Safety defects in a new apartment

During a home inspection before getting the keys from a contractor, a safety defect turned up in the apartment.

That opening might sound like it's from a movie, maybe even a horror movie, but safety defects really are sometimes found during an apartment inspection or a standard construction defects inspection. And they can be treated and fixed so the apartment is completely safe to live in.

Safety has to be the top priority for both building contractors and buyers of new apartments. Contrary to popular belief, the fact that an apartment is new does not always mean it meets the required standards.

In fact, it is often the contractor's push to save time and meet commitments to buyers that leads to compromises: on the quality of raw materials, on execution standards, and sometimes even on the safety of the residents and their surroundings.

Home inspection (bedek bayit) is a service that supplies detailed data on construction defects. Whether you schedule one before handover of a new or older apartment, you need a company like ours both to carry out the repairs and, above all, to restore your sense of safety.

Safety defects worth watching for

Home inspection and engineering services touch on safety in many ways. A home inspection company can uncover problems with waterproofing and leaks, defects in flooring, and cracks in wall or ceiling plaster that may point to structural issues.

In every case, the point of the findings report is to let property owners fix the defects before they cause irreversible damage or, heaven forbid, harm to someone.

Contractors of new apartments also have their own reason to schedule an inspection before occupancy: they need fire safety approval before the building can be occupied, and without it residents cannot be given Form 4.

Form 4 is the approval residents need before they can be connected to electricity, water, and gas. That is why many contractors arrange a defects inspection for the new apartment with a home inspection company.

Inspecting an apartment from a contractor

Israel's Planning and Building Regulations require an occupancy permit (Form 4) before a new residential apartment can be handed over to its owner. The local planning and building committee for the area issues this permit once the contractor has completed all the safety checks required to occupy the project.

Among the checks required to obtain Form 4, the most important are:

Compliance with the approved building rights: an inspection before handover confirming that the construction on site matches the building rights granted in the building permit.

Compliance with fire safety standards: confirming that the building meets every requirement of the fire safety standard (fire department approval).

Compliance with other standards: confirming that the structural work in the building was built to code and that the building is strong, stable, and fit to live in. This requires sign-off from an engineer on behalf of the planning and building committee, approval from the standards institute, and an architect's declaration on the soundness of the safety railings.

Other professional checks: an inspection before handover, along with checks by relevant bodies such as the gas and electric companies, confirming that the gas, water, drainage, and plumbing systems meet standard.

The Sale (Apartments) Law also puts the contractor on the hook for the quality of the construction and materials, making them liable to buyers for any structural defect throughout the inspection period (between one and seven years) and the roughly three-year warranty period that follows it.

Worth knowing: these checks exist solely to obtain the occupancy permit. They say nothing about the quality of the construction or the materials used to put up the building, and they are not designed to catch construction defects.

Finding construction defects

To find construction defects, apartment buyers can order a home inspection before handover, carried out by experienced engineering companies that specialize in the service.

An inspection before handover, whether for a new apartment from a contractor or a resale apartment, is the best way to find defects in a property, and it comes with engineering advice on getting the contractor or the seller to make the repairs when needed.

These comprehensive checks cover waterproofing, leaks, and every part of the building or apartment, aimed at catching defects that might appear later. The professionals who carry them out also issue an engineering inspection report that stands as a qualified opinion, admissible for legal purposes when necessary.

One of the most important checks is how a building holds up in an earthquake. Since 1980, Standard 413 has required buildings to be strong enough to withstand earthquakes, and Israel also encourages reinforcement work under National Outline Plan 38, known as TAMA 38.

The purpose of that plan is to strengthen a building's foundations so it can withstand an earthquake. Checking a building's stability is essential before buying an apartment. The key checks are:

• Documents: always check the building's records, which include the data used to calculate its seismic index and whether it will withstand an earthquake.
• Exposing the foundations: a check carried out by experts who can tell whether the building's foundations are sound and strong.
• The building's condition: various checks aimed at assessing the overall condition of the building.

Together, these give you a full picture of both the safety of the building where the apartment is located and the safety of the apartment itself. That matters.

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