Section 3 in West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act, 1972
3. Definitions.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,(a)"apartment" means part of a property having a direct exit to a road, street or highway or to a common area leading to such road, street or highway which together with its undivided interest in the common areas and facilities forms an independent [residential unit and includes a flat] [Substituted by West Bengal Act 28 of 1996 for the words residential unit];[Explanation."Flat" shall mean a separate set of premises, whether self-contained or not, used or intended to be used for residence or office or showroom or shop or godown or garage or any other commercial purposes forming part of a building or for any of the purposes referred to in sub-clauses (a) to (i) of clause (2) of section 390 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980 (West Bengal Act LIX of 1980).] [Substituted by the West Bengal Apartment Ownership (Amendment) Act, 2008 (West Bengal Act No. 29 of 2008) w.e.f. 04.02.2009.](b)"Association of Apartment Owners" means the association competent to contract in its own name and formed in accordance with the provisions made in the bye-law;(c)"building" means a building containing two or more apartments or more than one building, each being a complete unit or each containing two or more apartments comprised in the same property;(d)"common areas and facilities" includes(1)the land on which the building is located and all easements, rights and appurtenances belonging to the land and the building,(2)the foundations, columns, girders, beams, supports, main walls, roofs, halls, corridors, lobbies, stairs, stairways, fire-escapes and entrances and exits of the building,(3)the basements, cellars, yards, gardens, parking areas, shopping centres, schools, garages, building or apartment vacant or occupied by a tenant or any other person not being an owner, and transferred or proposed to be transferred to the Association of Apartment Owners and storage spaces,(4)the premises for the lodging of janitors or persons employed for the management of the property,(5)installations of common services, such as, power, light, gas, hot and cold water, heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, sewerage, etc.,(6)the elevators, tanks, pumps, motors, compressors, pipes and ducts and in general all apparatus and installations existing for common use,(7)such other common facilities as may be specially provided for in the Declaration,(8)all other parts of the property necessary or convenient to its existence, maintenance and safety, or normally in common use;(e)"common expenses" means expenses of administration, maintenance, repair or replacement of the common areas and facilities and ail other sums assessed against the apartment owners by the Association of Apartment Owners;(f)"common profit" means the balance of all income, rents, profits and revenues from the common areas and facilities remaining after the deduction of the common expenses;(g)"Competent Authority" means any person, or any officer not below the rank of a Deputy Magistrate, authorised by the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette to perform functions of the Competent Authority under this Act, for such area as may be specified in the notification, and different persons or officers may be authorised for different functions or for different areas;(h)"Declaration" means the instrument by which the property is submitted to the provisions of this Act, as hereinafter provided;(i)"limited common areas and facilities" means those common areas and facilitieS which may be designated in the Declaration as reserved for use of certain apartment or apartments to the exclusion of the other apartments;(ia)[ "owner", in relation to any property or part thereof or apartment, includes [Substituted, by section 2(1) of the West Bengal Apartment Ownership (Amendment) Act, 1998.](i)any person owning such property or part thereof or apartment, or(ii)any person deemed to be owning such property or part thereof or apartment, or(iii)any promoter, or(iv)a lessee of such property or part thereof or apartment, where the lease is for a period of thirty years or more:Provided that any person who has executed an agreement for purchase or for taking lease for a period of thirty years or more, of any property or part thereof or apartment or has paid the consideration or part thereof, shall be deemed to be owning such property or part thereof or apartment even though the document for purchase or lease of such property or part thereof or apartment has not been registered;](j)"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;(k)"property" comprises the land, the building and the common areas and facilities;(l)[ "promoter" means a person who constructs, or causes to be constructed, a building on a plot of land for the purpose of transfer of such building by sale, gift or otherwise to any other person or to a company, cooperative society or association of persons, and includes [Substituted, by section 2(2) of the West Bengal Apartment Ownership (Amendment) Act, 1998.](i)his assign, if any,(ii)the person who constructs, and the person who transfers by sale, gift or otherwise, the building, if the two are different persons, or(iii)any board, company, corporation, firm or other association of persons, established by or under any law for the time being in force.][ * * * *] [Section 3A omitted by section 3 of the West Bengal Apartment Ownership (Amendment) Act, 1998.]
