FAQS

 

 

1) WILL MY NEW PROPERTY REALLY HAVE DEFECTS? IT IS A BRAND NEW PROPERTY AFTER ALL.

In our many years of inspection, we have never come across a new property with 0 workmanship defect. This is because, despite advancement in construction technologies, there are still many works in a new house which need to be done manually. The quality thus depends on the skill and experience of the tradesmen executing the works. Under such circumstances, workmanship defects are inevitable.

Common defects which we find in new houses include:

  • Water seepages,
  • Water ponding in wet areas
  • Plumbing leaks,
  • Pipes and drainage chokes,
  • Loose electrical connections,
  • Faulty circuit breakers in distribution boards,
  • Faulty appliances (most frequent being trips),
  • Doors and windows functionality issues,
  • Tile hollowness,
  • Timber floor delamination,
  • Slanted walls, beams and ceilings,
  • Mould,
  • Pest infestation, e.g. termites and wood borers, etc.

2) WILL THERE BE COST SAVINGS BY GETTING MY HOUSE INSPECTED?

On average, the cost of rectification works that we secure for our clients easily come up to thousands of dollars, far exceeding the cost of our inspection service.

If your house had not been inspected and you subsequently discover these problems on your own, you could be the one bearing the cost of these repairs instead.

3) WHEN DO I ENGAGE A HOME INSPECTION SERVICE FOR MY NEW PROPERTY?

Once you have fixed your key collection appointment, please contact us to schedule your 1st inspection.

Concurrently, please apply to turn on your utilities, particularly water and electricity, for the inspection. We will do our best to schedule the inspection on the same day as your utilities turn-on to save you one trip to your house.

4) SINCE MY DEFECTS LIABILITY PERIOD IS 12 MONTHS, CAN I MOVE IN FIRST AND DO THE INSPECTION LATER?

If defects are reported after you have started renovation or moved in, the developer and their contractor may have reason to believe that some of these defects, especially the cosmetic ones, were inflicted by your people and refuse to rectify them.

To avoid such dispute, it is best to have your house combed through for patent defects (which exist in your house since day 1) prior to any work commencement.

As for latent defects (which take time to surface), developers and contractors will generally entertain these defects even after you have moved into the house.

5) IF I AM LOOKING TO BUY A RESALE PROPERTY, IS THERE A NEED TO GET IT INSPECTED TOO?

Resale house buyers are coming to us because they do not know how to identify critical or hidden problems in the house during their house viewing. With viewings being increasingly conducted on virtual platforms nowadays, it is becoming even harder for buyers to gauge the actual house conditions before making their purchase decision.

As a property is a big-ticket item, it is prudent to inspect the property for potential deal-breakers before you commit to the purchase. If not, you run the risk of inheriting all the issues that come with the house after your purchase. Any repairs will then have to be done at your own cost, over and on top of your purchase price.

6) WHAT ABOUT RENOVATION PROJECTS? IS THERE A NEED TO INSPECT BRAND NEW RENOVATION WORKS?

If your renovation contract comes with a warranty period or you find the quality of the work not to your satisfaction, it will be worthwhile to have your renovation works inspected.

If you are in a contractual or legal dispute with your renovation firm, we are also qualified to provide 3rd party assessment for your project. As Singapore’s only RICS certified Defects Company, our reports are recognised in Mediation, Arbitration, Small Claims Tribunal, Strata Titles Board and State Court sessions.

7) DO I NEED TO BE AROUND WHEN THE INSPECTION TAKES PLACE?

Yes. As your house is an expensive asset, we will strongly recommend that you hang around to see what we are checking and understand what is wrong with your house. At the end of the inspection, we will also run through our findings with you on-site.

For joint inspections with the developer and / or contractor, it is important for you to be around as there may be some decision making required. We will guide and advise you during the joint inspections.

8) BUT WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE TIME TO WITNESS THE INSPECTION WORKS?

As much as possible, we recommend that you join us for the inspection to learn more about your house issues. If you do not have time, just be around at the start and end of the inspection. If that is also not possible, we can make an arrangement with you to enter and inspect your house, and to brief you via phone or other communication channels at the end of the inspection.

For clients who are based overseas, it is also possible to authorise us or another party (friend, family member, property agent, etc.) to take care of the defects matters on your behalf.

9) THERE ARE RENOVATION COMPANIES AND PROPERTY AGENTS OFFERING TO CHECK DEFECTS FOR FREE. WHY SHOULD I ENGAGE YOU THEN?

These parties may not be acting in your best interests because (1) they are not trained to inspect houses and may overlook critical defects which will come back to haunt you after you move into the house, and (2) there is a conflict of interest between checking defects and their works. A more thorough inspection will yield more defects and take a longer time to rectify, thereby delaying the renovation or rental. Under such circumstances, there is a human tendency and temptation for them NOT to do a detailed inspection.

There is no free lunch in this world. Check out this article by Hometrust SG for a better understanding – https://www.hometrust.sg/articles/why-free-defects-inspections-are-too-good-to-be-true/

10) THERE ARE MANY COMPANIES OFFERING DEFECTS INSPECTION SERVICES IN SINGAPORE. CAN’T I JUST GO WITH ANY COMPANY?

In Singapore, defects inspection are not regulated by the authorities. There is also no accreditation scheme nor association to govern the quality of defects inspection works. Any Tom, Dick and Harry can set up shop to offer defects inspection services.

Correspondingly, there has been news coverage on bogus inspectors in the market. These include students and laymen who pose as “inspectors” and get paid by unsuspecting homeowners to check their houses. By the time homeowners discover problems in their house, it would be too late and too costly (relative to the inspection fee) to take legal action on these bogus inspectors. As a result, many of them go scot-free.

This is why it is important to scrutinize the credentials of the defects company and call them up to enquire/size them up before you decide who to engage.

11) SINCE DEFECTS INSPECTION IS NOT REGULATED IN SINGAPORE, WHY SHOULD I ENGAGE YOU?

As the pioneer in defects inspection in Singapore, we have unique strengths which can best protect your interests in your expensive asset:

ONLY CERTIFIED Defects Company in Singapore

Our certification from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is recognised in Court, Strata Titles Board, Small Claims Tribunal, Arbitration, Mediation, etc.

BIGGEST Defects Inspection Company in Singapore

With more than 250 inspections a month, we have the MOST EXPERIENCE to protect your interests in your new property.

BEST Technical Expertise for House Inspection in Singapore

Only defects company in Singapore with FORMER BCA OFFICERS in our inspection team and led by former BCA management.

FREE LIFETIME Technical Consultation

Only defects company in Singapore to provide FREE LIFETIME OFF-SITE TECHNICAL CONSULTATION on all defects in your house, even beyond the completion of our inspection package.

PERSONAL Attention from our Founder

Our BOSS (Wee Kwang) will PERSONALLY HAND-HOLD you throughout your defects journey with us.

HAPPIEST Clients

Most positive reviews in FB/Google (> 600 since incorporation) in Singapore. This is a testament of our consistent and quality service over the years.

12) HOW WILL YOUR RICS CERTIFICATION BE BENEFICIAL TO MY HOUSE INSPECTION?

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a professional body promoting and enforcing the highest international standards in the valuation, management and development of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.

Being certified by RICS means that our expertise in house inspection is internationally recognised. As a result, we are qualified to act as Building Expert Witness in mediation, arbitration, small claims and state court. To maintain this certification, our inspectors have to be highly trained and calibrated regularly to ensure that they consistently deliver high-quality inspection.

Our certification is, therefore, your best assurance that your house will be professionally inspected.

13) I HAVE FRIENDS WHOSE DEFECTS INSPECTORS ARE MORE INTERESTED IN QUARRELING WITH THE DEVELOPER INSTEAD OF WORKING WITH THEM TO RECTIFY THE DEFECTS IN MY HOUSE. HOW CAN I BE ASSURED THAT YOU WILL PROTECT MY INTERESTS IF I ENGAGE YOU?

Due to our construction background, we have worked with all the major builders in Singapore before. We are well known in the industry for being professional in reporting only genuine defects (that is why industry players also engage us too). Our good rapport with builders means that your reported defects will be acknowledged without dispute and rectified to the best of the builder’s ability.

Where the defects are too complicated to rectify or have a high chance of causing collateral damage during rectification, we will facilitate discussion with you and the builder on site to work out a solution to achieve the best outcome with minimum risk.

14) WHAT ARE THE PRICES & PACKAGES AVAILABLE?

We have different inspection packages to cater to the different needs of our customers. For new properties, click here to view our packages and prices.

For landed houses, resale/rental / renovated properties, please call 91512312 or email to enquiry@absoluteinspection.sg to get an inspection package customised to your needs.

15) I AM NEW TO ALL THESE DEFECTS STUFF AND HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS. WHOM CAN I DIRECT MY QUESTIONS TO?

You can call 91512312 or email your questions to enquiry@absoluteinspection.sg. We will respond to you within 1 working day.

If you have engaged us, you will also be assigned a contact person who will hand-hold you throughout your entire defects journey, all the way to the completion of the rectification of the defect in your house.

16) HOW DO I ENGAGE YOU RIGHT AWAY?

Click here to fill in the job request form & you are all set! We will be in touch with you within 1 working day to fix the inspection appointment.

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