---
id: KB-CN-017
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/construction/the-developer-who-doesnt-build
idioma: en
categoria: sector-construccion
subcategoria: promocion
audiencia: usuario
nivel: avanzado
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CN-004, KB-CN-006, KB-CN-028]
citadoPor: [KB-CN-022, KB-CN-032]
---

# 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._

**Responde a:** documentation a developer must hold · who hands over the building manual · developer liability to the buyer · what paperwork to require from the builder

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.

> [!WARNING]
> 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.

> [!NOTE]
> 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.

## Ejemplos

**The handover folder looks complete and three trades are missing from it.**

- Reviews the documentation against the list before the final certificate

→ The gap surfaces while it can still be demanded.

**A buyer claims about an installation and the builder has already been wound up.**

- Requires each trade's documentation by contract during the works

→ The file is complete before anyone disappears.

**The contract asked for «the usual documentation» and every trade reads it differently.**

- Lists each contract's documentary deliverables one by one

→ What is received matches what was asked for, with no interpretation.

**The only set of manuals is handed to the buyer.**

- Keeps a copy of everything handed over

→ The file survives the handover of the home.

**A trade closes during the works and their documentation is left half-done.**

- Documents what is missing, why, and what was done to obtain it

→ The gap is explained rather than looking like an oversight.

**The documentation arrives on paper and is boxed up in a storeroom.**

- Digitises and stores the file where it can be found years later

→ The claim five years from now is answered without emptying the storeroom.