Building acceptance - Preliminary inspection - Your tips?

Hello everyone! I started making a list of things to check and look at in the new house before the building acceptance. A few things came to mind, but with your collective knowledge, we can definitely come up with a lot more.

What I have so far:
- Check the fuse box - test if the rooms are protected as they should be (if possible)
- Check if all roller shutters work
- Check if all sockets work
- Check if all windows open and close
- Check if toilets/ sanitary facilities work
- Check windows and window frames for damage
- Check window sills for damage

And now it’s your turn. What else? (Sorry if there is already a thread about this that I didn’t find - then please share a link)

The acceptance reverses the burden of proof, you are still in a more comfortable position. For a final acceptance, I would take an expert with me because he/she knows exactly what to look at. Otherwise, I still find the heating important and the check whether the regenerative energy is correctly regulated. With us, the heating valves originally opened in different rooms than where I had turned them on. The solar system was regulated so that it did not relieve the gas burner, which only came to light during the first maintenance. At our final acceptance, it was also important that I had written down everything that was still financially outstanding or that otherwise seemed unfinished to us. I would not have trusted myself to handle the final acceptance alone.

Best regards Gabriele

The acceptance shifts the burden of proof; you are still in a more comfortable position. For a final acceptance, I would take an expert with me because he/she knows exactly what to look at.
Otherwise, I still find the heating important and the check whether the renewable energy is also properly regulated. With us, originally the heating valves opened in rooms other than where I had turned them on. The solar system was set so that it did not relieve the gas burner; that only came out at the first maintenance.
At our final acceptance, it was also important that I had written down everything that was still financially outstanding or that otherwise seemed unfinished to us. I would not have trusted myself to do the final acceptance alone.

Best regards
Gabriele

I am currently looking regarding an expert. So far, I have spoken on the phone with one and that rather discouraged me again. The man was very confrontational and practically said in advance that an acceptance with him would not go "lari fari." But I do not want to hire someone who spoils everything on command. I would prefer someone more matter-of-fact.
However, when you ask around, the final acceptance is also late for an expert; most really serious issues can no longer be seen by then.

Hi Kati, Gabriele (read her story) is right: From this acceptance day on, you are responsible for proving defects; my experience with this (in court): No one, not even the builder themselves, doubted anything that our expert (from the [Bauherren-Schutzbund]) had recorded. Not a single detail! As a client, you are always the layperson, a judge wants to see reliable written documents. Your lay opinion counts for absolutely nothing. You simply need the expert. And: Despite all efforts from collective knowledge and common sense: Such an expert simply has years, possibly hundreds of experiences, on what small details to look for. Just a few examples: Windows must not only open and close, they should also stay tilted in a certain position, be closable with relatively precisely defined force on the handle, door and window frames can be repairably or irreparably scratched, with heating (especially with heat pumps) many heating technicians simply have no idea what, where, and how to regulate and program. Which bumps or cracks in the plaster are usually tolerable, which are not? Some defects only appear after years; it is good if the expert noted something during the acceptance. In our case (the expert had already been there a few times during the construction phase), the money spent on this was really very well invested. Of course, you can be extremely lucky and all trades have worked without errors. But how high is the likelihood of that nowadays with full order books and staff shortages, time pressure, etc.? It’s close to zero! Good luck in finding an objective expert; [Bauherren-Schutzbund] or [Verband Privater Bauherren] are good places to start. But definitely do it; you will thank yourself for it later.

Hi Kati, Gabriele (read her story) is right: From the day of acceptance, you are responsible for providing proof in case of defects; my experience with this (in court): No one, not even the builder himself, doubted anything that our expert (from the Homeowners Protection Association) had documented. Not a single detail! As the client, you are always the layperson; a judge wants reliable written evidence. Your lay opinion counts for nothing. You simply need the professional. And: Despite all efforts of collective knowledge and common sense: Such an expert simply has years, possibly hundreds of instances of experience regarding which small details to check. Just a few examples: Windows must not only open and close; they should also stay tilted in a certain position, be closable with a relatively precisely defined force at the handle, door and window frames can be repairably or irreparably scratched, many heating installers (especially with heat pumps) simply have no idea what to regulate and program where and how. Which bumps or cracks in the plaster are usually tolerable and which are not? Some defects only appear after years; it is good if something was noted by the expert during acceptance. In our case (the expert was actually there a few times during the construction phase), the money spent on this was really very well invested. Of course, you can be extremely lucky and all trades worked flawless. But what are the odds of that nowadays with full order books, staff shortages, time pressure, etc.? Approaches zero! Good luck finding an objective expert; Homeowners Protection Association or Association of Private Homeowners are good contact points. But definitely do it; you will thank yourself later...

But do you think it’s still worth it just for the final, concluding acceptance? For example plaster, I don’t know how much the expert can still see there, we already had the painter work over it when the acceptance takes place, with wallpaper and paint. For everything superficial I can imagine the expert sees more than I do. But since we didn’t have one during the construction phase, can they really make a qualified statement about issues that only arise after acceptance, e.g. after 2 years? They haven’t seen the shell structure, no rough installations, no plaster, no screed. Of course I have photos of everything, but couldn’t you still show those to an expert years later in a dispute, or would it be an advantage to send my 900 photos to an expert before acceptance and have them write down everything they notice, or how would that work?

He still sees more than you do. For my condominium I only had one present at the final inspection, I would have accepted everything as is, he pointed out various defects and that way I was able to negotiate a 150 EUR credit.