The full guide
On this page · 5
- Why order a home inspection before handover
- Should the apartment be inspected before the handover protocol or after it?
- The advantages of an engineering home inspection before the apartment is handed over
- The disadvantage of inspecting a new apartment before handover
- What the engineering inspection of a new apartment includes
A home inspection (bedek bayit) of a new apartment before the contractor hands it over is critical. Buyers who skip it often discover the defects when it is too late to have them dealt with. The inspection is what secures a sound property for the long run, and it regularly turns up faults that have to be fixed, some of them for safety reasons. This page covers the inspection before handover and what is important to check in a new apartment from a contractor.
Why order a home inspection before handover
We bought a beautiful new apartment from a contractor... so why order a home inspection? An apartment is an extremely complex product. Someone with no formal training in building engineering, who has not spent long hours on construction sites, cannot identify the building components of an apartment or judge their quality.
The engineering expert opinion produced after the home inspection is meant to give the resident all the relevant information about the condition and soundness of the apartment. We accompany the resident to make sure they get the most out of the expert opinion. Related: how to inspect a new apartment.
Should the apartment be inspected before the handover protocol or after it?
The first engineering inspection of an apartment from a contractor can take place before you receive the key (if the contractor does not object), at the handover protocol itself, or after the apartment has been handed over. Legally, it makes no difference when the inspection is carried out (there are considerations, mainly practical ones, in favor of inspecting before or during the handover, as detailed below).
The advantages of an engineering home inspection before the apartment is handed over
1. The first and most obvious advantage of inspecting a new apartment at this early stage is how easy and accessible the inspection and the repairs are. The resident has not moved in yet, and the floor tiles,
the walls and in fact the whole apartment are completely exposed. In these conditions the expert engineer's inspection goes as smoothly and as well as it possibly can. There are no obstacles hiding anything.
For the contractor, too, this is a convenient stage for repairs. His crews and subcontractors are still on the project, and repairs are easy for them. And with no furniture and no family in the apartment, the work is done without disturbance.
2. The second advantage is that most of the defects are discovered before the apartment is received, so the contractor cannot claim that the resident caused them.
3. The third advantage is that the engineering report replaces the protocol and relieves the owners of having to find the defects themselves.
The disadvantage of inspecting a new apartment before handover
The drainage and electrical systems are not working yet. Note, however, that the water system is working and under pressure, so leaks will be discovered. Further defects will also come to light while you live in the apartment.
To overcome this disadvantage, we recommend a repeat inspection at the end of the first-year inspection (shnat bedek), to catch defects that were not found the first time and to make sure that the defects repaired so far were repaired properly.
Related: waterproofing defects in foundation beams. Because the handover protocol is such an important subject, we strongly recommend reading about it.
The article: what to watch out for in the handover protocol
What the engineering inspection of a new apartment includes
An engineering home inspection checks all the elements that make up the construction of the apartment, such as: waterproofing, dampness and condensation problems, safety, the structural frame and construction, plaster, flooring and cladding, exterior cladding, doors, windows, paint, railings, plumbing, electricity, bathrooms and more.
The result is an engineering expert opinion that is admissible in court and serves the resident in dealing with the contractor.
Will the contractor really make the repairs listed in the pre-handover expert opinion?
One of the problems the resident faces is not knowing what can and what cannot be demanded of the contractor. Under the Sale Law the contractor is obliged to work according to the Planning and Building Regulations.
Those regulations refer to a long list of Israeli Standards and laws that bind the contractor. Here is a summary of the rules on which an engineering home inspection is based:
"The Regulations": the Planning and Building Regulations, 5730-1970, Second Schedule. "SI": Israeli Standard. "The Civil Defense Regulations": the Civil Defense Regulations, 5750-1990.
"HALAT": the Instructions for Sanitary Installations (HALAT), 5730-1970. "The Plans": the plans attached to the contract as part of the contract. "The Specification": the specification attached to the contract as part of the contract.
"The General Specification": the general specification for building works, edited by the inter-ministerial committee and published by the Ministry of Defense, which is the yardstick for correct execution by the construction company.
Court rulings: earlier rulings on matters that were in dispute. You can also read the article a new apartment from a contractor: why would it have construction defects for details of the construction defects checked in a home inspection