Before the official handover date of the house. How to manage?

I asked the seller's supervisor today if we might be able to move into the house earlier to start renovating. She said that wouldn't be a problem. Now I wonder how we should handle that. Do you just check the electricity, water, and gas meters and then settle the consumption? We can't/shouldn't do any major work beforehand. Although a larger roof hatch would already make things a lot easier :rolleyes: The official handover date is [30.03.].

In our purchase contract, it was included that we are allowed to carry out cosmetic repairs from day X onwards. Of course, at our own risk, because the house did not belong to us yet. You will just do the handover beforehand. As with a normal apartment handover, meter readings will be taken and keys handed over.

With us, plastering, sanding, and painting also started 8 weeks before handover (own painting company). The electricity was in my name during that time, but it wasn’t much anymore since the drying devices for the screed were gone and the painters didn’t want it super warm either. And I was too lazy to make a fuss over 100 or 200 euros now.. You also have something before that, maybe saving rent and so on ;)

You should coordinate this best with your site manager on location. Normally, they do not provide any guarantee that everything will remain "clean" as desired. So if craftsmen are still working around, no one guarantees that the freshly painted walls will stay clean.... Possible damages are at your own risk.

You also have to be careful with the legal situation. Legally speaking, there are probably a few pitfalls here, for example, that the rooms, etc., are considered accepted if conclusive own work is carried out in them.
So you should preferably carry out a proper acceptance beforehand, at least of the individual rooms, to prevent potential disputes here.