DLP inspection checklist

A defects liability period inspection checklist, for the walk at month twelve.

38 checks across seven areas, written for what a year of living in a building shows, with a column for the question the walk exists to settle: defect or maintenance. Download it, copy it into a sheet, or read where the end-of-DLP walk goes wrong. No form, no email.

↓ Excel (.xlsx)10 KB · 38 checks pre-filled, drop-downs for Result, Item type and Already notified, header frozen, a second sheet explaining the columns↓ CSV4 KB · the same checks and columns, opens in anything
38 CHECKS · 7 AREAS · DEFECT OR MAINTENANCE · NO GATE
AWalls, ceilings and floors
  1. No new cracking at cornices, wall joints or above door and window heads
  2. No nail pops or joint lines showing through paint
  3. Floors free of new squeaks, cupping, lifting or gaps
  4. Floor tiles sound; no new cracked or drummy tiles
  5. Skirting and architraves still fixed and gap-free
BWet areas
  1. No staining or bubbling on the ceiling below any bathroom, ensuite or laundry
  2. Silicone at shower, bath, vanity and floor junctions intact and adhered
  3. Grout intact; no cracking at the shower hob or niche
  4. Floor falls to waste; no ponding after a water test
  5. Shower screen sealed; dry outside the screen after a test
  6. No leak under the vanity, sink or laundry tub after running
  7. Exhaust fans run and vent outside
CBalconies, roof and drainage
  1. Balcony falls to drain; no ponding after a water test
  2. Balcony door threshold dry after a test
  3. No staining or efflorescence on the soffit or wall below the balcony
  4. Gutters and downpipes discharge; joints not leaking
  5. No water staining on ceilings below the roof or flashings
  6. Ground falls away from the building; no ponding against walls after rain
DWindows and doors
  1. Windows open, close and lock smoothly
  2. Window seals and sills intact; no water marks on reveals
  3. Internal doors close and latch without binding
  4. Entry and external doors seal; no daylight at the threshold
  5. Door and window hardware tight and working
  6. Garage door operates; manual release works
EServices
  1. Hot water reaches temperature at the furthest outlet
  2. Air conditioning heats and cools; condensate drains away from the building
  3. Smoke alarms tested and interconnected
  4. RCDs test and reset
  5. Taps and mixers free of drips at rest
  6. Toilets flush fully and stop
FFinishes and joinery
  1. Paint free of peeling, blistering or water marks
  2. Cabinet doors and drawers aligned and closing
  3. Benchtop joins sealed and flush
  4. Carpet seams tight; no rippling
GExternal
  1. Render, cladding and brickwork free of new cracks
  2. External sealant joints intact around windows and penetrations
  3. Paving and driveway free of new cracking or sinking
  4. Fences, gates and letterbox fixed and operating
The file carries every check pre-filled with the result columns empty, plus three worked rows so the shape is visible before you start.
The columns

What each column is for

The end-of-DLP walk is the last time the builder is obliged to come back, so the sheet has to do more than find faults. The first four columns find them; the next two settle whose they are and whether they were already on record; the last five prove it.

01Ref
An area letter and an item number, the same on every unit or house, so a defect can quote “B1” and everyone knows it is the ceiling below the wet area.
02Area
The part of the building the check belongs to. The walk goes area by area, so the sheet does too.
03Check
One observable thing, phrased so Yes means it passes. A year in, most checks are about what living in the building has shown: movement, water, wear on things that should not wear yet.
04Result
Pass, Fail or N/A. A Fail becomes an item on the register at the moment of the Fail, with a photo, not typed up from the sheet that evening.
05Item type
Defect, Maintenance or Wear. The question the whole DLP walk turns on: a blocked gutter full of leaves is the owner’s, a gutter joint that leaks is the builder’s. Decide it on the spot, with the photo, while both sides are standing there.
06Already notified
Yes if the item was reported during the year and is already on the register. A defect notified in month three and still open at month twelve is a different conversation from one found today.
07Defect no.
The number of the item on your register, new or existing. This column joins the walk to the list the builder works from.
08Photo
The filename of the photo taken at the check. One for every Fail, and one for the wet-area and balcony passes, because those are the ones asked about later.
09Checked by
Who answered it, and for which side. At the DLP walk the owner’s rep and the builder often walk together; the sheet should say whose answer this is.
10Checked on
The date answered. The DLP end date is a contract date, so the walk date matters.
11Notes
Anything else: the water test and how long it ran, what the owner described, what the trade said. Never a substitute for the Result column.
Filling it in

Three rows from one apartment at month twelve

B1, the stain below the ensuite. Fail, Defect, and already notified: the owner reported it on a QR card in month seven and it is on the register as ABC-311. The walk adds a new photo and a note that the stain has grown, which is the record the builder’s waterproofer will read.

C1, the balcony. Fail, Maintenance. Ponding after the water test, but the drain grate is packed with leaves and runs clear once it is lifted. Decided on the spot with a photo of the grate, before and after, both sides standing there. One line, settled in a minute.

A1, the cornice. Fail, Defect, not notified before. A crack along the living-room cornice that opened over winter. Raised today, numbered today, so the date it was notified is inside the period on the record, not just in the minutes of the walk.

The limit

Where the end-of-DLP walk goes wrong

Most DLP walks are done carefully. Where they come unstuck is the paperwork around them, and it fails in three predictable places, all of them about dates and whose an item is.

Month eleven
The year’s items are somewhere else
Owners reported through the year by email, the strata manager forwarded some, the site manager who handled them has moved to the next job. The walk produces a fresh list and nobody can say which of its items were notified in month three, which matters, because a defect notified inside the period stays the builder’s after it ends.
The week after the walk
Defect or maintenance is argued later
Twenty-two items on the list, and the builder’s reply says eight are maintenance: the blocked balcony drain, the dripping tap, the silicone the owner cleaned off with bleach. Nobody decided it at the walk, there is no photo of the drain, and the conversation that could have taken a minute standing on the balcony now takes a month by email.
Month thirteen
The end date passes with items open
The final inspection list went to the builder on the last day of the period and the retention was released on the certificate a fortnight later. Six items are still open. Whether they are still the builder’s turns on the date each was notified, and the sheet has the walk date only.
Asked alongside the download

Questions about the DLP inspection

What is a DLP inspection?
The inspection near the end of the defects liability period, usually at month eleven or twelve after practical completion, to find every defect still open or newly visible before the period closes. Items found and notified inside the period remain the builder’s to fix after it ends.
What should a defects liability period inspection checklist include?
Checks for what a year of use shows: new cracking at cornices and joints, staining below wet areas, failed silicone, ponding on balconies and floors, doors and windows that bind or leak, services that have stopped working. Plus columns for whether each item is a defect or maintenance, whether it was already notified, and who checked it when. This template has 38 checks across seven areas.
Is it a defect or maintenance?
A defect is work that did not meet the contract or a reasonable standard when it was built; maintenance is upkeep that falls to the owner, like clearing a drain or replacing a washer. The useful moment to decide is at the walk, with both sides there and a photo that shows why, rather than by email afterwards.
Is the checklist free, and in what format?
Yes. An Excel workbook with every check pre-filled, drop-downs for Result, Item type and Already notified, the header row frozen and a second sheet explaining the columns, or a CSV with the same rows. Three worked rows show the shape. No form, no email.
What to do about it

Run the period as a register, and the walk is a report.

The three breaks share a cause: the year’s items and the walk’s items live in different places. When owners report into the same register the builder handed over, every item has its notified date from the day it arrived, and the month-twelve walk becomes a check of what is open rather than a reconstruction of what happened.

That is how IssuesId runs the defects liability period. Residents report on a QR card, each item is typed Warranty or Maintenance as it arrives, the builder is still the party it is issued to, and the Post PC Issues report in the report catalogue lists everything that came in after completion. Build these checks once as a checklist template and run them per unit; a No raises the item linked to the check. The periods themselves are in the by-state table, and the words in the glossary under defects liability period and major defect.

IssuesId