The walkthrough at the end of a build is your last moment of leverage. Done properly it is a methodical audit against the drawings and the code — not a stroll looking for scuffed paint.
A handover inspection is the moment responsibility transfers from the people who built the thing to the people who will live with it. Before that signature, defects are the contractor's problem; after it, too many quietly become yours. The purpose of a proper inspection is to find everything that is not as specified while someone else is still obliged to fix it — and to document it so there is no argument about what was agreed.
That is a different exercise from noticing a crooked switch plate. The switch plate matters, but the inspection is really an audit: does the building as delivered match the approved drawings, the specification and the code it was permitted under?
The things you can see
The visible layer is the one owners expect: paint and plaster finish, tile lippage and grout lines, door and window operation, the seal and fall of wet-area floors, the alignment of joinery, and whether every tap, drain and fixture actually runs and drains. These are real and worth catching, because they are cheap to fix on the day and expensive to chase six months later.
The things you cannot
The findings that justify the inspection are usually the ones an owner would never spot. Is the electrical distribution board labelled and are the circuits actually protected the way the drawings say? Do the fire-rated doors have the right closers and intumescent seals, or were they swapped for cheaper blanks? Is there real fall on the roof and the balconies, or will the first heavy rain pond and find its way in? Is the waterproofing lapped correctly behind the finishes that now hide it?
We inspect against the documents with a checklist tied to each trade, test the services rather than assume them, and photograph every item with its location. Thermal and moisture readings catch the defects that only appear as a stain much later.
The snag list is a contract, not a complaint
The output is a written, photographed and located snag list with a reasonable timeframe against each item, shared with the contractor and the client together. It separates the cosmetic from the structural and the compliance items that cannot be deferred. Held properly, it protects the client's retention and gives the contractor a clear, finite definition of done — which is in everyone's interest.
