What to look for when accepting an apartment in a new building

Participation in shared construction is associated with unrest and anxiety. But here comes a happy moment: the time of expectation and doubt has come to an end - you will find inspection and acceptance of an apartment in a new building. You need to prepare for this step in order to protect yourself, at least, from unnecessary financial losses. Despite the fact that any shared construction object has a warranty period, it is better to identify all deficiencies and construction defects at the stage of acceptance and signing of an act (inspection certificate). Otherwise, residents will have to eliminate defects at their own expense or endure repair work during their stay.

The process of acceptance of the apartment involves a thorough inspection of the premises, troubleshooting, quality mismatch works to the contract of equity participation (DDU), inclusion in the acceptance certificate of all discrepancies indicating the terms elimination.

Preparation for inspection before acceptance

Defective decoration of the apartment, such as lagging wallpaper, drips, damp on the ceiling, walls, cracked glass, can be seen without being a specialist builder. But to see more specific flaws, you need to arm yourself with tools and / or grab a familiar professional for inspection and acceptance.

Now on the market appeared the service of assistance in the acceptance of an apartment. Specialists will find defects in construction and decoration, help fill out the inspection sheet, measure the level electromagnetic, radioactive radiation, correctly calculate the area and provide a plan with real in numbers.

On an independent inspection and acceptance of housing (without the support of a specialist) you need to go with the following tools and devices:

• Paper, pencil - useful for rough recordings, calculations when measuring the area of ​​premises before acceptance.
• Chalk or felt-tip pen - during rough finishing of an apartment with an open screed and walls they encircle defective places (mounds or pits) that need improvement.
• Lantern - for inspection of inaccessible places.
• Lighter - it checks the number of cameras in double-glazed windows.
• Thin sheet of paper - to check the ventilation.
• Building level.
• Indicator screwdriver for checking the operation of outlets (can be replaced with any compact electrical appliance).
• Powerful drill.
• Hammer.
• Voltmeter.
• A light bulb, a light stepladder or a stool - sometimes acceptance takes place before all the lamps are screwed in.

Going to take an apartment in a new building, you need to bring a DDU with you: the document contains a list of works, a finishing option (draft, fair), the materials used are listed.

Attention: if the material of a certain manufacturer is indicated in the annex to the contract, then not being a specialist, you will not be able to determine this when examined by eye. The representative of the developer must produce documents confirming that the material of the specified company (quality) was used in the decoration of the apartment.

Inspection Stages

First, an inspection is made for compliance with the dimensions. In case of discrepancy between the parameters and the figures in the contract, the real area of ​​the apartment should be measured and recorded - the developer will be required to return the money paid for the missing meters. The ceiling height is also measured for compliance, a very low ceiling is a serious defect and a reason for refusing acceptance.

Further inspection of the apartment before acceptance is carried out methodically on points.

Floor inspection

The surface of the floor should be flat, interior differences - imperceptible. Joints of the floor covering must be airtight, the material itself must correspond to the declared one (laminate, linoleum, tile). In an apartment with a rough finish, when there is no floor covering, it is necessary to inspect the screed before acceptance: if there are any crumbling places.

It is easy to detect voids in the screed by gently tapping the floor with a hammer - the sound in hollow places and in areas where the screed is behind (swelling) will be louder. Do not forget to circle the discovered marriage.

Inspection of ceilings and walls

Before acceptance, you should pay attention to the absence of differences between the plates, the quality of the joints, joints. Angles and walls in all rooms of the apartment are measured by the level: a deviation of 5–7 mm is allowed over the entire height of the ceiling. Damp spots on the ceiling, mold speak of poor-quality thermal insulation - this information is also recorded in the inspection sheet.

Inspection and inspection of windows

Open and close each window in the apartment (including the glazing of the loggia or balcony), bringing them in “wide open” and “airing” positions, note the presence of a sealant, the operation of the locking mechanism, glass integrity.

Double-glazed windows must be checked for compliance with the declared thickness: bring the lit lighter to the glass and determine the number of chambers by the number of reflections of the light.

Inspect the window sills: whether there is a blowing from below (a signal indicating the absence of insulation tape and / or foam), whether there are scratches or scuffs.

Be sure to pay attention to the horizontal line of the window sill: a slight slope is acceptable, but it should not be visible visually. In the event that the window sill “sinks” strongly to the side or back (to the glass), then the level should measure the slope for recording in the defective sheet. Experts recommend even photographing the windowsill with a lying level for clarity.

Door inspection

Check the ease of opening and closing of interior doors, the operation of latches and locks. If you have come to the acceptance of the apartment with a rough finish, make sure that the lower edge of the door leaf is on sufficient the distance from the surface of the screed, so that later, when laying the flooring, the door can easily be opened without touching the linoleum or laminate.

The front door is checked for compliance with the declared quality (filler, metal thickness, manufacturer). Also, at the inspection stage, you need to make sure the locks are functioning, there are no dents or damage to the paint layer.

Checking the heating system

Pipes and batteries in your apartment should not leak, adjustment valves should be easy to turn. If the inspection and acceptance of the apartment takes place during the heating season, the uniformity of heating of each battery is checked. Pay attention to the position of the battery section: it must be firmly fixed, be at least 2 cm from the wall, 7 cm from the window sill, 10 cm from the floor.

Electricity

Before accepting the apartment, write down the readings and the number of the meter, make sure that the sockets and switches are securely fastened.

The operation of the network is checked with the help of the brought devices: a voltmeter, a screwdriver-indicator, a charger from the phone. Turn on the drill for 2 minutes - the machines should not turn off the power in the apartment from such a load.

Water supply, plumbing, sewage

During the inspection of housing before acceptance, check the performance of shut-off valves, faucets. Sanitary ware (toilet bowl, sink, bathtub) must be free of cracks, chips, conform to the declared quality and manufacturer, and be firmly fixed. Water meters are examined, readings are recorded.

Attention: be sure to write down the numbers of the meters in order to verify compliance with the issuance of their passports.

Ventilation

The ventilation in the apartment is checked by bringing the prepared piece of paper to the hole: it will press it against the ventilation grill with a stream of air. If this does not happen, at the end of the inspection feel free to make a complaint to the developer regarding inoperative ventilation.

Important subtleties of inspection and acceptance

The entire inspection will take about 2 hours. The representative of the developer can convince you to end the formalities of signing the acceptance certificate as soon as possible, but not it is worth giving in to persuasions: you need to methodically check the apartment and write down all the defects found in the sheet inspection.

After completing the inspection and finding marriage, you can:

1. Refuse to sign the transfer document until the developer fixes the problem.
2. Sign the acceptance certificate with a list of all defects and the terms for their elimination - this option is practiced more often.

In both cases, it is necessary to fix in writing all claims to the developer in 2 copies signed by both parties (on the part of the developer, the representative is the foreman or company manager). Claims must be substantiated, specific discrepancies with the contract, design documentation, a copy of the BTI are indicated.

In addition to the detected malfunctions, systems and communications that are not checked for various reasons are noted in the inspection sheet. For example, a fire safety system.

In the event that any defect during the inspection has eluded your attention, and you realized after the acceptance, you should not be upset: all apartments in new buildings are subject to Warranty from 3 years. Even if the developer specified otherwise in the contract, the law is on the side of the new settlers: the builders will compensate the damage incurred through their fault.

Quick acceptance - does it make sense?

New settlers may have personal reasons for quick acceptance, and builders are not always in a hurry to fix their flaws. Therefore, in practice, residents often take an apartment, turning a blind eye to lagging wallpaper or a wobbly toilet.

• For economy class new buildings, this acceptance tactic justifies itself: the initial finish of this the housing segment is often so unsightly that it has become the norm to change wallpaper or plumbing.
• Elite housing is too expensive to additionally hire specialists to correct after its acceptance finishes, therefore, in this case, the apartment should be taken correctly, with careful and meticulous inspection.

If the new building plans to finish expensive individual design, then with its execution you need to wait 1–2 years. During this time, the house will shrink, and expensive repairs will not suffer subsequently.

A specialist hired for inspection or one’s own theoretical training does not provide an apartment without marriage, but a correctly completed acceptance certificate allows you to get a discount or compensation.