Nitpik — Warranty / maintenance period
Warranty inspection Melbourne.
Designer defect inspections, professionally picky.
The months after handover are when a new home shows its true finish. A warranty inspection documents what has moved, cracked or failed while your builder is still clearly responsible for fixing it.
What changes in the months after handover
A new home settles. Timber framing dries out, plaster sheets move with the seasons and the first summer and winter put every joint under strain. Most of this is normal, but it leaves visible marks that were not there on handover day.
- Hairline paint cracks at cornices, wall corners and above door heads
- Popped plaster joints and fastener heads showing through the paint
- Failed or shrinking silicone around showers, baths, vanities and benchtops
- Tiles that sound hollow, move or show cracked grout lines
- Dropped or misaligned joinery doors, drawers and cupboard fronts
Each of these has a published tolerance in the Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2026. The question is not whether a crack exists, but whether it falls outside what the Guide accepts at that age of home.
When to book a warranty inspection
Book before your defects liability or maintenance period ends. Many contracts set this period at a number of months after handover — check your own contract for the exact date, because once it passes, getting the builder back becomes slower and more formal.
We recommend booking four to six weeks before the deadline. That leaves time to send the report to your builder, agree a rectification visit and follow up before the window closes.
What's in the report
The same format as our handover reports: room by room, every item photographed, numbered and cited to the relevant Guide clause, delivered as a PDF the same day. Items that were on an earlier handover list and are still outstanding are marked clearly, so your builder can see what was promised and missed.
Re-check visits after rectification are available on request, quoted individually.
Pricing
$450 single storey · $750 double storey. Flat rates, booked and paid online.
Dealing with defects that are not tied to the maintenance period, or a dispute that has gone further? See our building defects inspection page. Not handed over yet? Start with a handover inspection.
Areas we inspect
Handover and building defects inspections across metro Melbourne, led by the city's high-end finish suburbs — plus the northern growth corridor and the rest of Victoria.
- Toorak
- Brighton
- Kew
- Camberwell
- Malvern
- Hawthorn
- South Yarra
- Armadale
- Canterbury
- Glen Iris
- Balwyn
- Ivanhoe
- Albert Park
- Middle Park
- Elwood
Common questions
When should I book a warranty inspection?
Before your defects liability or maintenance period ends, so anything that has appeared since handover is documented while the builder is still clearly responsible.
How long does a builder have to fix defects in Victoria?
It depends on your contract. Many contracts set a defects liability or maintenance period, often several months after handover, and the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 gives statutory warranties that can be enforced for longer — up to 10 years for some building work. Document defects early, ideally before handover, and get legal advice if the builder won't respond.
What can I do if my builder isn't fixing defects in Victoria?
Put the defects to the builder in writing with clear evidence — photos, locations and the Guide clause for each item. An independent defects report makes that evidence hard to dispute. If the builder still won't act, Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria (DBDRV) and legal advice are the usual next steps.
What's the difference between a pre-handover and a warranty inspection?
A pre-handover inspection happens before you accept the home, when you have the most leverage. A warranty inspection happens after you've moved in — usually near the end of the builder's defects liability or maintenance period — to document defects that have appeared or were never fixed.
Book your warranty inspection
$450 single-storey · $750 double-storey. Every defect photographed and cited to the Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2026, with your PDF report the same day. Servicing Melbourne and Victoria.
Nitpik inspects cosmetic finish only. We are not structural engineers, building surveyors (RBS), or pest and termite inspectors, and we don't do pre-purchase building and pest reports on existing homes. This page is general information, not legal advice. Your contract and the law take precedence over the Guide.