May 18, 2008
FINANCIAL QUOTIENT
Top? Top of what?
Where do you see this?
On anything that refers to a building under construction, ranging from hoardings to property advertisements.
What does it mean?
When a building is completed, its owners will apply for a Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC), but this takes some time to obtain.
In the meantime, the owners can ask the Building and Construction Authority to issue a Temporary Occupation Permit, or TOP, for the building. This allows them to occupy the building even before the CSC is received.
During construction, developers often provide an estimated TOP date, which indicates the year - and sometimes even the month - when the building is expected to be completed.
Why is it important?
No one can move into a building, whether office or residential, until it has obtained the TOP.
For many homebuyers, the TOP date also marks the deadline by which they have to pay up the bulk of their home loans. Under some schemes, buyers pay an upfront deposit of 20 per cent of the home's purchase price, with the rest payable upon the TOP date.
So you want to use the term. Just say...
'We're getting married this year but our condo will obtain the TOP only in 2010, so in the meantime, we have to find another place to live in.'
Fiona Chan
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