Managing Real Estate Clearance Tracker

Real Estate Industry is known to be one of the unorganized sector wherein a lot of statutory clearances, sanctions and approvals are required from various authorities to start the construction. Naming a few like, building plan sanction, fire NOC, PCB clearance, clearance from the Airport Authority, etc.

Every single clearance has a different validity period and a builder needs to approach various different authorities for the renewal or regularization of all such clearances, whenever required.

In the time where people forget birthdays or anniversaries of their loved ones - is it really possible to remember the validity period of all the clearances, sanctions and approvals having multiple expiry dates? I believe the answer is NO. Then what’s the solution?

So, the solution is to either install a software which pop-ups / highlights the due date of the nearby expiry OR to manage an efficient tracker in MS Excel which indicates the due date and alarms the nearby expiry of various statutory clearances.

We know that the installation of a new software is a costly affair. Hence, it's better to start off with MS excel at no cost and with a user friendly experience.

Clearance tracker has to be divided into two parts i.e. Pre and Post Clearances for better tracking and decision making. Extract of the clearance tracker template is shown below for your reference.

Now, apply conditional formatting with a color coding in MS Excel on Due / (overdue) column after applying todays formula to automatically highlight the nearby expiry or expired clearances.

The above tracker cannot be a permanent solution but will surely act as a relief in a current scenario where no proper format is followed to track the due dates of the clearances.

Usually, it becomes difficult for the liaisoning team to move with urgent haste in various statutory departments for the extension, renewal or regularising various clearances. Needless to mention that the delay in regularization could impact a company's performance.
Tracker has always been a game changer in terms of monitoring a project in real estate industry. However, there are only few organisations who maintains a proper tracker to keep a track on the expiry of all the statutory clearances and are able to avoid last minute rush in regularising the same.

Looking at the above concerns, its indeed a high time to maintain a tracker to avoid last minute surprises.

I hope this article will help to develop a tracker of various statutory clearances required for construction.

Please give your valuable feedback in the comments below.