Monthly Archives: May 2015

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5 Tip to Make Your Home Summer Ready

May 29,2015 / By / No Comment

Summers are a real pain in India with almost all the cities suffering from high humidity, a high discomfort index and cities like Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata and many others even experience severe heat waves. So being prepared for the extreme temperatures is of utmost importance. But, to be honest, most of us take it quite casually and depend entirely on air conditioners. This results in temperature fluctuations and we  fall sick due to it. Also, usage of A.C’s continuously means having to pay really high electricity bills etc. Thus, keeping in mind the summer woes that we face, here’s a checklist of five important things that you must take note of to help you sail through the Indian summers.

1. If the air conditioners are switched off the general idea is to keep the blinds and windows open to let the air in. Well, it’s a bad idea as the air is hot and all it does is warm your homes. In fact, its always best to close the windows and pull the blinds before noon as this would help to keep your houses much coolers. Also sprinkling some water on the floor and then switching on the fan for allowing the water to dry off would also help in the cooling process.

2. Another way of ensuring a cool home during summers is to have black windowpanes which blocks sunlight almost entirely. Choose for low solar heat gain coefficient panes. However if this sounds a little expensive then simply go for the reflective film, sunscreen-fabric curtains, or roller shades. During winters you can simply uninstall them to let the sunlight in.

3. Refrigerators are a lifeline during summers. Not only to keep food items from rotting but also for us to have cold drinks, cold water and ice cubes. So maintaining the refrigerators are quite important. Condensing coils are the ones that have the highest chances of going bad as most of us don’t really clean it well. Also, remove the base plate or top grate and clean well. Best would however be to get a servicing done just before the summers.

4. We love colors and the same is seen in our home decors and bed spreads. But during summers do use lighter linen, material wise and even color wise. Use light pastel colours or better still white which would help to give your rooms a breezy feel. In fact, if it’s really hot then simply put the linens in a plastic bag and put in the refrigerator for a little while. Then take it out and spread it just before going to bed. A great way to beat the heat.

5. Don’t forget to ensure that there’s plenty of fresh air in your homes. So allow cross ventilation and place houseplants wherever feasible. Some of the best air-cleaning houseplants are snake plants, spider plants, English ivy, and small-leafed rubber plants.

 Here’s hoping these tips would help you enjoy a much cooler summer without having to spend much and the intense Indian summer would not really bog you down as such. Happy Summers!

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Right Step Tips uncategorized

Tips for Making Your Home Earthquake Resistant

May 28,2015 / By / No Comment

Lockwood icons_Earthquake_Brown

Earthquakes can occur at any place and at anytime and if one is not prepared the loss to property and life would be unimaginable. In the wake of the recent earthquakes that hit Nepal and flattened many of its towns and historical structures we at CommonFloor felt it our responsibility to inform each one of you about earthquake proof houses and how to ensure that your abode is earthquake resistant to a large extent, if not entirely. We say ‘not entirely’ as building entirely earthquake proof houses is extremely expensive and may in fact be  impossible.

Firstly, if you are getting your house/apartment built then you have to know which part of India you live in. India is divided into mainly two zones- one being the high seismic zone and the other one being the low seismic zone or may be nil. The northern part of India falls around the high seismic zone and hence buildings there must be built in a way to be able to sustain jolts of a minimum of 4.5 in the Richter scale. If you are buying a house then make sure to get the structural design from your builder so as to get it checked by experts. It might be a lengthy process but it’s always important to be safe.

If you are in the process of getting your house built then here are some of the ways through which you can ensure an earthquake resistant house. To begin with, include shear walls, shear core and cross bracing when the foundation is laid. Support walls are known as shear walls and are mainly laid around staircases or elevator shafts for providing a better grip to that hollow space. Don’t forget to get the walls strengthened and supported by diagonal steel beams known as cross bracing.

Moving on, add the base isolator methods which acts as shock absorbers between a building and its foundation. These shock absorbers are made of alternate layers of steel and a type of synthetic rubber acting as a spring during earthquakes. These absorb the to and fro motion.

Other ways of keeping your house earthquake resistant is by building it on a column which is placed as deep as 2 ½ meters under the ground. Beams must be placed to provide extra support and the roofs must me made extra sturdy. The bars in the column should be minimum 12 mm thick with about 900/900 foundation.

Apart from the above if you have a plot it’s advisable not to directly go into building a house there as the soil might not be fit enough to take weights. Even if it is, it’s important to know how much weight it can take. In such situations do get the soil tested which can be done by a number of private and even semi-government agencies. These agencies would tell you how much weight the soil can take, whether construction is at all possible and so on.

So, find the right builder, carry out the necessary, though lengthy research work and get on with your dream home.

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Product Updates uncategorized

Handling Resident Payments in Money Manager just got Smarter!

May 28,2015 / By / No Comment
Track Collections with Ease on Money Manager

Track Collections with Ease on Money Manager

 

Treasurers, are you having trouble in reconciling Full/ Partial or Advance payments made by the residents, against various heads? Do you have to do this manually for each payment collected?  Well, not anymore, as with our Money Manager module, handling advance payments can be completely automated. You can simply specify the priority order of the ledgers/ heads against which payment should be marked once and every advance payment will get auto-adjusted accordingly. 

How does this work?

Let’s say your typical Invoice consists of 3 types of charges – Maintenance dues, Water charges and Clubhouse charges – in the monthly/quarterly billing, and the total amount is Rs. 6500. When a residents makes a payment( Say of Rs 3000/- only), you would consider it against which account head? Against the Maintenance dues/ water charges or clubhouse charges? Currently, one had to handle this manually against each payment.

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With our smart – ‘Auto-Adjustment’ feature, you can just set a priority of ledgers against which the payments should get credited and it will take care of any residents payments made henceforth. To enable this,  you can first set the priority order for these ledgers from Settings> Module Settings> Money Manager> Advanced.

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The list on the right is the exhaustive list of all ledgers; pick and choose these 3 ledgers to move them to the Priority list. Drag and re-order these items if required to adjust their relative priority. Click on Save and Update settings.

Considering the same example as above, when the Resident makes a Payment of Rs 3000/- against the above mentioned invoice of Rs 6500/- , the paid amount will be marked to the first ledger, i.e. Maintenance charges automatically. You can typically set the priority order based on the applicable penalty or other factors applicable.

The payments can also be verified with a newly introduce report, ‘Ledger-wise Collections’ under the Reports section.

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As you can see above, the amount of Rs. 3000/- is shown against the Maintenance Dues ledger.

Isn’t that just simple?

Note: This report only shows the payments that are approved by the Treasurer.

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Smart Residential Living uncategorized

​Service Tax increased from 12.36% to 14%​ effective from 1 June

May 20,2015 / By / No Comment

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As per the report (View article), the new Service Tax rate will be 14% effective from 1st June. The current service tax is levied at the rate of 12.36% % including education cess.

“To facilitate a smooth transition to levy of tax on services by both the centre and the states… the service tax rate is being increased from 12 per cent plus education cesses to 14 per cent. The education cess and secondary and higher education cess shall be subsumed in the new service tax rate”,

Finance minister Arun Jaitley announced this while presenting the Budget 2015-16. This means eating out in restaurants, air travel, construction, insurance and phone bills will be a tad bit expensive.

How does it affect Housing Communities?

For Housing Communities which have monthly maintenance invoicing, any invoices raised post 31st May, 2015 must have the slab rate of 14% as service tax.

For Housing Communities which have Quarterly, Half yearly or Yearly maintenance billing, for invoices raised post June 1, 2015 will attract 14% service tax. Applicable service tax rate would depend on date of invoice and date of payment.
We highly advise you to consult a Chartered Accountant/Auditor before taking a final view.

How to update Service Tax values for your Group:

STax

Under Settings> Module Settings> Money Manager> Calculations:
Update the value to 14% and click on Save and Update.

Note: If your Group had a service tax setting of 12.36% saved, we’ve updated the same to 14% effective 1st June.

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Right Step Tips uncategorized

5 Measures to Remain Safe During an Earthquake

May 16,2015 / By / No Comment

earthquake-vector

With the recent calamity that hit Nepal and most of Northern India in various degrees it had left many of us shaky and apprehensive. But we really do not have much to do when such an enormous natural calamity hits and resigning to fate is the only thing possible. True, if our houses are earthquake resistant then may be it would help to a great extent. However, the earthquake which hit Nepal was a major catastrophe with it being as high as 7.4 on the Richter scale and in such a calamity many a time earthquake resistant houses might also collapse or suffer great damages. Either way it would be unsafe to be in there. Hence here are a few tips to follow during and after an earthquake.

1. If you are in your homes, offices, malls or any other building do rush out immediately. Often panic can cause stampede and disarray. Being calm in such calamities is paramount.

2. Do turn off electrical appliances and gas connections. The easiest way to do so is simply by switching the mains off.

3. If you are unable to go out in the open then do take shelter under a sturdy table or a sturdy bed. Also cover your face and head with your arms.

4. Also stay away from upright furniture and bookcases. In fact it’s advisable to bolt bookcases to wall studs, installing strong latches on cupboards, and strapping other such things like water purifier etc. to the walls especially if you are living in an earthquake prone zone.

5. Lastly, if you are driving then stop immediately and remain in your car till the shaking stops. But don’t stop under trees, buildings or near walls. However, if you find this to be the case then run out and go into an open space.

Once the earthquake stops don’t think it’s all over and you are safe, as there are chances of being hurt due to the debris around. Also the aftershocks can also cause serious mayhem if not careful.

Well folks, we hope these emergency tips come handy if an earthquake strikes. As it’s said “prevention is better than cure” so be alert and do take all the necessary measures to be safe if you find yourselves in the midst of a natural calamity like an earthquake.
Stay smart, Stay safe!

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