Advance for Purchase or Construction of House (GBOCWWB)

What is the Advance for Purchase or Construction of House scheme?

Advance for Purchase or Construction of House is a welfare scheme of the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (GBOCWWB), which operates under the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Government of Goa. Through the scheme, a worker registered with the Board can obtain an advance from the Board's welfare fund towards buying or building a house.

The Board itself states that it has implemented the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Act 1996 in the state of Goa with effect from 1 April 2008. That Act, and the cess collected under the companion Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act 1996, are what fund the Board. Money levied on the cost of construction across the state flows into a welfare fund, and that fund pays for benefits to the workers who did the building.

The housing advance is the largest single thing that fund does for an individual worker. Construction workers in Goa build houses for other people for a living and are among the least likely to own one. Many live on site, in rented rooms, or in temporary settlements. An advance from the Board; repayable, but from a welfare fund rather than a commercial lender: is designed to make ownership reachable without the worker going to a moneylender at informal rates.

Who is eligible for the housing advance?

You can apply if:

• You are a registered beneficiary of the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board. Registration as a building worker is the gateway to every benefit the Board provides.
• Your membership of the Fund is current, with contributions paid up to date.
• You are seeking the advance for the purchase or the construction of a house for yourself.
• You can produce documents of title; ownership papers for the plot where you intend to build, or an agreement to purchase.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not registered with the Board. An unregistered construction worker has no claim on the welfare fund, however long they have worked in the trade.
• Your registration has lapsed because contributions were not paid. Membership must be restored first.
• You are an employer or contractor rather than a building worker. The Board's benefits run to workers; establishments employing building workers have separate registration obligations under the same Act, not benefit entitlements.
• You cannot show title to the property or a purchase agreement. An advance against an unidentified future house is not sanctioned.
• You are seeking money for a purpose other than housing. The Board runs separate schemes for tools, pension, disability and other needs.

How much is the advance?

The Board fixes the quantum of the housing advance by resolution, and the sanctioned ceiling is revised from time to time. This guide does not state a rupee figure because no current ceiling for the Goa housing advance could be confirmed on a Government of Goa source at the time of writing. A worker should confirm the amount currently sanctioned, and the repayment terms attached to it, directly with the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment on 0832-2437081, 0832-2437082 or 0832-2437083.

Two features of the benefit are structural rather than variable and are worth understanding before applying:

• It is an advance, not a grant. The money is repayable to the welfare fund, normally in instalments, and the repayment schedule forms part of the sanction order.
• It is paid against a specific transaction. A purchase or a construction, and the Board expects the documents of that transaction, not a general statement of housing need.

What documents are required?

The registration card with current contributions is the document that decides whether an application is even considered. Everything else is about the house; this one is about entitlement.

How to apply for the housing advance

1. Confirm that your registration with the Board is live. Check your identity card and your contribution record at the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment. If contributions have lapsed, restore membership before anything else.
2. Obtain the prescribed application form for the Advance for Purchase or Construction of House from the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board through the Labour Commissioner's office.
3. Assemble the property documents — title papers and an approved building plan with a cost estimate if you are constructing, or the agreement with the seller if you are purchasing.
4. Attach your Board registration card, contribution record, Aadhaar card and bank account details.
5. Submit the completed application to the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board through the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, and collect an acknowledgement with the inward number and date.
6. Await the Board's sanction order, which will state the amount sanctioned and the repayment terms, and read those terms before accepting disbursement.

How do I check the status of my application?

The Board does not publish an online status tracker for its welfare schemes. Status is checked by contacting the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment on 0832-2437081, 0832-2437082 or 0832-2437083, or by email at com-labo.goa@nic.in, quoting the inward number on your acknowledgement.

The Board's page at labour.goa.gov.in/bocwb carries a set of e-services, the Labour and Employment card, registration of establishments employing building workers, and related services, and it is worth checking whether the current year's list includes an online status facility, since the Board's e-service catalogue is added to over time.

Why do housing advance applications fail?

• Registration lapsed for want of contributions. This is the most common cause across all of the Board's benefit schemes.
• No clear title. An advance for construction on land the worker does not own, or on land held jointly without the co-owners' consent, does not proceed.
• Purchase agreement not executed. An intention to buy is not the same as an agreement to buy.
• No approved building plan where construction is proposed.
• An earlier advance outstanding. A worker still repaying a previous advance is normally not sanctioned a second one.
• Bank account details wrong, which stops disbursement after sanction.

Where do I complain?

The Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Government of Goa, is the departmental authority for the Board. It can be reached on 0832-2437081, 0832-2437082 or 0832-2437083, or by email at com-labo.goa@nic.in. The office publishes a citizen charter and a citizen's client charter on labour.goa.gov.in, and names an appellate authority.

A grievance may also be registered against the department through the Government of Goa's citizen services portal at goaonline.gov.in.

Practical advice

• Keep your contributions current even in lean months. The whole of the Board's benefit structure, housing advance, tools loan, pension, disability pension: hangs off continuous membership of the Fund, and a gap costs more than the contribution saved.
• Ask for the ceiling and the repayment schedule in writing before you commit to a purchase. Building a purchase plan around an assumed advance amount is how workers end up short at registration of the sale deed.
• Register the establishment you work for. Establishments employing building workers must register with the Labour Commissioner, and a worker attached to a registered establishment has a much easier time proving employment in the trade.
• Do not treat the advance as free money. It is repayable, and default affects eligibility for the Board's other benefits.
• Registered workers should also look at the Board's Pension Benefit, Disability Pension and Loan for the Purchase of Tools schemes, which draw on the same registration and the same fund.