Construction
A development, from land purchase to handover
Two or three years, many actors, and documentation that outlives all of them.
A development lasts two or three years and passes through designers, contractors, subcontractors, sales agents, buyers and finally a residents' association. Almost nobody is there from start to finish — except the documentation, which has to outlive all of them.
The four phases and what accumulates in each
| Phase | What documentation | Who will ask for it later |
|---|---|---|
| Land and permits | Title, permits, conditions | The buyer, the bank, the association |
| Design and contracting | Design, contracts, insurance | The insurer if there is a claim |
| Construction | Subcontractors, materials, controls | Whoever claims a defect |
| Handover | Building file, certificates, warranties | Each buyer, for years |
Important
The fourth column changes how everything before it is stored. None of this is filed for you: it is filed for someone who will ask for it in three, five or ten years, when whoever assembled it has left the company.
What gets lost most
Watch out
Handing over the building file without a signed receipt is the error that reappears most: three years later a buyer says they never received it, and without a receipt the argument has no way out.
What must be answerable years later
Who executed each part, what material was used, what was handed to whom and when warranties started running. All four are answered with dates or not at all, and all four arrive when nobody remembers.
Worth knowing
If you run several developments, building them as one process makes the third cost a fraction. What changes is the land and the buyers; the documentary skeleton, little.
›Can I give the residents' association access at the end?
Yes, scoped to what belongs to them as owners.
›And the contractor during the works?
Scoped to their part and with an end date.
›How long must it be kept?
New-build warranty periods are long; confirm with your adviser.
A real case
The situation
A developer receives a claim three years on and cannot find the certificate for the material used.
What you do
- Builds the next development as a process, with certificates linked to each work package
What you get
The next claim is answered within the hour instead of absorbed for lack of proof.
The situation
The development advances and each stage files its papers separately.
What you do
- Uses one file per development
What you get
There is one picture from start to finish.
The situation
At handover, documentation from the construction stage is missing.
What you do
- Requests as the event happens
What you get
Handover does not uncover months-old gaps.
The situation
Each trade delivers whenever they remember.
What you do
- Requests and chases automatically
What you get
The final month goes on reviewing.
The situation
Buyers ask and there is no file per home.
What you do
- Also organises by unit
What you get
You answer the way people ask.
The situation
Years later a warranty claim arrives.
What you do
- Keeps the file beyond handover
What you get
The warranty period is faced with the record.
This article answers
- property development documentation
- developer building file
- housing handover documentation
- new build warranty documentation