Preparing for handover: check the work, reservations and documents

1. Understand what the announced handover means

Read the invitation alongside your contract and terms. Is this an informal preliminary viewing or the moment when the contractor declares the work ready and offers it for acceptance? The appointment’s name alone does not always provide enough clarity. Ask in writing what is expected, which documents will be signed and what remaining work the contractor identifies.

Plan the inspection, expert attendance and any representation. If you cannot attend, check how someone may act for you. Receiving keys or starting to use the work may have legal significance; have this assessed if handover is disputed. Do not assume a general rule that no handover can ever occur without your signature.

2. Use the final instructions as your benchmark

Collect the accepted specification, drawings, material choices and additional agreements. Use these to check what is missing or different. An arrangement you would later have preferred is not the same as a departure from the instructions. Distinguish a defect, unperformed work, an item still to be tested and a new wish.

Ask the building expert to describe location, observation and relevance for each item. A broad description of poor work is less useful than a specifically established problem. Include necessary use and maintenance information in your preparation. This avoids an inspection confined to visible finishes while installations and documentation are overlooked.

3. Document defects and inspection limitations

Take overview and detail photographs, record the date and give every item an identifiable name. Record which parts could not be checked and why. If a room is too dark or an installation cannot be tested, this must not silently become a general declaration that everything was examined. Agree an additional inspection date.

IPLO recommends recording defects found, for example in a handover report. Other information can also prove what was discovered at handover. Woningborg describes recording findings and reservations under its own scheme. Use that practical explanation only alongside the contract actually applicable to you; one provider’s conditions are not general law for every renovation.

4. Have acceptance or refusal assessed on its merits

Not every outstanding item means the entire handover should be refused. Conversely, a serious defect or essential missing component may need more than a brief repair note. Have technical seriousness and legal consequences assessed together. Expert advice on safety or usability differs from a pressure tactic you select yourself to defer payment.

If refusing or expressly reserving your position, record the specific reason and the finding supporting it. Continue practical cooperation where responsible. If you still want to use the work immediately, discuss beforehand how that relates to your position. Contradictory messages may later create uncertainty about what the parties actually accepted or agreed.

5. Check the handover dossier and applicable law

IPLO describes a consumer dossier containing information on the building, installations and maintenance. Factors relevant to the statutory regime include the contract date and any differing agreements. The provision does not apply to building contracts from before 1 January 2024. Establish the correct starting point rather than demanding the same statutory dossier for every older project without assessment.

Then check which drawings, calculations and manuals have actually been provided. A consumer dossier is not the same as the dossier for the competent authority; the municipality and quality assurer have a different role in that process. A public-law notification does not automatically confirm fulfilment of every private-law agreement. Track missing documents, requests and responses in the same handover list.

6. Plan repairs, payment and the next assessment

For each open item, agree what will be investigated or repaired, who arranges access and when an update follows. Signing that repairs are complete must match work actually performed. Do not sign a declaration about all defects where only a small part has been checked. New findings and existing handover items must remain clearly distinguishable.

Have payment and any security assessed separately. The specific five-percent arrangement for private new builds is not a general renovation scheme. Release of security also does not automatically decide every defect claim. Tell your adviser about important deadlines and keep invoices and payment evidence alongside the technical list. The next step can then be chosen using the whole file.

7. Fictional example: an installation cannot yet be tested

Suppose a renovation visibly looks almost finished, but the heating installation cannot be tested at the scheduled handover. The contractor offers a form stating that all installations function properly. Some finishing items are clearly listed and the client wants to move in quickly.

A useful preparation records the untested component, the reason and a specific new test date. It can then be assessed what declaration is responsible and how use and further inspection should be coordinated. This fictional example does not say the entire handover must be refused. It shows why not inspected is not the same as approved.

8. Checklist for handover day

Request the documents to be signed beforehand and discuss major uncertainties before the walkthrough. Bring an expert where useful. Afterwards, obtain your own complete copy and an overview of follow-up agreements, so repairs and deadlines do not depend on memory alone.

• Invitation, agreement and final drawings and selections.
• Expert, any authority to represent you and a clear inspection schedule.
• Numbered defects with photographs and components that cannot be inspected.
• Handover dossier, manuals and requests for missing documents.
• Handover report, repair agreements, payment statement and any deposit schedule.