The last month you can still make it the developer's problem
Your developer's liability for defects runs out around twelve months after handover. We inspect what a year of occupation has exposed, measure each failure against a published tolerance, and hand you a claim they cannot wave away.
What a year in the property reveals
A handover inspection catches what was built wrong. This one catches what has moved, failed or reopened since, while the developer is still the one who has to put it right.
01
Cracking and settlement
A year of movement opens what was invisible at handover. We record width, length and location so a structural crack is not dismissed as shrinkage.
02
Waterproofing and leaks
Wet areas, balconies and the ceilings below bathrooms, after the property has been through a rain season and a full summer of use.
03
Grout, silicone and seals
Failed joints around baths, basins, shower trays and window heads, which is where water gets into the structure first.
04
Doors and windows out of alignment
Frames that have moved, doors binding on their jambs, sliding runs dropping, seals no longer meeting.
05
Water pressure and drainage
Flow at every outlet, standing water at floor gullies, slow drainage and trap seals that have dried out or were never right.
06
Electrical faults surfaced in use
Circuits that trip, sockets that were never live, distribution boards mislabelled against what they actually control.
07
Snags the developer already closed
We check your original list item by item. Work signed off as complete at handover is reopened if it does not hold.
Tolerances & standards
Eleven months in, a developer's first instinct is to call a defect wear and tear. A measurement against a named tolerance closes that argument off. Every entry cites the standard it fails and the clause of your own contract it falls under.
Each entry is graded major, minor or observation, so the items that must be closed before the period expires are unmistakable.
How it works
We work back from it and book you into month ten, leaving time for the repairs.
Around half a day. We work around a tenant, and you need not attend.
Before we leave the property, each defect cited against the clause it falls under.
You submit it, with our wording and our help, then we re-inspect what they say they fixed.
What's in your warranty report
Fewer entries than a handover report, and harder ones. Each defect located, photographed, measured, graded, and cited against both the published standard and the defects clause of your own sale agreement.
Crack at window reveal has opened since handover
Required actionCut out, reinforce and make good; monitor for further movement.
Moisture reading below shower; waterproofing failed in service
Required actionExpose, re-waterproof the tray junction, make good ceiling. Reopened from snag D-088, closed at handover.
Submitting the claim
A claim submitted on the last day of the period is a claim with no time left for the repairs. We work to close items inside the window, not merely to lodge them inside it.
01
The claim is issued
We submit it to the developer in their own format with the measurements and clause references attached, or hand it to you ready to send, depending on your instruction.
02
We re-inspect the repairs
We check the work rather than take the word for it, and reopen anything that has not held. Signed off by us, or it is not closed.
03
Anything left is documented
Whatever the developer refuses or leaves undone is recorded with our measurements, dated, so you hold the evidence if you take it further. How the period works →
Where we work
After a few hundred units in the same development you stop looking for defects at random. We know which towers crack at the reveals in year one and which wet areas start leaking after a summer of use.
All communities →FAQ
Instruct us in month ten. That leaves time for us to inspect, for the developer to carry out the repairs, and for us to go back and check them before the liability period closes. Leave it to the final fortnight and you may run out of window for the repairs themselves, even if the claim is submitted in time.
Then the developer's obligation to correct defects at no cost has usually ended with it, and anything outstanding becomes yours to pay for. It is still worth an inspection if you are about to spend money on repairs, because you will at least know the full extent of what needs doing before you commission work.
Yes, and a good number of these instructions come from owners who used someone else, or no one, first time. We inspect from scratch against the same standards. If you have an earlier report from another firm, send it and we will check those items too.
No. We work around the tenancy, and we need roughly half a day of access. Defects that are the developer's responsibility remain so whether or not the property is occupied, though we distinguish clearly in the report between construction defects and ordinary occupancy wear, so nothing is claimed that should not be.
That depends on the service level. On our full instruction we prepare the claim in the developer's format, with our measurements and clause references attached, show you how and where to submit it, and re-inspect the repairs. On the lighter instruction you receive the claim-ready report and submit it yourself.
No. We attend under your authority letter or power of attorney, inspect, and send the report the same way. Most of these instructions are handled entirely remotely.
It is included at no further charge if you instructed us on Complete at handover, since the return visit was diarised then. For everyone else it is a standalone fee based on the size of the property. Ask us and it comes back the same working day.
The property has now been lived in for a year. A handover inspection catches what was built wrong; this one also catches what has since moved, cracked, leaked or failed under use, and it re-tests anything the developer previously closed off. It is the same discipline applied to a building that has been through a full Dubai summer.
★★★★★ 4.9 average · 318 Google reviews
★★★★★
“They inspected before the ceilings went up and found the condensate falling the wrong way. That one item paid for the survey.”
A. Bousquet · Townhouse, Tilal Al Ghaf · Google review
★★★★★
“The report came to 96,000 of work. We settled 60,000 off the price, and I still had the survey to work from.”
M. Ferreira · Villa, Arabian Ranches · Google review
★★★★★
“We held the final payment against the report. Everything was closed out in eleven days, and they came back to check.”
R. Iyer · Apartment fit-out, Dubai Marina · Google review
Tell us when you took handover. We will work back from it, tell you how long you have left, and come back the same working day with a fee and a date.