Practical Completion in Queensland: The Defects Document and a Room-by-Room Handover Checklist

Practical completion is the day the house stops being the builder's site and starts being your home. It's also the day the final payment usually falls due, the defects list is agreed, and the clocks on your defect rights start running. What you raise at the handover walkthrough, and what's on record about the house that day, shapes every conversation about defects that follows.

This guide explains what practical completion means under a Queensland building contract, how to run the handover inspection room by room, what goes on the defects document, the deadlines to diary, and what to do if a builder refuses to fix defects. It's written for owners two to four weeks out from handover, and for site supervisors preparing for it. It's general information, not legal advice.

What is practical completion?

A home reaches practical completion when the building work is finished in line with the contract, the plans and specifications and the building rules, apart from minor defects or minor omissions. It has to be suitable to live in: weatherproof, with power and water connected, working as a normal home. Touch-up painting can still be outstanding; a leaking shower or a missing kitchen can't.

Your contract says how the builder tells you practical completion has been reached, usually with written notice of the date and an invitation to the handover inspection. The final progress claim normally follows, so check the contract for how long you have to pay and what has to be handed over first.

Before the walkthrough: what to bring

Ask for the walkthrough date in writing as soon as the builder can give it, and book anyone you want there, such as an independent building inspector. Then gather what you'll check the house against:

• The contract, plans and specification. The finished house is checked against these, not against the display home.
• Your selections schedule and every signed variation. Colours, tiles, tapware, appliances and anything changed during the build.
• A torch, a bucket of water and a phone. The torch at a low angle shows paint and plaster flaws, the bucket tests floor falls, and the phone photographs each defect where it is.
• Time. Allow a few hours for a typical new home. Rushed walkthroughs are where defects get missed.

The new build handover checklist, room by room

Work through the house one area at a time: wet areas, joinery, paint and linings, doors and windows, the roof and external work, services and appliances, then the documents and anything not yet supplied. For each defect, note exactly where it is, whether the builder agrees it's a defect, and the date it will be fixed.

The practical completion inspection checklist below does that for you. Tick Agreed or Disputed against each item, add the location and a fix-by date, then copy the draft defects document into an email to your builder or print it for the walkthrough.

The defects document: agreed, disputed and fix-by dates

If you raise minor defects or omissions at handover, they're recorded in a defects document completed during the walkthrough. It lists:

• the defects and omissions you and the builder both agree exist, and when the builder will fix them;
• separately, the defects you believe exist that the builder doesn't agree with.

Both of you sign it, and you keep a signed copy. Raise everything you can see on the day. Anything left off is easier for the builder to say appeared after handover.

Certificates and documents to collect

Before you make the final payment, ask for the paperwork that goes with the house:

• the final inspection certificate (Form 21) from the building certifier;
• certificates of inspection and compliance for waterproofing, electrical, plumbing and gas work;
• appliance warranties, product manuals and the builder's maintenance information;
• keys, remotes, alarm codes and meter details.

Appliance faults after handover generally go to the supplier under its warranty, not to the builder.

The 12-month window and other deadlines

Practical completion starts several clocks at once, and they don't run for the same length of time:

• Telling the builder. The builder has to fix defects noticed at handover or within 12 months of completion, and you need to tell them about a defect within 12 months of noticing it.
• QBCC complaints. For non-structural defects, a defective work complaint generally has to be made within 12 months of practical completion. Structural defects have longer limits, counted from when you notice them.
• Home warranty. Non-structural cover needs the defect to appear within 6 months of completion, with the claim made within 7 months. Structural cover runs for 6 years and 6 months, with claims within 3 months of noticing.

Diary the dates on the day you get the keys, and check the QBCC's current rules for your contract.

If the builder refuses to fix defects

Start in writing. List each defect, where it is and the date on the defects document, and give the builder a reasonable time to respond. If that doesn't resolve it, you can lodge a defective work complaint with the QBCC within its time limits. The QBCC may inspect, and where it finds defective work it can direct the builder to fix it. If a direction isn't followed, or the builder can't be found or has gone out of business, the home warranty may apply.

While it runs, keep everything together: the defects document, photos, emails and any record of the house at handover are what everyone will be looking at.

Record the house at handover

Most arguments after handover come down to one question: was it like that when the keys changed hands? A defects list says what was wrong on the day. It doesn't show everything that wasn't, and that's usually what later disputes turn on.

A post-construction audit captures the whole house in 3D at the walkthrough: dated, to scale and walkable, room by room, before furniture goes in and before the first repair. Builders book it as Stage B of the Builder Assurance Bundle, paired with a frame record taken before the plasterboard goes on. Owners can book it on its own. It sits alongside the certifier's inspection and the defects document; it doesn't replace either, and it doesn't decide who's responsible for a defect.

The tour is hosted for six months, then archived and reinstated on request. Our as-built guide explains how the frame and handover records work together through the defects period.

Practical completion: FAQs