The words in your report, explained.

A

Adjudicating officer

An officer appointed under the RERA Act, 2016 to decide claims for compensation against a promoter. Complaints go to the state RERA authority, and compensation is decided by the adjudicating officer under the procedure in your state's rules.

Agreement for sale

The registered agreement between the builder (promoter) and the buyer (allottee) for a flat in a project. It sets the price, the possession date and, in most state model agreements, repeats the builder's defect liability obligation. Keep a copy handy if you plan to raise a defect.

Allottee

The RERA Act's word for the person a flat has been allotted, sold or transferred to by the promoter. If you bought directly from the builder, you are the allottee and the defect liability obligation runs to you.

B

Brickbat coba

A traditional waterproofing layer of broken brick pieces laid in a cement and waterproofing compound mix, finished with a sloped plaster. It is common on terraces and in sunken bathroom floors in older Indian buildings. When it cracks or the slope fails, water sits in it and seeps into the ceiling below.

C

Capillary action

The way water climbs through tiny pores in brick, block, plaster and mortar, much as tea climbs up a biscuit. It is how water from a wet floor or the ground travels upward or sideways into a wall without any visible crack.

Concealed plumbing

Water and drain pipes chased into walls or floors and plastered over, as in most Indian bathrooms and kitchens. A slow leak at a joint shows up as a damp patch, bubbling paint or wet grout far from any visible tap.

Condensation

Water that forms when warm, moist indoor air touches a surface colder than its dew point, such as an air-conditioned wall, a window pane or a cold pipe. It looks like damp but comes from inside the room, not from a leak, and usually shows as mould in corners and behind furniture.

Consumer commission

The district, state and national consumer disputes redressal commissions under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. A homebuyer can approach them for deficiency in service, and which commission hears a case depends on the value involved. Speak to a lawyer before choosing between a consumer commission and RERA.

Coping

The sloped cap of concrete or stone on top of a parapet or boundary wall, usually with a drip groove underneath. It throws rain off the top of the wall. A cracked or flat coping lets water into the wall from above.

CPVC

Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride, the cream-coloured plastic pipe used for hot and cold water supply in most newer Indian flats. Its joints are solvent-welded, and a poorly made joint inside a wall can weep slowly for months.

D

Damp-proof course (DPC)

A water-resistant layer, often concrete with a waterproofing compound, laid at plinth level to stop ground moisture rising into the walls. Where it is missing, bridged by a raised floor or broken, ground-floor walls show rising damp and tide marks on the skirting.

Defect liability period

Under Section 14(3) of the RERA Act, 2016, a defect brought to the builder's notice within five years from the date of handing over possession must be fixed by the builder without further charge within 30 days. Your state's rules and your agreement for sale may add detail, so read both.

Dew point

The temperature at which moist air can hold no more water vapour and droplets start to form on a surface. In a humid Mumbai or Chennai flat, an AC-cooled wall or a cold water pipe can sit below the dew point and gather condensation.

Drip groove

A small channel cut along the underside of a sunshade, sill, slab edge or coping so rainwater drops off instead of running back along the underside into the wall. A missing or plastered-over drip groove often explains damp at the top of a window.

Dry reference reading

A moisture meter reading taken on a wall in the same flat that is known to be dry, before any other wall is scanned. Every later reading is compared against it, because meter readings on plaster and masonry are relative, not a laboratory moisture content.

E

Efflorescence

White, powdery or crystal-like salt deposits left on plaster or brick when water carrying dissolved salts evaporates at the surface. It shows that water has moved through the wall, though the wall may be dry today. Salts can also push up meter readings on a dry wall.

Emissivity

How well a surface gives off heat as infrared radiation. Painted plaster and shiny tiles or metal behave very differently, so a thermal camera can show a false hot or cold spot on glossy tiles, chrome fittings or foil.

External plaster

The outer cement plaster coat on the building's outside walls, usually finished with exterior paint. Hairline cracks in it let wind-driven monsoon rain into the wall, which then shows as damp on the inner face of the room.

F

Floor trap

The drain point in a bathroom, balcony or utility floor, often with a grating and a water seal. If the floor does not slope towards it, or the joint around it is not sealed, water seeps into the slab and shows on the ceiling of the flat below.

G

GI pipe

Galvanised iron pipe, used for water supply in many older Indian buildings. Over the years it rusts from the inside, and pinhole leaks at threaded joints inside a wall are a common cause of slow damp in 15 to 30 year old flats.

Grout

The filler between tiles. Cement grout is porous and cracks over time, letting shower water into the wall and the floor bed. Dark, damp or missing grout lines near the shower area are a common early sign of bathroom seepage.

H

Hygroscopic salts

Salts left in plaster by earlier damp that draw moisture from the air. A wall loaded with them can feel or read damp on humid days even after the leak is fixed, which is why some walls need fresh plaster after a repair.

I

Infrared (IR) thermography

Imaging surface temperature with a thermal camera. Evaporation cools a damp surface, so wet areas often show as cooler patches, but cold pipes, air flow, reflections and emissivity can create similar patterns. Megahedge confirms every thermal pattern with a moisture meter reading.

O

Occupancy certificate (OC)

The document a municipal or planning authority issues when a building is complete and can be occupied. Builders usually offer possession after receiving it. Ask to see it before you take possession of a new flat.

P

Parapet

The low wall around the edge of a terrace or balcony. Its top, its joint with the terrace floor and its outer plaster are frequent entry points for water into top-floor flats.

Pin moisture meter

A meter with two metal pins that measures electrical resistance between them on the surface. It is calibrated for wood, so on plaster and masonry its readings are relative and are always compared with a dry reference reading. The pins leave two tiny marks, nothing more.

Pinless moisture meter

A meter that is pressed flat against a surface and senses moisture without piercing it. It is quick for scanning large areas of wall, ceiling and skirting, and like a pin meter its readings on masonry are relative.

Plumbing shaft (duct)

The vertical duct, usually next to bathrooms or the kitchen, that carries the building's drain, soil and supply pipes past every floor. A leak in a common pipe in the shaft can wet the walls of several flats, and repairs are usually a society or association matter.

Possession letter

The letter from the builder offering or confirming possession of a new flat, with a date on it. Keep the original: the date of handing over possession matters for the defect liability period, and how states read that date can differ.

Promoter

The RERA Act's word for the builder or developer of a project. Under Section 14(3), the promoter must fix defects brought to its notice within five years from the date of handing over possession.

R

Re-scan

A return visit to the same marked areas after a repair, measured against the original readings, to see whether the wall is drying. A Megahedge re-scan costs ₹1,999 per visit for up to 6 marked areas.

Relative humidity (RH)

How much water vapour the air holds compared with the most it could hold at that temperature, shown as a percentage. High indoor RH during the monsoon raises the chance of condensation and mould, and Monsoon Watch sensors track it room by room.

RERA

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, and the state authority each state set up under it. Registered projects come under it, and buyers can file complaints with their state RERA authority. Check the current form and fee on the authority's portal.

Rising damp

Ground moisture that climbs up a wall by capillary action where the damp-proof course is missing or bridged. It is mostly seen on ground-floor and stilt-level walls, as a tide mark up to about knee height and crumbling plaster at the skirting.

S

Sill

The ledge at the bottom of a window opening, inside and outside. An outer sill that slopes towards the room, or a gap between the window frame and the sill, lets rain run into the wall below the window.

Snag list

A list of defects found in a new flat at handover, given to the builder to fix. A general snag list notes a stain; a seepage-focused list records where the damp is, the reading, the likely source and the date found.

Sunshade (chajja)

The concrete projection above a window that keeps out sun and rain. If its top slopes towards the wall or its drip groove is missing, rain runs back into the wall and shows as damp above the window frame inside.

T

Tide mark

A wavy line of staining or salt left at the highest point damp has reached on a wall, often along the skirting. It shows the edge of a wet zone, past or present, and a meter reading tells you which.

W

Waterproofing membrane

A continuous layer, such as a liquid-applied coating, a cementitious coat or a bituminous sheet, laid under tiles or on a terrace to stop water passing into the slab. Damage to it during later tiling or plumbing work is a common cause of bathroom leaks into the flat below.

Weep hole

A small opening at the base of a wall, parapet or window frame that lets trapped water drain out. Blocked weep holes, often painted or plastered over, hold water against the wall.