Republic Day is the perfect time for residents of a housing society to forget their differences and quarrels. After all, celebrating the unity and brotherhood of the country should encourage each of us to follow the same principles. Most housing societies have at least a flag hoisting event on Republic Day. Others have more elaborate functions. What your society chooses to do would depend on the budget – and more importantly on the level of enthusiasm among residents.

What You Can Organize on Republic Day

(i) Flag Hoisting: No Republic Day function is complete without the flag hoisting ceremony. The flag hoisting is normally held early in the morning. A senior citizen of the housing complex could be asked to hoist the flag. Organize a choir to sing patriotic songs and end with the national anthem.

(ii) Sports Meet: A sports meet is a good way to get better participation. Most children are eager to sign up and you can be sure that parents will come to encourage and cheer their kids. A couple of contests can also be organized for adults.  A prize distribution ceremony at the end will wrap up the function perfectly.

(iii) Honoring Heroes: Republic Day is also an occasion where heroes are honored. It is a good idea to have a small ceremony to honor those people in your housing society who have contributed time and effort for good causes. This need not be restricted to just society activities. Residents of the housing society who have worked for upliftment and empowerment of the disadvantaged in society can be given a small token of appreciation.

(iv) Fancy Dress Competition: Fancy dress competitions are regularly organized in housing societies as part of the Republic Day celebrations. You can make the competition a little more interesting by introducing a theme – for example, children can be asked to dress up as national leaders involved in our freedom struggle. Other competitions like singing competition, dance competition or coloring competitions revolving around the theme of patriotism can be organized.

(v) Residents Meet: Republic Day is also a time when residents get a chance to network and socialize with their neighbors. A residents’ meet organized on this day will ensure good participation since almost everybody takes a day off work on Republic Day. The Residents Meet can also be used to discuss and thrash out petty problems and troubles between various individuals or groups.

(vi) Cultural Programs: A cultural program in the evening is normally organized in most housing societies. Aspects of life from various regions and parts of India can be showcased during this program. This will help residents of the housing complex to understand each other’s lifestyle and will encourage brotherhood.

The country celebrates Republic Day in order to bring about a sense of identity, patriotism and unity among people. After all, a country can grow only if people have pride in themselves and their country.  The same holds true for a housing society, and a grand Republic Day celebration is a good way to encourage harmony among residents.

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Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

As the year end comes , we just recieved great testimonial from Mr. Ganesh Raja, treasurer of Ittina Abby, a 200+ unit society in Bangalore who have been using ApnaComplex for past 6 months now. Below is the testimonial:

Gone are the days of Maintaining Excel sheets and reconciling the same for Expenses made … Gone are the Days of having a home grown solution that crashes or have sleepless nights thinking about a Hard Disk crashes… ApnaComplex has really revolutionized facility maintenance all the way from collecting Maintenance to spending it. We at ITTINA ABBY are so happy and yesterday also a resident was saying how easy it is to use it and they never have to come to the Treasurer’s office for anything.

Great Team who is always ready to hear our problems and offer a solution even if it means more work for them. Always there to correct mistakes made by our Facility Manager, Support is so important for a System like this and the Team at Apnacomplex have understood that very well.

Kudos to the team and hope to see them enhance this more as we roll into 2012. — Ganesh, Treasurer ITTINA ABBY LBS Nagar Vimanapura PO”

Thank you Mr. Ganesh for your kind words!! We are so happy to receive these words from you!

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Want to ease your (or your treasurer’s) burden? – Get on to ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners way lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

Its been almost one year since we showcased ApnaComplex in the NASSCOM Product Launchpad as one of the top 10 start ups in 2010. How time just flew!

NASSCOM Product Conclave 2011 is a few days away, we thought its a good time to reflect back on our journey since the last Product Conclave. Our biggest achievement since then – we firmly established ourselves in the market as a very comprehensive and value-for-money software for every gated community.

In the past one year, we had many “firsts” to our name and have consistently raised the bar for Apartment Management and Accounting Software with features like:

• Capability to generate fully adjusted Balance Sheets online for Housing Socities,
• Multi-tiered rate structures for Facility Booking,
• Ability to enforce acceptance of bye-laws by members,
• Online Society Registers to meet regulatory needs,
• Highly configurable Penalty Rules Engine,
• Meeting Management – Innovative Meeting Calendar for Society Meetings/Events

For those who are statistically inclined, following are few metrics for us in last 1 year:

• We have made 45 releases – thats almost one release every week – we are always hungry to add new capabilities
• We have done at least 12 major upgrades – all made available at no extra cost to our customers!
• We have doubled our server infrastructure 4 times
• Got covered in YourStory.in, BizExchange, RealEstate Times, Aaj ka Anand, Accommodation Times, Sakal

We also had loads of fun when we distributed Holi Posters, conducted the Drawing Contest for Children of ApnaComplex customers, sponsored and participated in the flagship ApnaComplex – TPL Cricket Tournament along with Treamis World School for gated communities in Bangalore.

All of this ofcourse was not possible with out support from our customers – all of them supported us superbly by constantly giving feedback, shaping up requirements for new features, helping us with beta testing, providing references – what not – they have been with us in every step we took.

Some of them gave us fantastic moments that made us extremely happy and proud like – “Going ‘live’ with their portal with all accounting data in less than a week after they signed up for the 30-day trial”, “Attaching expense voucher generated by the software along with the payment to us!! We take a moment to THANK each one of our customers and users. A few of our customers truly deserve very special mention – for they not only made us sit on the edge and pushed us to deliver, but also backed us to hilt:

• Mr. Ravichandran and Mr. Ram Bhagawat of Citilights Liberty,
• Mr. R V Ashok of Appaswamy Orchards,
• Mr. Balasubramaniam and Mr. Kannan Viswanathan of Sobha Azalea and Althea,
• Mr. P V R Prasad of Aparna Sarovar,
• Mr. Ganesh Raja of Ittina Abby,
• Mr. Amish Shah of SJR Spencer,
• Mr. Praveen of Ferns Habitat,
• Mr. Vivek Baliga of Purva Panorama,
• Mr. Pradeep Parmar of Lotus CHS,
• Mr. Sivaram of Dream Meadows,
• Mr. Hafiz Abraham of Abad Aquarius

We are truly fortunate to have such customers! We also thank various partners – Citizen Matters, Chennai Online and others who were there with us through out.

As we experience the next wave of growth – we make a promise to ourselves that we will continue to build new features and support our customers that will make community living a pleasure!

One more first by ApnaComplex – we are happy to announce the release of Meeting Management module for beta to all our customers. The Meeting Management module handles the following:

1. Schedule One-time Meetings , Recurring Meetings (daily, weekly, monthly)

2. Invite attendees with agenda – all committee members, all owners, all residents, one or more groups or a selected list of members.

3. Invitees can respond to a Meeting Invite by accepting/declining/marking tentative

4. Meeting Organizers can reschedule/cancel meetings, update list of invitees, mark attendance of invitees.

5. Record/Upload and share Meeting Minutes, create action items associated with a meeting and track them to closure.

6. Members can see all the meetings they have been invited to and the ones they are organizing in different colours in a calendar view.

So, go ahead invite selected friends of your community formally for that birthday party or schedule the weekly committee meetings!

Happy Meetings!

The need for fire management has become an integral part of every housing society, and this is especially true in a housing system where hundreds and thousands of people reside in close quarters.

Effective safety measures including actions or precautions should be adopted in a housing society in order to forestall any hazards or accidents and make sure that no residents are harmed, or even the buildings for that matter.

Fire Safety Measures in a Housing Society

Fire safety measures should be taken when a housing society building is being constructed; steps should be implemented to protect the structure while the building is standing; and general safety tips need to be taught to all residents in order to train them for emergencies.

There are some basic conditions that need to be fulfilled:

• Your housing society buildings should conform to the local building code.
• The upper limit tenancy within any part of the building should not be exceeded.
• Fire suppression systems should be installed (like sprinkler systems), and fire hose reels, fire hydrants, and fire extinguishers need to be provided.
• The residents of the housing society must be given lessons on how to use fire extinguishers and fire hose reels.
• Fire extinguishers should be placed in easily accessible spots so that the occupants of the housing society know about their location and can easily access it at the time of need.
• Fire extinguishers need to be checked and maintained on a monthly basis by the maintenance crew.

• Automatic fire detection and alarm systems (smoke detectors) should be installed on all floors and these will inform the occupants about the impending danger ahead of time and they will be able to evacuate the building without any mishap.
• The maintenance team should ensure that all alarms are free of dust by regularly vacuuming over and around them. They should replace the batteries in smoke alarms regularly.
• Proper exit signs should be installed as these will help the occupants to act quickly in case of a fire.
• Smoke exhaust systems can be installed on every floor as they help in minimizing the accumulation of smoke in case of fire, which could be quite dangerous and life threatening.
• Hazardous materials should be stored very carefully as they are most likely to catch fire within the building.
• Flammable materials should be monitored within the building.
• One of the important steps is to conduct fire drills throughout the year. Once this is done in a regular manner there will be less chaos during an emergency.
• The housing society management can conduct fire safety education programs for children during the weekends.

Failure to meet these safety measures will significantly affect the levels of fire safety in a housing society building and can compromise on the safety of the occupants.

Tips for Residents

You can also work towards maintaining a fire safe housing society by following these small tips.

• Don’t overload electrical systems.
• Be careful about smoking near combustible objects.
• Don’t store combustibles near equipments that emit heat, sparks or flame.
• Maintain all electrical wiring in good condition.
• Maintain your heating and cooking appliances.

Once these safety measures are followed, the housing society will be truly protected against sudden mishaps and accidents.

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Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!
ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

Thanks to Mr. Srinivas A, one of ApnaComplex well-wishers, we learnt about Bangalore Graduates Constituency Election to be held sometime around May 2012. Here is gist of what we gathered in Q&A format.

Q: So, why are we talking about an 2012 election NOW?
A: Simple – the voter registrations for this election will be closed by November 5th 2011.  Hence the urgency.

Q: So what? I am already enrolled as a voter, have a voters card and have even voted earlier for our assembly elections.
A: No. The regular voters card will NOT be valid for voting in Graduates Constituency Election. You need to follow a separate enrollment process.

Q: Really? How is this “Graduates Constituency Election” different from other elections?
A: For a “Graduates Constiutency Election”, only a subset of pouplation are eligible to vote. Only Residents of the constituency who hold a college degree from any recognised University in India, which they received at least three years ago are eligible to vote. Basically, this is an exclusive opportunity for educated population to make a difference by electing deserving people to our legislature.

Q: Ok, you got me interested. What should I do to register myself to be able to vote in 2012 elections?
A: Follow the three simple steps below:
1. Download Form-18, print it and fill it.
2. Make a copy of your degree certificate AND address proof  (such as Ration Card, regular Voter ID card,  passport, driver’s license, electricity bill etc.)  and self-attest them.
3.  Go to your nearest BBMP office and submit these documents (take along the original degree certificate to be validated by BBMP staff).

Do note, you can submit the documents of all your family members as well.

Here is more detailed FAQ.

We would encourage ALL graudates in Bangalore to register themselves to be able to vote when the elections happen. Since the time is short, we encourage all resident welfare assocaitions to run campaigns in your complex/layout. As a part of your campaign, if you need any help with respect to having the form-18 available etc. do drop a comment below and we would be glad to co-ordinate.

You can download the Register to Vote Poster, print the same and post the same in your society’s noticeboard. Please ensure you add a volunteer’s name from your society after printing.

With Diwali around the corner, safety measures in a housing society must be taken against all possible threats to ensure that there are no mishaps of any kind.

Fire safety in a housing society is especially of prime importance, and fire exits must be provided in all buildings and this is mandatory.

Housing Society Fire Escapes

A fire escape is an emergency exit usually located outside a building but always as a separate entity from the main building. As the name specifies, it provides an escape route in case a fire breaks out within the housing society building or any other emergency surfaces, when the main exit is cut out of access.

Fire escapes have many levels, and they have horizontal platforms on each level (floor) that are connected to each other through ladders or stairs. These escapes are made of steel to keep leaves or snow from settling on them. They are generally made from fire resistant materials and extend from windows at every level.

The access from the inside portion of the housing society building to the fire escape is usually through a fire exit, but in certain buildings, the only access might be through the windows.

Fire escape doors are normally fitted with fire alarms in a housing society in order to prevent unauthorized people from gaining access and in order to prevent people from using the route for other purposes.

Installing and Maintaining Fire Escapes

• If you find out that your housing society building does not have fire escapes, you can take up this issue during a resident meeting and ensure that the management committee gets them installed.
• Every floor must have fire escapes as an alternative to staircases and lifts as these can’t be used during the time of fire.
• The maintenance team should ensure that no objects are kept in front of the fire escape, in order to ensure that the exit route is not blocked.
• The exit routes must be cleaned and maintained regularly by the maintenance team so that there are no problems during an emergency. This should be done on a monthly basis.
• While installing the fire exits or escapes, care should be taken and quality infrastructure should be installed as this is a serious investment.
• The ladders can be of chain or web type. Railings should be provided along the ladders and the fire escapes in order to prevent any falls.
• The ladder from the first level of the fire escape to the ground floor can be fixed. A better idea would be to opt for a ladder that swings down along a flexible joint or slides down.
• Movable fire escape ladders are preferred in order to dissuade burglars from entering the buildings through such fire escapes.

With your personal safety and the safety of your family in mind, ensure that you bring up the concept of fire safety during resident meetings so that fire escapes are installed. While moving into a housing society, ensure that the buildings have proper fire safety measures in place.

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Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

Proper roads are absolutely necessary in every apartment complex. The roads in an apartment complex are mainly used for traveling purposes, and they also add an element of beauty to the apartment complex.

The Need for Maintenance

Maintaining the roads is quite important, for daily activities within the complex to pass unhindered. Well maintained roads in an apartment complex also increase the value of the place.

When roads in an apartment complex are not maintained in a regular manner, the apartment association will have to spend much money on filling the potholes or setting up new roads.

This money, which can be saved through periodic maintenance, can be channelized to various other projects that require attention in an apartment.

In order to ensure that the roads are properly maintained, take up the issue with the apartment association during resident body meetings. While residents can take small steps in order to contribute their bit, the apartment association can get the maintenance team to do the difficult tasks.

• Residents should be constantly updated about the need to maintain roads by the apartment association
• Littering on roads should be strictly prohibited and waste bins should be provided for this purpose
• Stagnant bodies of water should be immediately cleared, especially after instances of rain
• The roads should be swept regularly by the maintenance crew

Maintenance Measures in Apartment Complex Roads

The roads in an apartment complex undergo a lot of destructive changes, and fatigue cracking, rutting, roughness, weathering, and raveling are common problems that can be noted.

The apartment association will have to take on different approaches based on the problem involved. Crack sealing is a process that’s followed in order to maintain roads and surface treatment can be done in order to prolong the life of the particular road.

This treatment measures should be taken up by professionals, who can be hired by the apartment association. Through surface treatment measures, these problems can be solved.

• Fatigue Cracks – These are cracks that are seen on the roads due to fatigue.  These cracks occur due to the added effects of wheel loads. Fatigue cracks are a sure sign of the road’s structural deterioration, and the treatment depends on the severity of the cracks. Water and dirt should be prevented from entering these cracks as they might grow worse this way.
• Environmental Cracking – This is transverse or longitudinal cracking that develops in asphalt as it ages and endures thermal stresses related to everyday temperature changes. These cracks are very small when compared to fatigue cracks, and moisture should be prevented from entering these cracks for them to not develop.
• Surface Wear – The wear on the surface is mainly due to tire wear and material degradation (raveling). Its maintenance includes removing the surface and/or covering up the surface which is worn. Again, surface treatment depends on the severity of the surface wear.
• Rutting – This signifies permanent degradation in the layers of the road. This can happen if the structure design is improper or if the roads are overloaded. It can also happen if the surface layer is of poor quality.
• Potholes – Pits or holes produced by wear or weathering on the road surfaces can be fixed through surface treatments.

A lot of factors affect the type of maintenance undertaken within the housing complex. These include the type of distress, vehicle loading, the general climate in the region, the cost of treatment; the roads expected life, the existing road type, and availability of good materials.

Residents can help maintain the quality of roads within the apartment complex by giving regular feedback on their defects to the management as well as bearing with the inconvenience caused during the repair of the roads.

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Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!
ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

Organizing Dussehra celebrations in a housing society can be an absolutely thrilling experience, mainly if you take into consideration the many rituals and rites associated with this festival. Dussehra is one of the most awaited festivals in India, given the commercial and social extravaganza that accompanies the religious festival.

Dussehra is a festival that’s celebrated with different beliefs and rituals in across the country. A housing society is an ideal place to celebrate Dussehra, mainly because people who come from various parts of the country and from different cultural background stay in such apartment complexes as they provide a cosmopolitan and multi-cultural environment.

In your housing society, you can provide a stage where the Mysore Dasara can blend seamlessly with the north-Indian Navaratri and the Bengali Durga Puja, within the same premises. Children will be exposed to the various aspects of their own festivals, and they will be able to gain an understanding about the different festivals celebrated across all states.

Some Tips for Celebrating Dussehra

You’ll need to bring together many members from your housing society for the celebrations to be a success. Planning the strategy in advance can help. Always ensure that the apartment association is aware of what’s going on.

• Allocate a budget for Dussehra celebrations. The source of funds can be in the form of donations from residents, and this can be collected before the event or in monthly amounts throughout the year. Local businesses may also be invited to set up stalls for food and entertainment purposes, and you can try and contact other businesses that can sponsor the event and put up advertisements.
• Try and involve the maximum number of residents. Notices circulated well in advance before the celebrations can ensure that individual families don’t make other plans for the festivities. This increases the level of participation.
• Detailed plans should be put in place for the day of the event. Detailed planning can help you avoid last minute modifications and inconveniences. The schedule for the event should be put up on notice boards and other common areas so that people know what to expect.
• Ensure representation from the different communities of people who live within the complex. This will enrich the event and make it more enjoyable for everyone, without seeming bland.
• Make sure that all government laws related to pandals, loudspeakers, and fireworks are abided by. This is something that the apartment association should take care of.
• The food served can be across different cuisines, cooked up by representatives of the many communities present. It would be safe to stick to delectable vegetarian fare throughout the festivities.
• Volunteers should be picked and invited from among the residents of the housing society. Dussehra celebrations are generally large-scale, so a handful of people may not be able to put all measures in place smoothly. A large, structured group of volunteers, with clear line of duties and reporting lines will help you execute the plans.
• Safety and security measures like fire-extinguishers and first-aid-kits should be arranged, along with contact numbers of in-house doctors. Loudspeakers should be used minimally and a lost-and-found desk can be added too.
• Cultural programs for children and adults, like rangoli, drawing, drama, dance, and singing or recitation competitions may be organized.

Dussehra celebrations in a housing society can provide a multi-cultural, enriching and enjoyable experience for all residents, irrespective of their age, culture or roots.

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Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!
ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

A housing society can either sport concrete roads or asphalt roads. Asphalt roads are steadily replacing concrete roads because of the low costs involved, despite the obvious advantages of concrete roads.While both types of roads, concrete and asphalt, have their own advantages and disadvantages; there is always the debate of which one among them is better. When it comes to choosing between concrete roads and asphalt roads for a housing society, the properties of both should be considered while deciding upon the material.

Advantages of Concrete Roads

• Durability – Concrete roads are more durable than the asphalt roads and have a long life of 40 years whereas asphalt roads last only for 10 years.
• Maintenance Free – Concrete roads don’t often require repair or patch work like asphalt roads.  They are more adaptable to stress and wear that’s caused by everyday vehicles. Maintenance of asphalt roads is often required as breakage and pit formation can be commonly noted in asphalt roads.
• Better Efficiency – While running on concrete roads, a vehicle consumes 15% to 20% less fuel than on asphalt roads; this is because of the fact that concrete roads don’t get deflected under the wheels of loaded vehicles.
• Tolerant to Automobile Fuel Spill – Concrete roads are more tolerant to vehicular fuel spill and leaking oils, although this might not be a problem in a housing society.

• Resistant to Extreme Climatic Conditions – Concrete roads are more resistant to extreme weather conditions like heavy rains and extreme heat. Excessive rains and other climatic conditions damage asphalt roads, and the roads need to be often repaired.
• Eco Friendly Versions – When asphalt roads are laid, the asphalt (bitumen) produces highly polluting gases. The melting process of asphalt produces a lot of harmful gases and is not eco-friendly. Also, vehicles consume less fuel while running on concrete roads. Concrete roads are better options for the eco conscious.
• Abundant Resources - Asphalt (bitumen) is obtained from imported petroleum, the reserve of which is reducing in a drastic manner. Concrete is obtained from locally and abundantly available limestone.

Advantages of Asphalt Roads

• Lower Costs of Road Laying – The paving cost for a concrete road is higher than the paving cost for an asphalt road. Asphalt is less costly when compared to concrete roads and it takes lesser time to build an asphalt road than a concrete road as it dries up faster.
• Easier Maintenance – In case of breaks or cracks in the concrete road, the whole concrete slab has to be replaced and this process can be a problem. Repairing a pit in the asphalt road is quite easier when compared to that of concrete roads. Asphalt roads can also be layered multiple times over the older layer.
• Better Traction – There is always an issue of safety in the case of snow or rain on concrete roads, as vehicles tend to slide or slip on concrete roads during the winter and monsoon. Asphalt roads offer better traction.
• Recyclable Types – Asphalt is a recyclable material. It can be repeatedly used after melting, and this is one huge advantage.

Taking these factors into consideration and after a general consensus, the housing society management can install asphalt or concrete roads within the premises.

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Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trail as well so that you can try before you buy!