The First 12 Months in a New Building — Handover, the Defect Liability Period, Manufacturer Warranty and Commissioning

A new building looks perfect on handover day — everything clean, gleaming and smelling of fresh paint. That is precisely why the first year is the most dangerous. Beneath the finished appearance hide systems not yet commissioned, construction defects not yet discovered, and legal rights with an expiry date. I have managed new buildings where owners received the key, smiled for the photo, and five years later were still fighting the developer over defects that could have been closed in the first months. This guide is meant to save you that same mistake.

Why the first year is different from any other year

In an existing building, maintenance is routine: you repair what wears out, you replace what breaks. In a new building the game is entirely different, for two fundamental reasons.

The first reason — legal. In Israel, the property owner has built-in rights against the developer and the contractor, deriving mainly from the Sale (of Apartments) Law, 5733-1973 and its amendments, and from the addendum to the law (Schedule A) that specifies the durations of the defect liability periods for each type of defect. During these periods, the one who repairs defects is the developer — not you. Exercising these rights requires active steps in time; they do not realize themselves.

The second reason — engineering. New systems are not "born" stable. A new chiller, a generator, a building management system (BMS) — all go through a commissioning period in which teething faults, wrong settings and uncalibrated components surface. Whoever fails to distinguish an engineering teething fault from a defect that is the developer's responsibility — loses money and time.

The classic Israeli mistake I encounter: waiting for something to break and then reacting. In a new building this is an especially expensive mistake, because while you "wait," the defect liability clock is running — and at its end, whatever you did not demand to fix stays on you.

The defect liability period and the warranty period — the practical difference

These are two separate concepts that are constantly confused, and the difference between them is critical to every decision you make in the first year.

• The defect liability period begins on the day the property is handed over and lasts a duration that varies by type of defect. During this period the burden of proof leans in the buyer's favor: if a defect is discovered, the assumption is that its source is in the construction, and the developer is required to repair it — unless it proves otherwise.
• The warranty period begins at the end of the defect liability period. Here the burden of proof reverses: the buyer is the one who must prove that the defect stems from design, workmanship or materials — and not from ordinary use or wear.
• The duration of the periods varies by component. Waterproofing defects, dampness, cracks, systems, flooring — each category has a different time frame, set in the addendum to the Sale of Apartments Law. Do not assume a single uniform number for the whole building. Check each component separately, against the contract appendix and against the law itself.

The practical conclusion: the closer you get to the end of the defect liability period, the more the window to demand a repair at the developer's expense closes. Correct management requires documenting defects early, not waiting. A defect that was documented and reported in writing in time — stays within the scope of liability even if the actual repair is delayed.

A point many miss: the prevailing belief is that "if I demanded it verbally — that's enough." It is not. Every approach must be in writing, with a description of the defect and its location, and preferably with proof of receipt. A WhatsApp message that went unanswered is better than nothing, but a formal email with a read receipt is the basis for any future claim.

Handover day — the most important day, and most people do it wrong

Handover day is not a ceremony or a celebration. It is the legal and engineering zero point of the building. Three recurring mistakes I have seen time after time:

Mistake 1: handover without a professional home inspection

A non-professional sees a straight wall and a faucet that works. A professional inspector (a building engineer or a systems engineer) sees deviations in flatness, missing waterproofing on a balcony, reversed drainage slopes, fire barriers not sealed between floors, and an electrical panel not properly grounded. I had a case where a thermographic inspection of a main electrical panel revealed a loose connection that had generated dangerous heat — in a three-month-old building. In an office building or commercial structure, the inspection must also include engineering systems, not just finishes. Without a documented home inspection, you are in effect declaring that everything is fine.

Mistake 2: a vague handover protocol

"There are a few small defects, they'll fix them" — that is not documentation. The protocol must be a numbered list of every defect with: an exact location (floor, room), a description, a numbered photo, and a target repair date signed by the developer's representative. Any item not entered into a signed protocol — does not exist as far as the developer is concerned. I have seen developers literally delete defects from a list after handover and say "that's not what we agreed." Numbered + signed + photographed.

Mistake 3: not receiving the building file (As-Made)

This is the most neglected item — and the one with the longest-term consequences. The building file includes:

• As-Made drawings — reflecting what was actually built, not the original design
• Data sheets for every device and system
• Manufacturer warranty certificates for every component
• Operating and maintenance instructions for every system
• Statutory certificates: fire certificates, inspection certificates for electrical and elevators, Form 4

Without this file, three years from now you will not know which chiller is installed, when its warranty expires, and where the suppression piping runs inside the ceiling. I once asked a veteran building manager about the HVAC in a decade-old building we were trying to replace — he simply did not know what was installed, because he never received a file. And reverse-engineering an existing building is very expensive. Demand the file at handover.

Commissioning — what really happens in the first months

New engineering systems require a commissioning period in which they are calibrated, tested under a real load and adapted to the specific building's conditions. This does not happen automatically.

• HVAC: chillers and terminal units need balancing of flows, sensor calibration and a performance check against the design capacity. In my experience: the first run in full summer is the moment of truth — a building handed over in spring will reveal its flaws only when the summer load arrives. See the guide to HVAC maintenance in office buildings for the road ahead.
• Electrical: new panels require a heat (thermographic) inspection after a few weeks of load to detect loose connections. Grounding checks and residual-current device (RCD) checks are also required. Details in electrical systems maintenance in offices.
• Elevators: after installation, a check by a licensed inspector is required before any operation, and thereafter the elevator enters a regular inspection cycle. In Israel, elevator inspections are carried out according to the requirements of the standards institute and in accordance with the occupational safety (elevators) regulations. More in elevator maintenance standards.
• Fire detection and suppression: a new system undergoes a full functional acceptance test, and obtaining a fire certificate is a condition for occupying the building and for its ongoing operation.
• Plumbing and water: new piping requires an initial flushing and disinfection of the piping and the tanks before occupancy, to remove manufacturing residue and prevent microbial contamination. Details in water and plumbing systems maintenance.
• Building management system (BMS): in a new building this is usually a system handed over with the vendor's default settings — and it requires genuine adaptation to how the specific building functions, to its hours of operation and to its load centers.

It is important to distinguish: when a system "does not work well" in the first months, the first question is — is this a teething fault (a wrong calibration, a setting that needs fixing) or a genuine defect of the component? This distinction determines whether the approach is to the vendor still under commissioning, or to a maintenance technician, or to the developer. My experience teaches that many "faults" in the first six months are actually missing calibration — and whoever rushes to open a service call may pay for what should have come free from the developer.

The log starts on day one — not in the third year

The most common mistake in a new building: "it's new, there's nothing to maintain, we'll start a log when faults begin." Exactly the opposite. The log should start on handover day, for two reasons:

First, without an orderly documentation of the baseline condition you will not be able to prove later that a defect belongs to the developer and was not created by your use. Second, even in a new building there are statutory inspections that begin immediately — elevator inspection, electrical checks, emergency lighting, extinguishers. Missing them in the first year is identical to missing them in the tenth year.

The correct practice is to build a preventive maintenance plan already at handover — based on the manufacturers' instructions you received in the building file — and to keep a documented log from it. This is what Israeli Standard (SI) 1525 for building maintenance requires, and there is no reason to postpone it because the building is new. A new building is the best opportunity to establish a clean log from day one, instead of reconstructing lost history five years from now. To build the annual cycle, see the annual preventive maintenance checklist.

A practical timeline for the first year

Months 0–1: fixing the zero point

A full professional home inspection (finishes and systems), a numbered and signed handover protocol, receiving the building file in full, and verifying that all statutory certificates are in your hands. Opening a maintenance log and a preventive maintenance plan. Recording in the calendar the expiry dates for every manufacturer warranty and every defect liability period by component — this is the first thing to fall through the cracks and later create arguments.

Months 2–4: first commissioning

Accompanying the commissioning of the systems, HVAC balancing, heat inspection of electrical panels, BMS calibrations. Documenting every teething fault and referring it to the developer or the vendor as appropriate. Orderly reporting in writing of every defect discovered — not by phone, in writing. An argument over "who said what" on the phone is the most common Israeli story at the end of the defect liability period.

Months 5–9: real load

The building fills up and enters routine. Now defects surface that could not be seen in an empty building: dampness after the first rain (autumn/winter), HVAC that does not hold up under the peak summer load, wear at points of intensive use. All are still within the defect liability window — document and demand in time.

Months 10–12: closing the loop

A second home inspection, focused on the defects that accumulated over the year and on the approaching defect-liability expiry dates. This is the decision point: any open defect that was not documented and not reported before the period closes — may pass to your financial responsibility. Consolidate all open items and hand them over to the developer in an orderly manner before the closure.

Scenarios that recur in the field — and what to do

From experience managing new buildings, several situations recur and require a fast response:

• The chiller repeatedly "goes into protection": usually not a fault of the component itself but a faulty calibration of pressures or temperatures. Before opening a demand to the developer, check with the HVAC technician whether it is a setting parameter. If so — it is still the developer's responsibility to calibrate correctly as part of the commissioning.
• Dampness stains on the ceiling after the first rain: demand in writing immediately, photograph with a date stamp and send it on the day of discovery. Dampness discovered after the first rain is almost always a waterproofing defect within the defect liability scope — but late documentation makes it harder to prove it was not "created recently."
• A tenant complains of insufficient HVAC: before attributing it to the developer, check whether the problem is on a specific floor (missing calibration of that branch) or across the whole building (a shortage of capacity). The distinction saves a needless argument and points to the right solution.
• The developer does not respond to an approach: send a written reminder with notice that you will turn to legal counsel if no repair date is set. Usually that is enough. Documenting the attempts to make contact is important for any future process.

Why this requires a professional who holds the whole picture

Correctly managing the first year is precisely the area where a building owner acting alone fails — not from a lack of will, but from a lack of tools and time. You need to track dozens of expiry dates in parallel, manage a defect protocol against a developer who wants to close quickly, identify when a fault is a teething issue and when it is a defect, and run statutory inspections from day one. This is exactly the difference between facility management and property management, and between management that reacts and management that prevents.

In a multi-tenant building the complexity grows: each tenant notices different defects, and someone is needed to consolidate them all into a single picture against the developer — see the challenges in managing a multi-tenant building. The managing entity is not an "expense" in the first year; it is the insurance that ensures you exercise the rights you already paid for on the day of purchase.

At Domera we accompany new buildings from handover: home inspection, managing the defect protocol against the developer, tracking defect-liability and warranty expiry, and establishing a log and a maintenance plan from day one. More on the service in comprehensive property management. To arrange an initial review — get a quote.