Home inspection and the budget: what recurring defects teach whoever prices the work
A home inspection is a check of a flat or a house for construction defects, and whoever has done many such inspections knows the defects that recur in almost every flat. This knowledge is useful before construction too, when an estimate and a budget are prepared: whoever knows what usually fails can include in the budget, from the start, what prevents the failure, instead of paying for it after handover.
What a home inspection teaches about every flat
In Israel this check is called בדק בית (bedek bayit). The same findings come back again and again: moisture around windows and in external walls, missing waterproofing in showers and on balconies, floor falls that leave water standing, cracks in plaster and at joints between different materials, hollow tiles, and doors and windows that do not close properly. These are not rare faults. They are the result of work done at speed, of subcontractors moving between sites, and of details that nobody checked in time.
Each such finding has a typical repair, and each repair has a price: lifting tiles and waterproofing again, opening plaster around a window, repainting a damaged wall. Whoever has seen these repairs many times knows what they cost, and also knows that they cost far more than the correct detail that would have prevented them. The finishes in which most defects arise are broken down on the finishes BOQ page.
What the Sale (Apartments) Law sets: inspection and warranty periods
According to the Standards Institution of Israel on the contractor's responsibility under the Sale (Apartments) Law (in Hebrew), the inspection period begins on the day the flat is placed at the buyer's disposal and lasts from one to seven years, depending on the defective item. After it comes a warranty period of three years. During the inspection period the contractor must repair every defect unless it proves that the buyer caused it; during the warranty period the burden of proof is on the buyer. These periods cannot be cancelled, changed or shortened, even with the buyer's consent.
| Item | Inspection period |
|---|---|
| Pipes, including heating systems and gutters | Two years |
| Moisture penetration in walls and in the shelter | Three years |
| Machines, motors and boilers | Three years |
| Settling of floor tiles on the ground floor | Three years |
| Cracks through walls and ceilings | Five years |
| Significant peeling of external cladding | Seven years |
| Any other defect that is not fundamental | One year |
Why recurring defects belong in the budget
For the contractor, every defect that comes back during the inspection period is a cost: a crew that returns to the site, material, coordination with the occupant, and sometimes repairing damage that moisture caused to the finishes. The developer and the client pay for it indirectly, through friction, delays in the last payment and claims. Whoever knows the recurring defects can price, from the start, what prevents them: another layer of waterproofing, a flood test before tiling, a proper detail around the window, and close supervision at the stages in which defects arise.
This is true for a private house too. It is better to budget for checks and supervision at the waterproofing and finishing stages than to discover moisture after the plaster and paint are already on the wall. How to build a budget for a private house from quantities, and not from a general price per m², is on the private house budget page.
The last payment, retention and the contractor who does not come back
In many contracts a small percentage of the price, or a guarantee, is held until the repairs are done. Some contractors come back and repair; others prefer to give up the balance and not come back, because the repairs would cost them more. Whoever prices the work needs to know both kinds: a low quotation from a contractor who will not come back to repair is not really cheap. The warranty that suppliers give also varies a great deal from one supplier to another, for example on air conditioning systems, and that is part of comparing quotations and of procurement. A defect found early is a repair; a defect found after handover sometimes turns into an argument about variations.
The rule: the least expensive defect is the one that was budgeted for and prevented during construction. A defect found in a home inspection after handover costs twice: once for the repair, and once for the finishes damaged on the way.
Who prepares an estimate with a defects inspector's eye
Yaakov Avital completed a government course in construction defects inspection (home inspection) for people with a background in the field, at Habonim College, 484 hours in 2021 and 2022, and passed the government final exams of the senior division for vocational training and workforce development at Israel's Ministry of Economy and Industry (certificate no. 1471330). He is also a certified works manager, a graduate of the safety officers course and of the work-at-height instructors course, and in the field since 2012. This combination is what an estimate and a budget need: someone who knows the execution, safety and the defects that appear after handover. The site knowledge of a construction works manager completes the picture.
A quantity surveyor may be an engineer or a registered building technician, like Yaakov Avital. Yaakov measures every detail like a contractor; pricing and estimates are an extra service: verbal feedback on prices together with the client, with no commitment. More about the work of a quantity surveyor for construction projects.
Frequently asked questions
When is a home inspection done on a new flat?
Usually before handover or right after it, and again before the inspection period of the main items ends. That way the findings reach the contractor while the contractor must still repair them.
Does the inspection belong in the bill of quantities?
The inspection itself does not. But what it teaches does: waterproofing details, flood tests and supervision stages that appear as priced items, instead of remaining a general sentence in the specification.
What is the difference between the inspection period and the warranty period?
During the inspection period the contractor must repair every defect unless it proves that the buyer caused it. During the warranty period, the three years that begin when the inspection period ends, the buyer has to prove that the defect arose from the construction.
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Contact me for a quote* Created with AI for marketing, for illustration only. Not reviewed by Yaakov Avital and not professional advice. Every project must be checked on its own by a professional quantity surveyor and an engineer.