The walkthrough and the warranty on a new multiplex home

How to do a walkthrough properly

Give it real time. An hour is not enough for a home you are about to spend a large part of your life in, and the person walking with you will move at whatever pace you set.

Work systematically, room by room, and write down everything even when it feels petty. A scratch on a worktop is easy to have fixed before you move in and nearly impossible to argue about afterwards. Open every window and door, run every tap, switch on every light, open every cupboard, and check that the floor is level where two surfaces meet.

Bring someone whose eyes are fresh. You will be excited, which is exactly the state in which people miss things. A friend who has no emotional investment in the home will notice the door that catches.

• Photograph everything you record, with something in shot for scale.
• Get the list signed or acknowledged in writing before you leave.
• Ask when each item will be fixed and who to contact about it.
• Check that what was promised in the contract is actually there, including appliances and finishes.
• Test the heating and cooling, even if it is the wrong season for it.
• Look at the shared areas as well as your own unit, because those are yours too.

What the warranty covers, period by period

British Columbia requires third party warranty insurance on new homes built by Licensed Residential Builders. BC Housing sets out the minimum coverage in three layers, and it is worth understanding what each one is actually for.

The 2 year layer covers defects in materials and labour, with shorter limits on some categories. BC Housing states 12 months for detached homes and for the non-common property in strata units, 15 months for common property in multi-unit strata buildings, and 24 months for major systems including electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, as well as exterior cladding, windows, doors, and defects that make the home unfit to live in. Building Code violations are also covered where they create a health or safety risk or are likely to cause material damage.

The 5 year layer covers the building envelope, including unintended water penetration that could cause damage. The 10 year layer covers defects in load bearing parts or the overall structure, including defects that make the home unfit to live in.

What the warranty does not cover

This is where most disappointment comes from. Warranty insurance covers how the home was built. BC Housing is explicit that it does not cover cosmetic issues, personal preferences, or contractual expectations.

So a hairline crack in a wall that appears as a new home settles is usually not a claim. A cupboard door in a finish you did not expect is a contract question rather than a warranty question. Normal wear from living in the home is yours. Damage you cause is yours.

The other thing worth knowing is that a warranty claim has time limits attached to each layer, and those limits run from when coverage started rather than from when you noticed the problem. If something looks wrong, report it in writing when you see it rather than waiting to see whether it gets worse.

Making a claim without making it harder than it needs to be

Report in writing, describe what you observe rather than what you think caused it, include photographs and dates, and keep a copy of everything you send.

In a strata building, work out first whether the problem is in your own unit or in the shared parts of the building, because that decides whether you or the strata corporation is the one who reports it. Getting this wrong wastes weeks.

If a claim is refused and you disagree, the refusal will refer to a specific term in the policy. Ask for that term in writing and take it to somebody who reads insurance policies for a living. In our experience the arguments that succeed are the ones anchored to the wording, not to how unfair the situation feels.

The first year, month by month

A new home behaves differently in its first year than it will afterwards, and knowing what is normal saves you worrying about the wrong things.

In the first few months you will notice small movement as the home settles. Hairline cracks where two surfaces meet, doors that need adjusting, a floor that creaks in one spot. Most of this is ordinary and much of it is not a warranty matter, though it is worth reporting anything you are unsure about in writing so the date is recorded.

Somewhere in the first year the shorter warranty sub-limits start expiring. BC Housing sets 12 months for non-common property in a strata unit and 15 months for common property in a multi-unit strata building, so the window on the smallest items closes first. Put both dates in your calendar on the day you move in, and walk the home properly a few weeks before each one.

The other first year job is learning how the building is run. In a small multiplex the owners are the strata council, which means the people who decide what gets repaired are you and your neighbours. Read the bylaws, find out who holds the documents, and go to the first annual general meeting. It is a couple of hours that makes the next ten years easier.

Get to know your neighbours in that first year as well, because in a four home building they are the whole strata. The practical business of running the place, agreeing what to repair and what to leave, is much easier between people who have met.

Keep a simple log through that year: what you noticed, the date, what you reported and to whom, and what happened. It sounds fussy and it takes a minute at a time. When a small problem turns out to be a symptom of a larger one three years later, that log is the difference between a claim supported by dates and photographs and a claim supported by your memory.

• Move-in day: diarise the 12 month and 15 month warranty dates
• First 3 months: report anything you are unsure about in writing, with photographs
• Around 10 months: walk your own home carefully before the 12 month limit
• Around 13 months: raise common property items with the strata before the 15 month limit
• Year one: read the bylaws and attend the first annual general meeting

Questions buyers ask

More in Pre-Sale Guide

• What you pay on completion dayGST, property transfer tax, the rebates, and the cash you actually need
• From signing to keysThe order things happen in, and what you are expected to do at each step
• When the home is lateOutside completion dates, what a delay costs you, and when you can walk

Also worth reading

• The 2-5-10 warranty explained
• After you buy a multiplex