Buyers often ask whether new and resale flats need the same inspection. The short answer: the method is the same — room by room, system by system — but the questions you're answering are almost opposite. Here's how to think about each.
New flats: hunting snags on a deadline
A new flat's defects are overwhelmingly about finishing and workmanship: hollow tiles, wavy paint, misaligned shutters, loose fittings, unsealed window edges. The structure is (usually) sound; the execution is rushed. Your advantage is time-bound — before handover or registration, the builder fixes everything free. After that, you're filing tickets into a void.
- Priority: finishing quality, fitting function, waterproofing soundness
- Output you want: a numbered snag list the builder can execute
- Follow-up: a re-inspection verifying each fix before you move in
Resale flats: reading the building's history
A resale flat's defects are about age, use and concealment. Bathrooms may have been re-tiled to hide seepage; fresh paint may cover damp lines; plumbing and wiring have years of wear. Nobody is obligated to fix anything — so information is your negotiating power: a repair budget that feeds into your offer price.
- Priority: seepage mapping, plumbing and electrical health, structural observations
- Output you want: a graded repair estimate for negotiation
- Follow-up: contractor quotes against the report's findings
Five checks that matter in both
- Bathroom waterproofing — slope, grout, damp readings. The costliest failures start here regardless of age.
- Electrical safety — socket tightness, MCB labelling, earthing. Five minutes with a tester beats five years of assumptions.
- Window and external sealing — dust, rain noise and water ingress all enter through lazy silicone work.
- Drainage slopes — kitchens, bathrooms, balconies and utilities must all shed water to their drains.
- What's behind the fresh paint — in new flats it's rushed putty; in resale it may be concealed damp. A moisture meter settles it in seconds.
Using the report: fix-list vs. negotiation
For new flats, send the report to the builder as the snag list, get a rectification timeline in writing, and book a re-inspection before accepting keys. For resale, total the High and Moderate findings into a repair budget, subtract it from your offer with the report attached as evidence, and keep the Cosmetic list as your move-in punch list.
Either way, the principle holds: know the house before you buy the house. If you're deciding between two properties, inspect both — comparing two reports side by side is the clearest way to choose.