What to check at handover before interiors start

Why handover comes first

The builder is responsible for defects in your home, but once a wardrobe covers a wall or a kitchen covers the plumbing, finding and fixing a builder’s defect means taking your interiors apart. The hour you spend at handover is the cheapest time to find anything.

Do the snag inspection before you finalise your interior plan, not after. What you find can change where things go.

Walls, ceilings and floors

1. Cracks in walls and ceilings, especially at the corners of doors and windows.
2. Damp patches or peeling paint on outside walls, a sign of a leak or poor waterproofing.
3. Floor tiles that sound hollow when tapped, or that rock, or have uneven joints.
4. Walls that are out of line: hold a long straight edge against the walls where a wardrobe or kitchen will go.
5. The height from floor to ceiling in each room, which sets how tall a wardrobe and loft can be.

Water and drains

1. Run every tap and shower for a few minutes, and look underneath for drips.
2. Flush every toilet, and check the floor around it stays dry.
3. Check that the bathroom and balcony floors slope to the drain, with no water left standing.
4. Find the kitchen sink’s drain and water points: your kitchen will be planned around them.
5. Look at the ceiling under any bathroom above you for stains.

Switches, sockets and points

1. Test every switch and socket, with a phone charger or a plug-in tester.
2. Note where the switchboards are on the walls you plan to put wardrobes and a TV unit on.
3. Check the kitchen has points for the chimney, the hob, the fridge and a microwave where you want them.
4. Find the AC points and pipe outlets in each bedroom, and where the outdoor units will sit.
5. Check the distribution board is labelled, and every circuit trips and resets.

Doors and windows

1. Every door opens, closes and locks without catching the floor.
2. Every window slides or swings freely, locks, and seals against rain.
3. Glass has no cracks and the frames are sealed where they meet the wall.
4. Which way each door and window opens: it decides what can stand beside it.

What to decide before interiors start

Some changes are easy before carpentry and hard after. Settle these with your designer while the walls are bare:

• Moving switchboards or sockets that land behind a wardrobe or in the middle of a TV wall.
• Extra points for wardrobe lights, a TV, a study desk or a kitchen appliance.
• AC pipe routes, so they do not cross a wall that will carry a loft.
• Where the sink and hob go, based on the drain and gas points the builder left. L or U-shaped explains how that shapes the kitchen.