There is a standard 12 month Defect Liability Period (DLP) following the issuance of the Occupancy permit, which is the key time to ensure the property is inspected and tested by third parties in order to identify defect, allowing the owners to claim rectifications under warranty.
The reason this is needed is due to the large number of stakeholders and trades involved with the construction of a property. It can be very easy for an individual of any of the services trades to believe they have completed their works correctly, inform their employer who then signs the statement of compliance under the belief that everything was done correctly. In this scenario, defects can easily slip through the cracks on the final inspections and sign off, resulting in the building being given an Occupancy Certificate, whilst not being compliant.
Another situation can occur when a less than honest tradesperson intentionally falsifies their sign off in order to receive their final payment from the builder, which is a misleading statement that the Responsible Building Surveyor is not always able to verify before issuing the Occupancy Permit. Because of these common scenarios it is vital to get independent inspection completed as soon as possible on the completion of a property so that warranties can be claimed before the Defect Liability Period expires.