What to expect in a Pre-Delivery Inspection

By Cameron McNeill, MAC Marketing Solutions

Purchasing a home prior to its construction has many benefits including selecting a colour scheme, customizations, spreading out deposits and much more. However, you also need to wait for your home to be built and only see it for the first time when you are invited for your inspection – sometimes called a Deficiency Walkthrough or Pre-Delivery Inspection. Therefore, I wanted to provide a few helpful tips and notes as to what to expect when the time comes.

›› The inspection is commonly done between one to three months prior to completion. This varies with each developer and ground oriented homes such as townhomes or single family homes can often be closer to your closing date. Low-rise or highrise apartments often require more time to process the larger number of homeowners.

›› Unfortunately your inspection is not the time to invite your friends, family or children. At this time you are walking onto a construction site, so only those on title – and perhaps your Realtor – should be present.

›› You can expect your inspection to last between 45 minutes to one hour.

›› Your inspection is a good time to bring a tape measure and measure room sizes. Unfortunately, this is the only access you will have into your home before you take possession so if you need measurements and photos, this is the time.

›› Often landscaping as well as common areas (hallways and amenity spaces) are the final areas to be completed so don’t be surprised if these are unfinished.

›› You should also expect that there will be some deficiencies in the home, especially the farther away from completion you are.

›› A developer representative, such as a customer service individual, will be leading the inspection. Be thorough and ask as many questions as you like – this is the time!

›› You may also experience some variations in natural materials, which is common. Using wood and natural stone like granite means that there will be variations and it may not match exactly as what you saw in the display home, or even in your neighbour’s home.

›› You should also expect that there will be deficiencies in your home upon closing. Although the developer tries extremely hard to keep it to a minimum, often there will be a handful of items that still require attention. You will still be expected to complete on your home providing the deficiencies are all cosmetic (non life/safety deficiencies). Every developer does have a slightly different process so feel free to ask questions when you are contacted for your inspection date so you know what to expect.

Source: New Condo Guide