The developer's warranty on an apartment: what it covers and how not to lose it to a renovation

What article 7 says

In short, without quotes:

• Quality. The developer hands over an apartment whose quality matches the agreement and mandatory requirements. So the first thing to check against is your agreement: the description of the apartment and of the finish, if there is one.
• The warranty period. It's set by the agreement, but not below the minimum in the law. The apartment itself and the engineering and technological equipment in it have different periods, counted differently - worth checking in the article and in your agreement.
• What you can demand if there are defects. The article lists demands you can make of the developer, for example to fix defects free of charge within a reasonable time. Which other demands are possible, and on what conditions, is in the same article.
• When the developer isn't liable. The law names, among others, normal wear, breaking the operating requirements, and a renovation carried out by the participant or by third parties they brought in. The full list and exact wording are in the article.

Article 7 refers to operating instructions for the apartment: ask for them at handover and keep them.

What the warranty usually covers

To know whom to go to, it helps to tell apart:

• the structure - walls, floors, roof, facade: cracks in load-bearing walls, leaks from the roof or through the facade;
• engineering equipment - risers, radiators, the main panel, meters, windows with their fittings;
• the developer's finish, if the apartment was handed over with one - what's described in the agreement.

A crack in plaster laid by your own crew is a question for them, not for the developer: that's a renovation warranty, covered in Warranty on renovation and materials: if cracks appear. If you're not sure whose responsibility it is, that's also a question for a lawyer.

How a renovation affects the warranty

How exactly a renovation affects the warranty in your case depends on what was redone and where. But the developer may refuse to accept as its own defect something you replaced or redid, and it's easier to argue about the cause when the state before the renovation is recorded. Hence the practical rules:

1. Record the apartment before the renovation. Dated photos of the risers, radiators, panel, windows and walls, the handover certificate and the defect list. How to arrange the inspection is in Defects at apartment handover: how to record them and what to do next.
2. Don't touch the building's shared systems without approval. Risers, shutting off radiators on a riser, ventilation ducts - through building management.
3. Whatever you change, photograph before and after. For example, if you move a radiator or replace a window: the state before the work, who did it and when, what was installed.
4. See a developer defect - report it first, then renovate. If you plaster over a crack first, it will be hard to show later that it was there.

How to report a defect

1. Record it: dated photos and video, where and what, when you noticed it.
2. Find the documents: the agreement, the handover certificate, the inspection report with defects, the operating instructions.
3. Write to the developer at the address in the agreement: what the defect is, where it is, what you demand. Keep a copy and proof that the letter was received.
4. Wait for the answer. The response time and the procedure for fixing are in the law and the agreement.
5. No agreement - go to a lawyer with the letters, replies and photos.

The developer may have handed the building over to a management company; the building's common property is its area. Defects in the apartment under the agreement are the developer's area.

Where to keep it in the app

• The “Documents” tab → the “Contracts” folder: the shared-construction agreement, the handover certificate, the inspection report, the operating instructions, letters to the developer and replies.
• Photos of the apartment at handover go with the items of the “Apartment handover” stage on the “Stages” tab; all the property's photos are collected in “Documents” → “Photo records”. Each photo has a name - the item and the date - so search finds it.
• A task with a due date - for example, “Check the windows before the warranty ends”: on the due date and after it, it shows up under the bell on Home, in the “Important now” block. More in Property tasks: how to keep a renovation to-do list.

Checklist

• The agreement, the certificate and the operating instructions are in the app.
• The warranty periods from your agreement are written down, and the current wording of article 7 is checked.
• The apartment is photographed before the renovation.
• The building's shared systems aren't touched without building management.
• Everything you change is photographed before and after.
• A developer defect is reported in writing first, the renovation comes after.