What is a builder demand letter?
A builder demand letter is the letter you send a flat buyer when a construction stage is complete and the instalment tied to it falls due. Under-construction flats are often sold on a construction-linked payment plan (CLP): a booking amount, a part when the agreement for sale is signed, then a share of the price as each stage — the foundation, each floor slab, the brickwork, the flooring — is finished. This builder demand letter format covers every one of those letters.
It has two readers: the buyer, who pays their own share, and — when there is a home loan — the buyer's bank, which releases its part of the loan against your letter and your architect's certificate. So this page has a letter for each, and the Word file has both.
Under the RERA Act, a buyer must pay in the manner and within the time the agreement for sale sets (section 19(6)). So a demand letter only ever asks for what that agreement's payment schedule says, and only once the stage is really done.
Every demand letter needs:
- your letterhead — name, address, GSTIN, phone and email;
- the date and a reference number;
- the buyer and co-applicant, with their address;
- the project, tower, flat number and the project's RERA registration number;
- the date of the agreement for sale and the agreement value;
- the stage completed and the date, exactly as the architect's certificate says;
- the payment schedule: each stage, its share, the amount, what was received and what is due now;
- this instalment, its GST, the total due and the due date;
- the account to pay into, and how to tell you it is paid;
- the late-payment interest clause of the agreement;
- what is enclosed, and a signature.
Builder demand letter format: the letter to the buyer
Words in [brackets] are yours to fill in. The figures are an example for a flat with an agreement value of ₹60,00,000, at the 3rd floor slab. The Word file has the same letter; for a PDF, fill it in and save it as PDF from Word or Google Docs.
[Builder / company name]
[Registered office address]
GSTIN [GSTIN] · Phone [phone] · Email
[email]
Demand letter
Ref. no. [GM/B-302/07]
Date [DD Month YYYY]
To
[Buyer name] and [Co-applicant name]
[Postal address]
[Mobile] · [Email]
| Project | [Green Meadows] |
| Tower / block | [B] |
| Flat no. | [B-302] |
| RERA registration no. | [project's RERA number] |
| Agreement for sale dated | [DD Month YYYY] |
| Agreement value (before GST) | ₹[60,00,000] |
Sub: Demand for the instalment due on completion of the [3rd floor roof slab] — Flat [B-302], Tower [B], [Green Meadows]
Dear [Buyer name],
We are pleased to inform you that the [3rd floor roof slab] of Tower [B] was completed on [DD Month YYYY], as certified by our architect, [architect's name], in the certificate dated [DD Month YYYY] enclosed with this letter.
As per the payment schedule in [Schedule C / clause __] of your agreement for sale, the instalment for this stage is now due. Your payment schedule as it stands today (amounts before GST):
| # | Stage | Share | Amount (₹) | Received (₹) | Now due (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Booking amount | 10% | 6,00,000 | 6,00,000 | — |
| 2 | On signing the agreement for sale | 10% | 6,00,000 | 6,00,000 | — |
| 3 | Foundation | 10% | 6,00,000 | 6,00,000 | — |
| 4 | Ground floor roof slab | 10% | 6,00,000 | 6,00,000 | — |
| 5 | 1st floor roof slab | 10% | 6,00,000 | 6,00,000 | — |
| 6 | 2nd floor roof slab | 10% | 6,00,000 | 6,00,000 | — |
| 7 | 3rd floor roof slab | 10% | 6,00,000 | 0 | 6,00,000 |
| 8 | Brickwork and plastering | 10% | 6,00,000 | — | Not yet due |
| 9 | Flooring, electrical and plumbing | 10% | 6,00,000 | — | Not yet due |
| 10 | Handover | 10% | 6,00,000 | — | Not yet due |
| Total | 100% | 60,00,000 | 36,00,000 | 6,00,000 |
| Particulars | Amount (₹) |
|---|---|
| This instalment — [3rd floor roof slab], [10%] of the agreement value | 6,00,000 |
| GST @ [5%] (CGST [2.5%] + SGST [2.5%]) | 30,000 |
| Earlier instalments still unpaid | 0 |
| Total due | 6,30,000 |
Kindly pay ₹[6,30,000] (Rupees [six lakh thirty thousand] only) on or before [DD Month YYYY].
How to pay
By RTGS, NEFT or cheque to:
Account name [project account name]
Bank and branch [bank, branch]
Account number [account number]
IFSC [IFSC]
Please write your flat number, [B-302], in the remarks, and send us the UTR or cheque number. If you deduct tax at source (TDS) on this payment, please pay us the balance and send us the TDS certificate.
If you are paying through a home loan, please forward this letter and the architect's certificate to your bank, or tell us and we will write to the bank directly. [As per your agreement, the instalment is due on the date above even if the loan release is delayed.]
Any amount not received by the due date carries interest at the rate set in [clause __] of the agreement for sale, from the due date until the day it reaches our account.
For any question, please call [name] on [phone] or reply on [WhatsApp / email].
Yours faithfully,
For [Builder / company name]
[Signature and seal]
[Name], [Designation] — Authorised signatory
Enclosures: 1. Architect's certificate of stage completion dated [DD Month YYYY].
2. Tax invoice no. [__] dated [__], if issued separately.
3. Statement of account for Flat [B-302].
Copy to: [buyer's bank and branch], for a buyer with a home loan.
A sample, not legal or tax advice. This is a sample format to adapt with your lawyer, and the GST lines with your CA, before you use it. Your agreement for sale decides the stages, the shares, the days to pay and the interest; the letter only repeats them. Where the land share and the building are sold under two agreements, as in Tamil Nadu's model forms, the stage payments are in the construction agreement's payment schedule (Schedule D in the model form), so quote that agreement instead.
Construction-linked payment plan table
The table below is the construction-linked payment plan in its usual shape. Copy your own agreement's schedule into it, stage for stage — never a different share in a letter than the one in the agreement. The shares here are an example only.
| Stage | What shows it is done | Share of agreement value |
|---|---|---|
| Booking amount | Booking form and receipt | Up to 10% |
| On signing the agreement for sale | Registered agreement for sale | [__]% |
| Foundation / plinth | Architect's certificate | [__]% |
| Each roof slab (ground, 1st, 2nd …) | Architect's certificate, per slab | [__]% each |
| Brickwork and plastering | Architect's certificate | [__]% |
| Flooring, electrical and plumbing | Architect's certificate | [__]% |
| Handover | Completion certificate, possession letter | [__]% |
| Total | 100% |
- The first payment. The RERA Act does not let a promoter take more than 10% of a flat's cost as an advance or application fee before a written agreement for sale is signed and registered (section 13(1)).
- The shares add up to 100% of the agreement value. GST is worked out on each instalment and shown on its own line, never folded into the share.
- One schedule per project, done tower by tower. When the 3rd floor slab is done in Tower B but not in Tower C, only Tower B's buyers get the letter.
- Keep government charges out. Stamp duty and registration are paid to the government; do not list them as an instalment of the agreement value.
A worked example. A flat with an agreement value of ₹60,00,000 is not an affordable flat for GST (it is above ₹45 lakh), so its GST is 5%. The 3rd floor slab at 10% is ₹6,00,000; GST at 5% is ₹30,000; the buyer pays ₹6,30,000. Work the share out to the rupee first, then the GST on it, so the letter and your books never differ.
GST on a builder's demand letter
Since 1 April 2019, a residential flat that a promoter sells before it is complete carries GST at these effective rates, without input tax credit:
| The flat | GST on each instalment |
|---|---|
| An affordable flat: carpet area up to 60 sq m in a metropolitan city or 90 sq m anywhere else, and a gross amount of ₹45 lakh or less | 1% |
| Any other residential flat | 5% |
- Land is already allowed for. The notification taxes the value after land, and takes land to be one-third of the total amount: central tax is 3.75% (0.75% for an affordable flat) on the other two-thirds, with the same again as state tax. That works out to 5% (or 1%) of the total, which is how the letter shows it; half of it is CGST and half SGST. If your CA wants the invoice to show the land deduction instead, the tax is the same.
- Metropolitan cities, as the notification names them: Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR (Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Faridabad), Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai (the whole of MMR).
- The ₹45 lakh counts everything you charge the buyer for the flat: construction, the land share, and other charges such as preferential location, development, parking and common facility charges.
- No GST under these rates where the whole price is received after the completion certificate, or after first occupation if that comes earlier.
- Older projects, and two agreements. A project begun before 1 April 2019 whose promoter chose to stay on the old rates (8% or 12%, with input tax credit) is taxed differently. And where the land share and the building are sold under separate agreements, as in Tamil Nadu's model RERA forms (an agreement for sale of the undivided share of land, and a construction agreement), ask your CA how the GST and the land deduction apply to each.
- The tax invoice is separate. Under the CGST Act, for a continuous supply of services where payment is linked to completing an event, the invoice is issued on or before the day that event is completed (section 31(5)(c)). The demand letter asks for the money; ask your CA how you issue the invoice for each stage.
The GST rate changes of September 2025 left these two rates as they were. Rates do change, though: confirm your project's rate with your CA before the first letter of a new project.
Builder demand letter to the bank for home loan disbursement
A bank pays a home loan for an under-construction flat in parts, as the building goes up — and it goes by the work actually done, not by your payment schedule alone. For each release, banks' own disbursement guides ask for:
- the builder's demand letter for that stage;
- an architect's certificate that the stage is complete;
- receipts for the buyer's own contribution — what they have paid you from their own money;
- the builder's account details, as the payee;
- for the last release, the completion certificate; and, where the bank asks, the approved plan and a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the builder.
The buyer asks their bank for the release, often online, with these attached. HDFC Bank, for one, has the borrower upload the builder's demand letter, the architect's certificate and receipts for their own contribution when they ask for a release, and pays the builder. Send this letter to the branch with a copy to the buyer, or give it to the buyer to upload.
[Builder / company name] · [address] · GSTIN [GSTIN]
Ref. no. [GM/B-302/07-BANK]
Date [DD Month YYYY]
To
The Branch Manager, Home Loans
[Bank name], [Branch]
Sub: Request to release the home loan instalment for the [3rd floor roof slab] — Flat [B-302], Tower [B], [Green Meadows]
| Borrower | [Buyer name] |
| Co-borrower | [Co-applicant name] |
| Home loan account / application no. | [loan account no.] |
| Loan sanctioned | ₹[__] |
| Released by you so far | ₹[__] |
| Project RERA registration no. | [RERA number] |
| Agreement for sale dated · agreement value | [DD Month YYYY] · ₹[60,00,000] |
| NOC / tripartite agreement, if any | [reference and date] |
Dear Sir / Madam,
We confirm that the [3rd floor roof slab] of Tower [B] was completed on [DD Month YYYY], as certified by our architect, [name, registration no.], in the enclosed certificate dated [DD Month YYYY]. As per the payment schedule in the borrower's agreement for sale, the following is now due for the flat:
| Particulars | Amount (₹) |
|---|---|
| Instalment for the [3rd floor roof slab] ([10%] of the agreement value) | 6,00,000 |
| GST @ [5%] | 30,000 |
| Total now due | 6,30,000 |
| Received for this flat so far — from the borrower's own contribution | [__] |
| Received for this flat so far — from your loan | [__] |
| Amount requested from you now | [__] |
Kindly release the amount to our account below, citing the borrower's name and flat number:
Beneficiary [project account name]
Bank and branch [bank, branch]
Account number [account number] · IFSC [IFSC]
Yours faithfully,
For [Builder / company name]
[Signature and seal]
[Name], Authorised signatory
Enclosures: 1. Architect's certificate dated [__]. 2. Our demand letter to the borrower
dated [__]. 3. Receipts for the borrower's payments so far. 4. Statement of account.
Copy to: [Buyer name]
Each bank has its own way of asking — its own form, an online upload, its own list of papers. Ask the buyer's bank once, at the first release, what it wants with every letter, and keep to it.
What to attach: the architect's certificate
The architect's certificate is the proof a stage is done, and banks ask for it with every release. Get one per stage, per tower, dated, and quote its date in both letters. Under the Architects Act, 1972, only a person registered with the Council of Architecture may use the title "architect" (section 37), so the certificate carries their registration number.
Certificate of stage of construction
Date [DD Month YYYY]
Project [Green Meadows] · RERA registration no.
[__]
Promoter [Builder / company name]
Tower / block [B] · Building plan approval no. [__] dated
[__]
I inspected the site on [DD Month YYYY] and certify that the [3rd floor roof slab] of Tower [B] is complete, as per the approved plan. The work done on Tower [B] so far is about [__]% of the whole.
[Signature and seal]
[Architect's name] · Council of Architecture registration no.
[__]
[Address, phone]
The RERA Act already asks for such certificates: 70% of what buyers pay goes into a separate account in a scheduled bank, and money comes out of it only when an engineer, an architect and a chartered accountant in practice certify that it is in proportion to the work done (section 4(2)(l)(D)). Use the same stage dates for your demand letters, so the two records agree.
Also attach a statement of the buyer's account, and the tax invoice if you issue it separately. Site photos of the stage help a buyer living away from the city.
Covering note on WhatsApp: English, Tamil and Hindi
Send the letter as a PDF with a short note on top, in the buyer's language. On the WhatsApp Business Platform, a message to a buyer who has not written to you in the last 24 hours can only go as a template Meta has approved; from the WhatsApp Business app on your phone you can paste these as they are.
Covering note — English
Dear [Name], A construction update for your flat [B-302] at [Green Meadows], Tower [B]: the [3rd floor roof slab] was completed on [12 November 2026]. As per your payment plan, this stage's instalment is now due: Instalment ([10%] of the agreement value): ₹[6,00,000] GST @ [5%]: ₹[30,000] Total: ₹[6,30,000], on or before [27 November 2026] The demand letter and the architect's certificate are attached. To pay: RTGS/NEFT to [account name], [bank], A/c [number], IFSC [code]. Please write [B-302] in the remarks and send us the UTR number. Paying through a home loan? Forward this to your bank, or tell us and we will send the bank its letter. For any questions, just reply here. [Your name], [Company]
Covering note — Tamil
வணக்கம் [பெயர்],
[Green Meadows], Tower [B]-இல் உள்ள உங்கள் ஃபிளாட் [B-302] கட்டுமானம் பற்றிய தகவல்: மூன்றாம் தள ரூஃப் கான்கிரீட் (3rd floor roof slab) வேலை [12 நவம்பர் 2026] அன்று முடிந்துவிட்டது.
உங்கள் payment plan-இன்படி, இந்தக் கட்டத்துக்கான தவணையை இப்போது செலுத்த வேண்டும்:
தவணை (ஒப்பந்தத் தொகையில் [10%]): ₹[6,00,000]
GST @ [5%]: ₹[30,000]
மொத்தம்: ₹[6,30,000] — [27 நவம்பர் 2026]-க்குள் செலுத்தவும்.
Demand letter மற்றும் architect சான்றிதழை இத்துடன் இணைத்துள்ளோம்.
பணம் செலுத்த: RTGS/NEFT — [கணக்கின் பெயர்], [வங்கி], கணக்கு எண் [எண்], IFSC [குறியீடு]. Remarks-இல் [B-302] என்று குறிப்பிட்டு, UTR எண்ணை எங்களுக்கு அனுப்புங்கள்.
வீட்டுக் கடன் (home loan) மூலம் செலுத்துகிறீர்களா? இதை உங்கள் வங்கிக்கு அனுப்புங்கள், அல்லது எங்களிடம் சொல்லுங்கள் — வங்கிக்கான கடிதத்தை நாங்களே அனுப்புகிறோம்.
ஏதேனும் சந்தேகம் இருந்தால், இங்கேயே பதில் அனுப்புங்கள்.
[உங்கள் பெயர்], [நிறுவனம்]
Covering note — Hindi
नमस्ते [नाम] जी,
आपके फ्लैट [B-302] के निर्माण की जानकारी: [Green Meadows] के टावर [B] में तीसरी मंज़िल की छत की ढलाई (3rd floor roof slab) [12 नवंबर 2026] को पूरी हो गई है।
आपके पेमेंट प्लान के अनुसार, इस चरण की किस्त अब जमा करनी है:
किस्त (एग्रीमेंट वैल्यू का [10%]): ₹[6,00,000]
GST @ [5%]: ₹[30,000]
कुल: ₹[6,30,000] — [27 नवंबर 2026] तक जमा करें।
डिमांड लेटर और आर्किटेक्ट का सर्टिफिकेट इस मैसेज के साथ भेज रहे हैं।
भुगतान: RTGS/NEFT — [खाते का नाम], [बैंक], खाता संख्या [नंबर], IFSC [कोड]। रिमार्क्स में [B-302] लिखें और UTR नंबर हमें भेज दें।
होम लोन से भुगतान कर रहे हैं? इसे अपने बैंक को भेज दें, या हमें बताएँ — बैंक के लिए पत्र हम सीधे भेज देंगे।
कोई भी सवाल हो तो यहीं जवाब दें।
[आपका नाम], [कंपनी]
A few days before the due date, a short reminder with the amount, the date and the account does more than a second letter. After the due date, keep to the words of your agreement: the interest clause, nothing more.
Common mistakes in builder demand letters
- Asking before the stage is done. The date must match the architect's certificate. Banks go by the work actually done, so an early letter holds up the loan part, and the buyer stops trusting your letters.
- A share that is not in the agreement. Copy the percentages from the agreement's payment schedule, and quote its clause or schedule number.
- The wrong GST. 5% on an affordable flat, 1% on one that is not, GST worked on land again, or GST on a flat whose whole price came after the completion certificate. Settle the rate per project with your CA once.
- An interest rate of your own. Under the RERA Act, a buyer who pays late owes interest at the rate the rules prescribe, and it is the same rate you would owe the buyer for your own default (sections 19(7) and 2(za)). Tamil Nadu's rules set it at the State Bank of India's highest marginal cost of lending rate plus 2% (rule 18). Quote the clause; do not invent a penalty.
- No "received so far". Without the running total, the buyer and their bank cannot reconcile, and the bank asks the buyer, who asks you.
- Missing names or numbers. The co-applicant left out, the loan account number wrong, no RERA number, no agreement date. Banks send these back.
- One account today, another next month. Keep one account per project in every letter, and tell buyers in writing if it ever changes.
- The bank's letter sent late. The buyer's own money is due on the date you set, but the loan part waits for your letter and the certificate. Send the bank's letter the same day as the buyer's.
- Treating the buyer's TDS as a short payment. On a higher-value flat, the buyer may have to deduct income tax at source from each payment and pay it to the government. Credit it to their account when the TDS certificate comes, and ask your CA for the current rules.
- Calling the letter the invoice. The GST invoice is its own document with its own rules; see the GST section above.
Got a demand letter from your builder? What to check
If you are the buyer, check these before you pay. If you are the builder, make sure your letter already answers them:
- the stage is really done: the architect's certificate is attached and dated, and a site visit or photos agree;
- the share and the amount match the payment schedule in your agreement;
- the GST rate is right for your flat, and the GST is on its own line;
- the account is the one in your agreement or the builder's earlier letters — if it has changed, confirm it by calling the builder's office on a number you already have, not one in the new letter;
- with a home loan, your bank has the letter, the certificate and the receipts for what you paid yourself.
Keep every letter, certificate and payment proof together; your bank will ask for them. If something does not match, write to the builder before the due date and quote the clause of your agreement.
Demand letters in iSuite AI – Real Estate
If you send these letters for a whole tower at a time, iSuite AI – Real Estate does it for you, on Real Estate Growth:
- Set the project's construction schedule once: its stages, each a share of the agreement value; the days a buyer has to pay; the GST on each part, which you set (it starts at 5%); the note under every letter; and the paper — a page with your logo, name and address, or your own letterhead.
- Put each flat on the schedule. Its agreement value starts from the buyer's latest cost sheet or the flat's price, and you can change it.
- When a stage is done, mark it done in the towers it is done in. Before anything goes, you see every demand it raises — each buyer, their share and its GST — worked out to the rupee.
- One click raises them all. Each buyer's part goes on their payment plan, due in the days you set, and a letter on your paper goes to them on WhatsApp: the stage and when it was done, the agreement value, this instalment and its GST, what they paid before, how to pay — a Razorpay link when you take payments online — and the project's RERA number when you keep it on the project. The payment reminders then follow it up.
The letters go in a WhatsApp template with the letter as its document; you make it in one click, and once Meta approves it the letters go by themselves. A stage marked done by mistake can be marked not done, which takes its demands back as long as nothing has been paid against them. The AI agent can tell a buyer how far their tower has got and what they owe, and hands a waiver, or a payment it has not seen, to your team.
The letter to a buyer's bank is not made by the app: use the format above for it. Meta decides approval for the WhatsApp Business Platform, usually in 1–2 weeks, and approves each template too. WhatsApp message charges are billed by Meta, separately from iSuite AI. The AI agent runs on iSuite AI credits, and both plans include free credits every month.