/5 min read
The Defect Liability Period, and Why It Is Included
In short
What the period after handover covers — workmanship and installation faults that only appear once a house is lived in, which no inspection at handover could have found — and why KAPA includes it in every contract rather than selling it separately. Making it optional would reward finishing quickly over finishing properly. Aftercare continues past the end of it, which is where most repeat work comes from.
In this article
Topics
- Process
- Aftercare
What it covers
Workmanship and installation faults that emerge under normal use — the ones no inspection at handover would have found because the house had not yet been lived in.
Why it is not optional
Because making it optional creates an incentive to finish quickly rather than properly. Included aftercare aligns the incentive with the outcome.
What happens after it ends
Aftercare continues. Most of our repeat work comes from houses we delivered years earlier, which is only possible if somebody is still answering the phone.
Key takeaways
- Covers faults that only appear once the house is occupied.
- Included in every contract, never sold separately.
- Aftercare continues past the end of the liability period.
On this site
First published in the KAPA Journal, written with KAPA Design Collective, the practice that designs and builds our residences.
Published by TMB Development at tmbdevelopment.com/journal/the-defect-liability-period. Quoting a passage with a link back is welcome; republishing it is not — see the terms.
