The annual inspection is organized when 12–15 months have passed since the building's commissioning approval, i.e. after about a year of occupancy.
If the company has several buildings, the annual inspection must be organized for each building within a period of 12-15 months after the building inspection has approved the building's apartments for use.
The seller must inform the buyers, the building society and the provider of the non-performance guarantee about the date of the annual inspection at least one month before it is delivered.
There are no provisions in the law on the method of carrying out the annual inspection. The inspection may consist of, for example, one or more inspection occasions. In the annual inspection, however, a central requirement must always be fulfilled, according to which the apartment buyers and the housing stock company must have the opportunity to record all errors and deficiencies in the annual inspection minutes. Typically, a list of them is delivered by the buyers and the housing company to the founding shareholder in advance, before the actual annual inspection event.
Minutes must be drawn up
The law requires that the seller draw up a record of the annual inspection. There are no special format requirements for the protocol. It is essential that the minutes show the duration of the annual inspection, the parties involved and the errors reported/observed during the inspection. Usually, the error lists submitted in advance are attached to the minutes of the actual event. However, it should be noted that new errors and deficiencies can still be presented at the annual inspection meeting, and until the time set aside for the inspection of the annual inspection minutes has expired.
Buyers, the housing association and the provider of the non-performance bond must be given the opportunity to inspect the protocol and submit comments regarding it within a reasonable period of at least three weeks from receipt of the protocol.
Maintenance responsibility determines who reports errors
The authority to speak between the buyers and the housing company in error situations is basically divided according to the responsibility for maintenance.
This usually means that
- the buyer informs errors appear in the interior surfaces, interior equipment and cabinets and furniture of the apartment under his control. The buyer also reports defects in the yard or other facilities, if they fall under the partner's maintenance responsibility according to the articles of association.
- the company announces errors appear in other parts of the building and in the yard areas belonging to the company.
Seller's and buyer's views on the same document
The buyer has the right to record or record in the protocol all things he considers to be errors. Usually, the seller records his own understanding of the matter in the same protocol. He takes a position on whether the seller considers the reported issue to be a mistake for which he is responsible. If the parties disagree on a point, the matter will be interpreted based on the error provisions of the Housing Sales Act.
All errors must be reported in the annual inspection
All detectable errors must be reported in the annual inspection. After the annual inspection, the seller will no longer respond as an error for a situation that would have been noticeable. After the inspection procedure, the errors are corrected.