Handover inspection checklist: what to check before you sign
Check the documents first, then the services, then the finish, then the property against the contract drawings. Record everything with dated photographs and get your objections onto the document you sign. What you fail to record at handover is what becomes an argument later.
Before the day
- 01Get the contract specification and the drawings for your unit, not the marketing brochure.
- 02Establish what the document you will be asked to sign actually is, and what signing it means.
- 03Confirm the occupancy or completion certificate exists and covers your unit.
- 04Arrange for somebody competent to attend with you, or in your place.
Services, which are the expensive ones
- Every socket and switch, individually, with a tester rather than by eye.
- Hot water at every outlet, and how long it takes to arrive.
- Water pressure at the highest and furthest outlet, not just the nearest.
- Every drain: sinks, showers, bath, terrace outlets, running for long enough to see standing water.
- Air conditioning in each room, heating and cooling, including the condensate drain.
- Ventilation in the bathrooms and kitchen, tested with something visible rather than by listening.
The building fabric
- Falls on every wet-area floor. Water should leave, and the direction should be obvious.
- Windows and doors: every one opens, closes, locks, and seals when shut.
- Signs of damp at floor and ceiling junctions, in cupboards and behind doors.
- Cracking, and whether it follows a line that suggests movement rather than shrinkage.
- External waterproofing where a terrace, balcony or roof meets the building.
Against the contract, not against taste
The strongest items on a defect list are the ones that cite a document. A finish you dislike is a preference; a finish that differs from the annexed specification is a breach, and the two are treated very differently by the person receiving your list.
Check the areas, the layout against the drawings, the specified brands and grades of everything that has a brand, and the inventory of what should be present at all: appliances, fittings, keys, remotes, and the manuals and warranties for each.
The signature
This is where handovers are won and lost. If you are asked to sign that you accept the property, and there are outstanding items, the objections belong on that document or on an annex referenced by it, signed by both sides on the day.
An agreement to raise the items afterwards is worth much less, and in some jurisdictions an unqualified acceptance closes the argument entirely.
Questions on this
How long should a handover walkthrough take?
For an apartment, two to three hours done properly. If you are being given forty minutes because another handover is booked behind yours, that is a reason to reschedule, not to hurry.
What if the developer refuses to record my objections?
Do not sign an unqualified acceptance. Send the list the same day in writing, by a route that produces a record, and keep the dated photographs.
Do photographs need to be dated?
Yes, and the date needs to be independent of your own camera settings where possible. The question that decides most disputes is not what the defect is but when it appeared.
Read one before you buy one
The specimen shows the whole structure: status, what each payment was meant to buy, the forecast with its range, the photographic record and the limits of what was checked.