Purchase of a house or an apartment is one of the biggest investments in your life. Therefore you should really beware what you are buying and discover hidden faults in time. A small wet sport under the sink or a crack in a wall can become very costly later on.
What is a property inspection?
This service helps a purchaser and a seller on the property market to realize factual technical condition of the property together with future costs for sanitation of damages. Thus the risk of property trade and troubles with future claims is decreased. It also helps to come to a fair price.
Property inspection is carried out by a certified inspector who is educated and has an experience in the field of land building and technical arrangement of building sites.
Technical condition evaluation
Technical condition is evaluated in seven basic categories. These are: statics, heat leakage, water insulation, acoustics (noise), technical equipment of the building, safety and fire safety, healthy living (hygiene), surface of the floors and walls.
In these categories it is possible to find more than a hundred of defects or future hazard. It is possible to run a complex inspection (all categories) or only partly inspection.
What is a property certificate?
After the inspection completion a property certificate is issued. It is a protocol that informs about number of defects and hazards found (in each field) by an inspector or those defects that can occur yet in the future. It also offers calculation of costs for removing these defects.
When to invite the property inspector?
When you are purchasing a new house or an apartment, invite the property inspector for a day when the owner or developer is going to hand it over. In case you are still in a stage of choosing, visit all properties you are choosing from with the inspector.
Before you meet with the inspector, you should acquire necessary documents that would be beneficial. Therefore ask the owner or developer for revision protocols from technical equipment (gas distribution, electroinstalation, chimney, furnace, lightning rod etc.). Also if it is possible ask for project documentation.