New does not mean finished. In fast-built Pune towers it means less than usual, and the difference between snagging a flat before interior work and after it is several lakh rupees of someone else's problem becoming yours. This is what to check.
Why the order matters
Once a wardrobe stands against a wall, a damp patch behind it is your problem. Once a false ceiling closes, a badly positioned electrical point is a chase through finished plaster. Once flooring is protected and covered, a level problem is invisible until the furniture rocks.
Everything on this list is the builder's responsibility to fix under the handover snag process, and free — but only until you start building on top of it.
Floors and levels
Check level across each room with a spirit level or a long straight edge, not by eye. Look particularly at the junction between rooms and at doorway thresholds.
Check the fall in every wet area — bathrooms, the utility, the balcony. Pour a mug of water and watch where it goes. Water that pools or runs the wrong way is a waterproofing and screed issue, and it is much easier to raise now.
Check tiles and flooring for hollowness by tapping. A hollow tile will crack.
Walls and ceilings
Look for seepage and damp at external walls, especially after rain and especially on the weather-facing side. This is the single most important item on the list, and it is why we do this walk before any joinery is fitted.
Check walls for plumb and for square at corners, because joinery has to fit against them. Some deviation is normal and we scribe to it; a lot of deviation is worth raising.
Check the slab and ceiling for cracks and for any sign of water ingress from the flat above.
Windows and doors
Open and close everything. Look for alignment, smooth operation, and gaps at the frame. Check that window drainage weep holes are clear, and that sliding tracks are not full of construction debris.
Check the sealant around external window frames. Poor sealing here is a common source of monsoon seepage and is far easier for the builder to redo than for anyone to diagnose later.
Electrical
Count the points against the agreed layout, room by room. Builders routinely provide fewer than the brochure implied, or provide them in positions that assume furniture nobody would place there.
Test every socket and switch. Check the distribution board — the number of circuits, the rating, and whether there is an RCD. Check that the earthing is present and connected.
Note where you will actually need points once furniture is planned, because adding them now costs far less than chasing a finished flat later.
Plumbing
Run every tap and flush every WC. Check pressure at the highest fitting. Look under every sink and behind every WC for leaks and for whether the connections are accessible.
Check the geyser point positions and the drainage in the utility. Confirm where the water inlet and the shut-off valve are, because you will need them.
Balcony and external
Check railing fixing and height. Check the balcony fall and drain. Check for seepage at the balcony-to-room threshold, which is a common weak point.
Confirm the designated air-conditioning outdoor unit positions with the society before planning any concealed pipe runs.
Get it in writing
Submit the snag list to the builder in writing, dated, with photographs, and keep a copy. Verbal reports at handover have a way of not existing later.
Get the resolution confirmed in writing too, and re-check the items yourself rather than accepting that they were done.
What we do
We walk this list with clients before starting work, and we will not fit joinery against a wall with unresolved seepage. Where the builder is slow, we sequence around the affected room rather than building over the problem.
See also society rules for interior work and how long a project takes.
To have a new flat looked at before you start, call Pooja Dhoot on +91 82080 93011 or Dimple Marathe on +91 88881 77217.