New Apartment from a Contractor - Home Inspection in Israel

Why a brand-new apartment needs an inspection

It is the question every foreign buyer asks: the apartment is new, nobody has lived in it, the finishes are clean - what is there to inspect?

The answer is in the data. Across 133 inspection reports in our Housing Defects Index (published in Hebrew, dataset on Zenodo), 100% of properties had defects, with an average of 37 findings per property. These are not cosmetic complaints. They are deviations from the Israeli Standards and from the technical specification you were sold - waterproofing that fails in the first winter, drainage laid at the wrong slope, windows that do not seal, tiling out of tolerance.

None of this is unusual or scandalous. It is how large-scale construction works. What matters in Israel is that the contractor's repair window is defined by law and varies by defect type - and a documented, standards-referenced report is the strongest way to use it.

What we check in a new apartment

All of it is checked against something specific: the architectural plans, the technical specification attached to your contract, the Sale Law, the Israeli Standards, the planning and building regulations, and the electrical, plumbing, civil-defense, fire-safety and parking regulations - along with the General Specification for Construction Works, the volume known in Israel as the Blue Book, published by the inter-ministerial committee and the Ministry of Defense. That is what turns a finding into something a contractor has to answer - and where a finding falls outside any written standard, it is recorded as a fault, with the repair specified and priced.

What this is not: it is not a structural survey. The stability of the building, its foundations, columns and load-bearing beams are assessed by a dedicated structural engineer. Structural elements are not examined and are not covered by the opinion; if you have any concern about them, a structural engineer is the right professional to consult. The inspection also checks dimensions against the plans, but it does not calculate areas - that requires a licensed surveyor - and it does not cover live electrical testing.

The defects we find most often

1. 1

   Waterproofing failures

   By far the most consequential category. Invisible on handover day, expensive and disruptive once the first rain finds it.

2. 2

   Deviations from the specification

   A different model, a smaller dimension, a missing item. Perfectly legitimate to raise - if it is documented.

3. 3

   Plumbing and drainage

   Slopes, sealing and connections that pass a casual glance and fail a functional test.

4. 4

   Finish defects

   Individually small, collectively substantial - and most of them inside the contractor's obligation.

How it works

1. 1

   Scheduling

   Tell us the property type, size and location. We coordinate access - with you, or with anyone you trust to open the door.

2. 2

   The inspection

   One certified expert, on site, with thermal imaging, moisture meters, levels, laser measures and other equipment as the property requires.

3. 3

   The report

   Within five business days at most - usually sooner, sometimes the same day.

4. 4

   To the contractor

   You send it. It is written to be answered, and in most cases that is where it ends.

5. 5

   And afterwards

   We stay with you until the repairs are complete. A follow-up inspection after the contractor has worked is charged at half price, valid for up to a year from the first inspection. If a dispute develops, we refer you to a lawyer who specializes in construction defects.

Frequently asked questions