Finishing Warranty and Life After Handover 2026: Coverage, Duration, and How to Claim

Finishing works end, keys are handed over, and the owner assumes the file is closed. Then comes the first winter or the first summer: a damp patch at the base of a wall, hollow-sounding tiles, a socket that stopped working, paint cracking at a corner. And the question nobody settled in time surfaces: is this covered by the warranty?

The answer does not rest on goodwill—it rests on what the contract says. A warranty whose duration, claim procedure, and inspection-cost liability you do not know is a verbal warranty, worthless at the first dispute.

This article explains the types of warranty, the durations commonly written per item, what is excluded, how to claim step by step, and how retention and a proper handover file protect you.

Three Different Warranties—Do Not Confuse Them

Type	Provided by	Covers
Workmanship warranty	Contractor or finishing company	Execution defects: waterproofing, plumbing, electrical, paint, installation
Manufacturer warranty	Factory or supplier	The material or appliance itself: fixtures, doors, AC units, appliances
Statutory liability	Contractor and engineering office	Structural soundness of the building as set by Saudi law

The Saudi Civil Transactions Law places liability on the contractor and designer extending to ten years for the structural soundness of the building and anything threatening its stability. Finishing works, by contrast, run for whatever the contract states—which is why the warranty clause in your contract, not custom, is the governing document. (The above is a general explanation and is not a substitute for your contract text or professional advice in a dispute.)

Durations Commonly Seen in the Riyadh Market

These are indicators of what is typically written into finishing contracts—negotiate them before signing, not after:

Item	Typical duration	Notes
Waterproofing	5 – 10 years	The longest warranty, usually tied to the applicator's material warranty
Internal plumbing	1 – 5 years	Covers joints and leaks, not blockages caused by use
Electrical rough-in	1 – 2 years	Covers wiring and outlets, not devices added later
Paint	1 year	Peeling or cracking from workmanship or material
Gypsum and ceilings	1 year	Joint cracks and frame sagging
Flooring and tiling	1 year (installation)	Hollow tiles, wrong falls, defective joints
Doors and joinery	1 – 2 years	Warping, hinges, closing adjustment
HVAC	Manufacturer + 1 year installation	Separate the unit warranty from the pipework warranty
Kitchens and wardrobes	1 – 5 years	Carcass and hardware usually longer than surfaces

An important rule: the period starts from the documented handover date, not the contract date or the final payment date. State it explicitly, or you lose months of cover on a project that ran late.

What a Warranty Usually Excludes

Expect these exclusions, and make sure they are written clearly rather than left open to interpretation:

Misuse or negligence—blocking drains with foreign matter, overloading shelves.
Neglected routine maintenance—uncleaned AC filters or floor drain traps.
Post-handover modifications—work by another party usually voids cover on that item.
External damage—a leak from a neighboring unit, or rainwater from a structural defect outside the contract scope.
Natural wear—sun-faded color, ordinary wear over time.
Owner-supplied materials—installation stays covered, the material itself does not.

What Makes a Warranty Actually Enforceable

A one-line clause such as "works are guaranteed for one year" protects nobody. An enforceable warranty defines five elements:

Scope and duration per item in a clear table, not a blanket sentence.
Start date = the date of the signed handover minutes.
Claim procedure and response times: an official channel, an inspection window, and a repair window.
Who bears inspection costs if the defect turns out to be outside cover.
Retention: its percentage and release date.

Retention: Your Strongest Tool After Handover

Retention is a percentage held back from the contract value (commonly 5% to 10%) and released only after the core warranty period.

It belongs in the payment schedule, not a separate annex.
It is released after a defined period (often 6–12 months) and after all observations are closed.
It may be released against a bank guarantee where the contractor is a qualified company.

The reason is simple: response to a warranty claim is far faster when the contractor still has money held by the owner.

A Snag List Is Not a Warranty

The two are commonly confused, and the difference matters:

Criterion	Snag list	Warranty
When	At handover, before keys are taken	After handover, within the agreed period
Covers	Visible defects and missing items	Defects appearing later through use
Effect	Delays final handover or last payment	Obliges repair within the period

Do not take the keys and sign handover minutes before the observations are documented. A signature with no observations is an acknowledgment that everything is visibly sound.

You might also like: Engineering Supervision for Finishing: When You Need It

How to Claim: Six Steps

Document immediately—dated photos and video, with a precise description of location and when it appeared.
Notify in writing through the channel named in the contract, not a voice note or a call.
State the deadline the contract gives for inspection, and cite it in the notice.
Prepare inspection minutes signed by both parties: the defect, its likely cause, the decision, and the repair date.
Follow the repair and keep post-repair photographs.
Close the claim in writing—a documented closure prevents the same item being argued again later.

If the contractor does not respond: send a written notice with a defined deadline, use retention as settlement leverage, and escalate through the competent authorities if necessary. Every documented step before that strengthens your position.

The Handover File: What You Should Receive With the Keys

This file is the difference between an owner who knows their house and one who breaks walls to find out:

As-built drawings for electrical, plumbing, and HVAC routes—the single most important sheet.
Rough-in photographs taken before plastering, your map for any future drilling.
Warranty certificates and invoices for appliances and materials, issued in your name.
Materials and color schedule: paint codes, tile models, accessory sizes and types.
Surplus samples of tile, marble, and paint for any future matching repair.
Operation and maintenance manuals for HVAC and smart systems.

Make delivery of this file a condition in the handover minutes—asking for it two months later is close to impossible.

A Maintenance Schedule for the First Two Years

A warranty does not replace maintenance, and most rejected claims trace back to neglecting one of these:

Frequency	Tasks
Monthly	Clean AC filters, check drainage under basins
Every 3 months	Inspect silicone around bath and shower, clean floor drain traps
Every 6 months	Inspect roof waterproofing before rain season, tighten door hinges
Annually	Full HVAC service, electrical panel check, external tile joint inspection

Summary

A warranty is not a promise made after handover—it is a negotiated clause written before signing. The protected owner is the one who defined: the duration per item, a start date tied to handover, a claim procedure with response times, retention inside the payment schedule, and a complete handover file.

The rule: never sign handover minutes without a snag list, and never release the final payment without a written warranty.

At True Draft we hand over with documented minutes, a closed snag list, a complete handover file, and clear warranty terms per item—contact us to discuss your project scope and its warranties.