Defect liability period
The defect liability period is the window after handover during which the developer or contractor must fix defects at their own cost. It typically runs six to twenty-four months, and far longer for structural elements.
Also called: DLP, maintenance period, warranty period
Two distinct clocks usually run at once, and confusing them is expensive. The contractual period is whatever your purchase agreement says, often twelve months from the date you take the keys. The statutory period is set by the law of the country and cannot be shortened by contract: Portugal, for instance, imposes five years on new construction, and several other jurisdictions impose ten on structural failure.
The contractual clock covers the ordinary things: a door that has dropped, tiling that has lifted, a leaking joint. The statutory clock covers the serious ones, and it is the reason a crack that appears in year three is still worth raising even though the developer will say the warranty expired.
What ends a defect liability period is not the defect being fixed. It is the date. Anything you have not reported by then becomes yours to pay for, including defects that existed from day one but only became visible later. A leak that starts in the first winter after a summer handover is reported inside the window. The same leak, in the second winter, may not be.
This is why the last few weeks before the period expires are worth a deliberate check rather than a glance. It is the final moment at which a list of defects is the developer's problem rather than yours.
Put the expiry date in your calendar on the day you take the keys, and plan a proper check of the property four to six weeks before it.