of convenience.
10. Within 60 days of any order — appeal. An appeal from the Authority lies to the Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal under Section 43(5) and must be filed within 60 days of receiving a copy of the order (Section 44(2)). Read the proviso to Section 43(5) before you worry about a promoter's appeal: a promoter must first deposit at least 30% of the penalty, or such higher percentage as the Tribunal determines, or the total amount payable to the allottee including interest and compensation, before his appeal is even heard. A further appeal lies to the High Court under Section 58, again within 60 days.

Different problems point to different forums, and filing in the wrong one costs months. The table below aims your complaint; where you are still unsure, see which forum hears a redevelopment dispute.

Consumer pecuniary tiers are by the value of the consideration paid, under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 as amended by the jurisdiction rules notified in 2021. Section 91 of the MCS Act covers the parties named in that section — a developer who is not a member of the society usually falls outside it, which is why a claim against the developer belongs before MahaRERA, the consumer commission or the civil court, and a claim against your own committee belongs before the Co-operative Court. Do not run the same claim in two forums at once; decide with your advocate which one matches the relief you actually want.

What the society must minute, and when

Most Section 14 disputes are decided on the society's own record. If a plan change is genuinely required — and in a long project one sometimes is — take it to a special general body meeting and minute it so that it cannot be attacked two years later. The resolution should carry, in this order:

1. The date and reference of the plan being replaced and of the revised plan, exactly as endorsed by the sanctioning authority.
2. A record that the revised plan was circulated with the notice of the meeting, for the notice period your registered bye-laws prescribe, and was physically on the table at the meeting.
3. The allottee roll as on the date of the meeting — society members plus booked sale-flat purchasers, each person counted once, the promoter's unsold flats excluded — stated as a single number.
4. The two-thirds figure worked out on that number and rounded up, written into the body of the resolution rather than left to be recomputed later.
5. The number of individual written consents actually received, and a statement that each was signed by the allottee personally and dated before the change was made.
6. The consents themselves annexed to the minute book and page-numbered, not left loose in the developer's file.
7. A copy of the revised sanctioned plan initialled by the Chairman and the Secretary and kept with the minutes.
8. A direction that the revised plan be uploaded on the project's MahaRERA page, and that a certified extract of the resolution be issued to any member who applies under Section 32 of the MCS Act, 1960.

A minute written that way answers the only three questions any forum will ask: what changed, who was told, and how many said yes. A minute that records "the general body authorised the committee to approve necessary revisions" answers none of them.

What this means for your society

The practical lesson is simple: the sanctioned plan is your leverage, so protect it from day one. Before you sign, insist that the full approved plans and layout are annexed to the DA and PAAA; that each member's carpet area and every amenity are written in clear figures; and that any power-to-amend clause is cut down so it cannot be used to change your flat or the common areas without real, written, two-thirds consent. Follow the transparent process the State's redevelopment directive under Section 79A of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, dated 4 July 2019, contemplates — open meetings, registered DA and PAAA, and clear disclosure — so consent is recorded properly rather than assumed. If a change genuinely becomes necessary in a long project, it should come back to the members openly, with the revised plan on the table, not be discovered on site months later. Having your tender and agreement professionally reviewed before signing — through our tender and agreement review service — is the cheapest insurance against a plan that quietly drifts from the promise.

This page is general legal information, not legal advice. Every plot, agreement and approval is different, so before you sign and before you contest a plan change, have your own advocate and architect review your specific papers. Compare competing developer offers side by side with the offer comparison tool, and if anything about the process feels off, read our guidance on redevelopment frauds and how to protect your society.