Construction
The developer who doesn't build
You lay no bricks and you are the one answering to the buyer. Everything others do ends up in your file.
You hire a builder, a design team and half a dozen trades. None of them works for the buyer: **they all work for you, and the buyer knows only you**. That asymmetry sums up the position and explains why a development's file is the hardest on the whole job to complete.
What ends up in your file even though someone else generates it
| What | Generated by | Handed over by |
|---|---|---|
| Material and equipment certificates | Each trade | **You** |
| Installation warranties | Each installer | **You** |
| Use and maintenance manuals | The manufacturers | **You** |
| As-built documentation | The design team | **You** |
Important
**The only moment all of that can be gathered is before the final payment certificate.** Afterwards, the builder has dismantled the site office, the installer is on another development and the manufacturer has changed sales rep. Holding documentation as a condition of final payment is not distrust: it is the only tool you have, and the whole sector understands it because the same is done to all of them.
What to require by contract, not request at the end
- 1
What documentation each party hands over, listed
Named item by item. «The usual documentation» is not a list.
- 2
In what format and when
With the job running, not on completion.
- 3
What share of payment depends on delivering it
That is what makes it arrive.
- 4
And who reviews it before it is accepted
Receiving a folder is not the same as checking it is complete.
Watch out
The mistake that costs years later: **accepting the documentation without opening it**. A fat folder arrives at handover, gets filed, and nobody checks whether every trade is inside or only three. When a buyer claims about one particular installation, you will find the gap with the builder already settled. Half a day reviewing it on receipt is worth more than any contract clause.
Worth knowing
What documentation a developer must keep and hand over, what the building manual contains and what statutory warranties apply to the buyer is set by the applicable building rules. **Your adviser or design team settles that**; here we explain how to actually get hold of what must be handed over.
›Can I withhold payment over documentation?
If it is in the contract, yes, and it is what makes it arrive. Agree it on signing.
›Do I have to give everything to the buyer?
Whatever applies, keeping a copy. Never hand over your only set.
›What if something is missing from a trade that no longer exists?
Document what is missing and what you did to get it. That is what holds the position.
A real case
The situation
The handover folder looks complete and three trades are missing from it.
What you do
- Reviews the documentation against the list before the final certificate
What you get
The gap surfaces while it can still be demanded.
The situation
A buyer claims about an installation and the builder has already been wound up.
What you do
- Requires each trade's documentation by contract during the works
What you get
The file is complete before anyone disappears.
The situation
The contract asked for «the usual documentation» and every trade reads it differently.
What you do
- Lists each contract's documentary deliverables one by one
What you get
What is received matches what was asked for, with no interpretation.
The situation
The only set of manuals is handed to the buyer.
What you do
- Keeps a copy of everything handed over
What you get
The file survives the handover of the home.
The situation
A trade closes during the works and their documentation is left half-done.
What you do
- Documents what is missing, why, and what was done to obtain it
What you get
The gap is explained rather than looking like an oversight.
The situation
The documentation arrives on paper and is boxed up in a storeroom.
What you do
- Digitises and stores the file where it can be found years later
What you get
The claim five years from now is answered without emptying the storeroom.
This article answers
- documentation a developer must hold
- who hands over the building manual
- developer liability to the buyer
- what paperwork to require from the builder