Pre-Delivery Inspection: What to Write Down and Why

Published 12 November 2026 · By Jatin Dua, Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty

The Pre-Delivery Inspection is the one hour in the entire pre-construction process where you have real leverage and almost nobody uses it properly. Most buyers walk the unit, feel overwhelmed, note a scratched countertop, and sign.

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What you write on that form determines which defects are presumed to have existed at possession. Everything you do not write becomes something you have to prove later. Here is how to use the hour.

What the PDI actually is

It is a joint inspection with the builder’s representative, before you take possession, where the condition of the home is recorded and the warranty documentation is completed. The form you sign becomes the baseline record.

It is not a home inspection. Nobody is checking whether the work is any good. It records what is visibly there on the day.

Before you go

Bring someone who is not emotionally invested. A friend, a contractor, or a paid PDI inspector. You will be excited and that is exactly the wrong state for this.
Consider hiring a professional. A few hundred dollars for someone who does this weekly is the best-value money in the whole transaction.
Bring your agreement, your floor plan, and your finishes schedule. You are checking delivery against what was promised, and you cannot do that from memory.
Bring a phone with space, a flashlight, a phone charger, a marble, and a tape measure. The charger tests outlets. The marble finds slope. The tape measure checks the room sizes against the plan.
Do not schedule anything after it. Take the time you need.

The order to work in

Against the paperwork first

Before you look at finish quality, confirm you got what you bought: the right floor plan and orientation, the right square footage, the right number of parking spaces and the right locker, the upgrades you paid for, the appliance models specified. Builders are permitted to substitute within tolerances, but you should know what was substituted and record it.

Then the things that are expensive later

Run every tap, flush every toilet, fill and drain every sink and tub. Watch for slow drains and look underneath for leaks.
Turn on the HVAC, both heat and cool. Confirm air comes out of every register.
Plug the charger into every outlet. Test every switch and work out what it controls.
Open and close every window and door, lock and unlock each one. Binding doors and windows that will not lock are extremely common and genuinely annoying.
Look up. Ceiling staining, bulkhead gaps, sprinkler heads painted over.
Look at the floor along the walls. Gaps, lifting, hollow spots underfoot in laminate or engineered floors.
Roll the marble in a few places on hard floors. Significant slope is worth recording.
Open every cabinet and drawer. Alignment, soft-close function, damage inside.
Check the balcony or terrace — door seal, drainage, guard height and fixing, slab condition.

Then cosmetics

Scratches, chips, paint coverage, grout, caulking, trim gaps. Record them all, because this is the only moment they are presumed to be the builder’s.

How to write it down

This is where the hour is won or lost.

Be specific about location. “Scratch on kitchen counter, 40 cm left of sink, approximately 15 cm long” beats “counter scratched.” A vague note is easy to dispute.
Describe what you observe, not what you think caused it. “Water staining on bedroom 2 ceiling near exterior wall” is a fact. “Roof is leaking” is a conclusion you may not be able to support.
Write down the item even if the rep says it will be handled. If it is not on the form, it was not recorded. Verbal assurances are not the record.
Do not let anyone rush you, and do not sign a form with blank sections.
Photograph everything you note, wide then close, and keep the photos with a copy of the signed form.
Leave with a copy. Do not accept a promise to email it.

What happens after

The PDI does not replace your warranty forms. Items recorded at PDI still need to flow into your first-year Tarion forms, and those forms submit automatically on fixed days from possession — day 41, day 183 and day 365. Keep reporting items to the builder in writing as you find them, because written proof is what the Year-End grace period requires.

The one-line version

Treat the PDI as evidence-gathering, not a celebration. Bring someone sober-minded, check delivery against the paperwork before you check the finishes, write every item down with a location, and leave with a signed copy and a folder of photographs.

The celebration can be the following weekend, in your own kitchen.

General information, not legal advice. Your warranty rights and the PDI process are governed by Tarion and by your agreement — confirm current requirements directly.

Sources

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