Defects Checking a New BTO or Condo

Key collection day is exciting, but the smartest thing you can do in your first week is slow down. That empty, unrenovated unit is the only time you will ever see the builder’s work with nothing covering it — no vinyl overlay, no carpentry, no fresh paint. Every defect you find and report now is the builder’s problem to fix. Every defect you find after renovation becomes a debate about who caused it, and usually your bill.

Why you must check before renovation starts

The moment your contractor starts work, the line between “builder’s defect” and “renovation damage” blurs. A cracked tile discovered after hacking, a scratched window frame found after carpentry installation, a leaking pipe noticed after the vanity goes in — in each case, HDB or the developer can reasonably argue the damage happened during your renovation, and your contractor can argue it was already there.

Related: our BTO furniture shopping timeline

Checking first also protects your renovation itself. There is no point laying expensive flooring over a slab with ponding issues, or building cabinets against a wall with seepage. If you’re planning works that need approval, it also makes sense to sort defects out while your HDB renovation permit application is being processed — the timelines overlap neatly.

For BTO flats, defects are reported to HDB via the Defects Feedback process at the Building Service Centre (BSC) set up for your project, within the one-year Defects Liability Period from key collection. New condos typically have a one-year defects liability period too, under the standard sale and purchase agreement, with reporting handled through the developer — check your own agreement to confirm the exact terms and channel.

Tools to bring on inspection day

You don’t need specialist equipment for a first pass. A small bag covers it:

• A coin or small metal rod — for tapping tiles to find hollow spots.
• A phone charger or plug-in tester — to test every power point.
• A spirit level (or a level app) — for checking floors, sills and countertop-height surfaces.
• Masking tape and a marker — to physically tag every defect you find.
• A torchlight — for dark corners, under sinks and inside service yards.
• A bucket or hose access — for the bathroom ponding test.
• Your phone — photos and videos of everything, with wide shots for location context.

Give yourself at least two to three hours for a typical flat, and go in daylight — natural light shows up paint and plastering flaws that ceiling lights hide.

Floors, walls and ceilings

Start with the surfaces, because they cover the most area. Tap every floor tile and tiled wall with your coin, working in a grid so you don’t miss patches. A hollow sound means poor adhesion underneath — these tiles are the ones that crack or “pop” a year later. Mark each hollow tile with tape. Check for chips, scratches, uneven grout lines and lippage (tiles sitting at slightly different heights, which you can feel with your foot).

For walls and ceilings, look along the surface at a shallow angle so light rakes across it. You’re looking for uneven plastering, roller marks, hairline cracks, patchy paint and stains that could suggest seepage. Pay extra attention to ceilings below bathrooms — in a BTO, that means the ceiling of your own bathrooms and kitchen; in a condo, water staining can also come from the unit above.

Windows, doors and built-in fittings

Open and close every window and door fully, several times. They should move smoothly, latch cleanly and sit square in their frames — a door that swings open or shut on its own usually means the frame or hinges are off. Check window rubber seals and locking mechanisms, and look for scratches on glass and frames now, because they’re impossible to attribute later.

If your unit comes with fitted items — wardrobes, kitchen cabinets, sanitary fittings in a condo, or optional components in a BTO — test every hinge, runner and soft-close mechanism, and check laminates for chips and peeling edges. Run the aircon if the unit comes with one installed: check cooling in every room, listen for rattling, and look for water dripping from fan coil units or staining below trunking.

Bathrooms, plumbing and the ponding test

Bathrooms deserve the most time because water problems are the most expensive to fix later. Run every tap and shower on full, then watch how the water drains. Pooled water that lingers around the floor trap suggests the floor gradient is wrong. For a more deliberate test, block the floor trap, pour in a few buckets of water, let it sit for a while, then release it — slow drainage, water flowing away from the trap, or damp patches appearing on the other side of the wall are all worth reporting.

Check under sinks for leaks with the tap running, flush every toilet a few times, and inspect silicone sealant lines around basins and along wall joints. Waterproofing behind tiles is the one thing you can’t see directly, which is why gradient and drainage clues matter — our guide to bathroom waterproofing basics explains what’s behind those walls and why hacking into it carelessly during renovation causes so many problems.

Electrical points and services

Plug your charger or tester into every single power point, including the ones behind where furniture will eventually go. Flip every light switch, test the doorbell, and check that ceiling points are live if you plan to install fans or lights. Look inside the distribution board for loose covers or unlabelled circuits, and test any provided water heater. In the service yard, check the washing machine tap and drainage point. None of this needs an electrician’s knowledge — you’re just confirming everything works and documenting anything that doesn’t.

Documenting and submitting your defects list

Good documentation is what turns your walkthrough into rectification work. For each defect: tape and number it on-site, photograph it close up and then from further back so the location is obvious, and log it in a simple list — room, item, description, photo number. Video is useful for anything that moves or leaks.

For a BTO, submit the list to your project’s Building Service Centre and keep a copy of everything you send. Contractors engaged by HDB will arrange rectification, and you should re-inspect each fix before signing it off. For a condo, follow the developer’s defects submission process from your handover pack, submit in writing, and again keep records. In both cases, don’t drip-feed defects one at a time — one thorough, well-documented submission early in the liability period gets taken more seriously and is easier to track.

DIY or professional defects checker?

A careful owner with a free afternoon can catch the majority of defects using nothing more than the checklist above. Professional defects inspection services do exist, and they bring thermal cameras, moisture meters and trained eyes for things like hidden seepage and out-of-tolerance finishes. As a rough guide, expect a few hundred dollars — often somewhere around $300 to $700 depending on unit size and report depth — but verify current pricing and check exactly what the report includes.

A professional check makes the most sense for larger or pricier units, for buyers who can’t spare the hours, or where you already suspect a problem you can’t diagnose. Either way, the defects check is step one of a longer journey: once the unit is rectified and renovated, a sensible home maintenance schedule keeps it in that condition.

The bottom line

Treat the defects check as an unmissable stage of your move, not an optional extra. Do it before any renovation work starts, bring simple tools, work room by room, and put everything in writing to HDB’s Building Service Centre or your developer within the defects liability period — typically one year, though you should verify your own terms. The few hours you spend tapping tiles and flooding floor traps are the cheapest insurance you will ever buy for your new home. And once the defects are settled, you can plan the fun part properly with our renovation and home services guides.

Rectifications done and ready to renovate? Tell us about your project and get matched with reliable renovation contractors below.