Pre-Handover Home Inspection – Do You Really Need One?

Building your new home can be exciting, stressful and filled with anticipation …

Finally, the building of your new home is finished and you are well and truly ready to move in! However, is your new home really ready for you? Is it fit to be lived in? How can you be sure?

Unless you’ve arranged a pre-handover building inspection, the answer to that question is that you can’t be sure!

Why you want a pre-handover inspection

Your final opportunity to have your home inspected and assessed for any defects, compliance errors or poor workmanship is during the pre-handover inspection.

After your new home construction is completed, you have a limited time frame in which to report defects and expect your builder to make good on any flaws. Your biggest challenge may be that it is not easy to identify potential problems if you don’t have the knowledge, experience and skills of a builder. This is especially important when it comes to compliance with building laws and the Australian Standards.

If the inspector doing your final, pre-handover inspection fails to identify flaws,  then it will become very difficult to have subsequent faults that you find, addressed.

Defects found during Pre-Handover Inspection …

Kitchen joinery goes from tight at the base to 10 mm gap at the top. Pre-handover inspection shows kitchen joinery defects
Planter boxes ready to be filled complete with holes in the slab unfilled, permitting pests to enter undetected.  Pre-handover inspection shows planter boxes that allows undetected pest entry
Poorly installed windows with weather strips folded in, allowing water entry in wind driven rain.  pre-handover inspection showing poorly installed windows
Filling and painting around the plumbing connection is not sanded or painted.  pre-handover inspection shows unprofessional painting and filling
Timber left in the rebate makes an easy welcome for termites.  pre-handover inspection shows timber left in the rebate
Damaged sarking in the roof space.  pre-handover inspection shows damaged sarking in the roof space

Pre-Handover inspections and the value of using a professional building inspector

Working with a building inspection company that employs only the most experienced and knowledgeable inspectors allows you to take advantage of a wealth of experience. Your pre-handover inspection report helps you to identify any defects, errors or omissions before the small window of practical completion closes forever, but only if it is done thoroughly!

As a homeowner, you may easily spot areas which have not been completed to your specifications, but you may not be able to assess the more complicated legal aspects and best practices when it comes to building.

To fully protect your real estate investment, you need a professional building inspector who is equipped to look for areas of non-compliance or failure to meet certain standards.

You may be able to spot an aesthetic error, but an inexperienced eye will see much more!

It’s always best to work with a seasoned and professional building inspector who has the necessary knowledge to prepare a comprehensive, thorough pre-handover inspection report. This report also serves as your reference document once the builder claims to have made good any defects.

Your new home is something to be proud of and to celebrate; it shouldn’t be a source of added stress and anxiety after you move in and discover defects.

Contact Independent Building Inspections today to schedule your pre-handover report, and make sure you’re taking every necessary measure to protect yourself, your family and your sizable investment.

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