What is a handover protocol

A handover protocol is the document that records the condition of your apartment the moment you get the keys. This article looks at why a home inspection (bedek bayit) matters before you sign it, walks through a resale apartment handover protocol example, and explains what an initial handover protocol is and why it comes first.

How the handover protocol works

A handover protocol is an official document, usually part of the agreement between the contractor and the resident (often at the urging of the contractor's lawyers), though no law requires it. When the contract includes a handover-protocol clause, the contractor typically invites you to see the finished apartment before handing over the keys, and asks you to check it and confirm you are satisfied.

The protocol is the form you fill out yourself, marking whatever is not in order and what you want repaired. Anything you do not flag as faulty, you are effectively confirming is fine.

Resale apartment handover protocol example: your side

How to inspect a new apartment: as part of the inspection, you may check the apartment yourself or bring in your own expert (a home inspection engineer) to find construction defects and any way it fails to meet the technical specification the contractor gave you.

Check every detail in the apartment and in the common areas: paint, cladding that was missed, flooring, doors, windows, hinges, the kitchen, sanitary fixtures, shutters, railings, the safe room, stairs, and of course the electrical and plumbing systems.

The problem is that even going over the apartment square meter by square meter with a critical eye, at best you will catch what is visually obvious: a cracked or loose tile, a crack in the wall, a paint defect.

You will still miss things whose effects only show up after use, or after prolonged use, because of a faulty installation or a failure to meet the standard (a badly fitted shutter, for instance, that lets in cold air and ruins the insulation).

Fixing these defects now, and making that a condition of closing the account, will save you running around, legal fights and repair costs later, out of your own pocket.

Home inspection before handover: the contractor's side

Piping defects: the contractor is required by law to provide a one-year warranty (the first-year inspection, shnat bedek), during which he must repair any construction defect or fault you raise. After that year, four more years of warranty follow.

During the first-year inspection, the burden of proof is on the contractor: he must either fix what you asked for, or prove that the apartment was handed over without the defect and it appeared later, through use.

This is exactly why he keeps the handover protocol on file: an official document, signed by you, showing that you inspected the apartment and did not flag the defect, which confirms it was not there at handover. That makes the protocol a real legal contract, whatever the contractor tells you in the excitement of moving in ("it will be fine, we're not running away"). What holds up in the end is the protocol.

What is an initial handover protocol

An initial handover protocol usually takes place a few weeks before possession of the apartment actually transfers. It goes along with a first walkthrough of the apartment or new house with the contractor or his representative, at a stage when the water, gas and other infrastructure are not yet closed up behind walls and floors.

Its purpose, in home-inspection terms, is to catch defects of every kind while construction is still under way, and flag them at once so the contractor can fix them before transferring possession, leaving the buyer with as few defects as possible.

It is worth bringing a home inspection company that represents your interests to this walkthrough; if you are still at the contract stage, remember to add a clause that allows you to do this. A home inspection company at this early walkthrough can save you significant money and time later on, and get problems handled before you move into your new home.

For more on a home inspection before handover, or any question about what makes a handover protocol effective, contact us at any stage for a fast, professional response. For more on this topic, see home inspection from a contractor.