Technical inspection
When you buy a house, you can include a home inspection contingency (voorbehoud bouwtechnische keuring) in the purchase contract. This means that as a buyer, you can cancel the purchase if serious hidden defects in the house are discovered or if the repair costs are much higher than agreed. To determine the house’s maintenance state, we can help you put a technical inspection in motion.
What is a technical inspection?
A technical inspection is a technical examination of an existing house performed by an independent party.
An inspector, along with the seller and possibly the buyer, inspects the entire house, from attic to crawl space, inside and out. They check the structural condition of the house and list the costs to restore it to a good state. All findings are included in a technical report.
Note: a technical inspection only covers visible and accessible parts of the house. If you need more insight into potential foundation issues, for example, you can have a separate foundation investigation carried out.
What is included in a technical report?
A technical report describes all defects found by the inspector, including photos of each part of the house.
The inspector summarizes all costs required to restore the house to good condition. These costs are often divided into:
- Immediate costs for measures that are urgently needed to prevent further damage or unsafe situations.
- Future costs for maintenance expenses expected within 1 to 5 years.
- Home improvement: general improvements in the area of energy or comfort, which are not technically necessary.
- Sometimes, a separate section on sustainability is added.
When to have a technical inspection performed?
It’s always a good idea to conduct a technical inspection when buying a house. By including a ‘technical inspection clause’ in your offer and thus in your purchase agreement, you can prevent a lot of practical and financial damage.
This clause means that you can cancel the purchase as a buyer if serious hidden defects in the house are discovered or if the repair costs are much higher than agreed.
Technical reservation in a heated housing market
In a heated housing market, however, buyers often ignore this technical reservation from their offer. This is understandable, as an offer without reservations is more attractive to sellers and might be the deciding factor for a winning bid. The risk for you, as the potential buyer, of course, is that the costs can be very high if any defects are found after you have become the new owner.
What does a technical inspection cost?
If you have already found a house and are about to make an offer, our advisors can advise you on including a technical reservation. We can also arrange the technical inspection on your behalf. For a fixed fee of €375, we will ask a reliable company to perform the technical inspection for you.
Encountering problems with hidden defects? Seek legal assistance
It can happen that, despite a comprehensive technical inspection, you still face hidden defects after purchasing your house.
If you are a client at Viisi, our legal helpline can provide advice and help solve problems with hidden defects. You can speak to a DAS lawyer free of charge and without obligation about doubts, questions, problems, and suspicions related to the purchase of your house.