Landed Ownership · 15 September 2026

Your Warranty After Handover on a Landed Home: What It Covers, What It Does Not, and How to Use It

Almost every builder says the work comes with a warranty. Very few owners ask what it actually says until something goes wrong, and by then the document either answers the question or it does not. When a stain appears under a new bathroom in the third year, the first question is not who to call. It is whether that fault is inside the warranty you were given.

This article sets out how to read a builder's warranty on a landed home before you sign, what ours covers and what it does not, and what to do on the day something appears. The terms we quote here are the ones published on our A&A works page. If anything below ever differs from that page, the page is the one to rely on.

The handover list and the warranty are two different things

At handover you walk the house, list what is not right, agree dates and sign. That list closes the construction stage. It is the right moment to catch a door that binds or a socket that was never wired, and we have written a full method for it in taking handover of a landed build.

The warranty is what covers you after that list is signed. It starts from handover, not from the day work began, so a long project does not eat into it. The two get muddled: owners leave items off the handover list because "it is under warranty anyway". Use the handover list for what you can see now. The warranty is for what shows itself later.

What to look for in any builder's warranty before you sign

Whoever you appoint, these are the questions worth having answered on paper, not in conversation:

How long, and from when? A period that runs from the start of works, or from a date the builder chooses, is shorter than it looks. Twelve months is common in the trade.
How long for each item? A single headline number tells you little. Structure, plumbing, windows and painting age differently, and a serious warranty says what each one gets.
Is it about workmanship, or only about the materials? A product warranty from a manufacturer covers the product. It does not cover the way it was installed, and installation is exactly what a workmanship warranty is for.
What is excluded? Every honest warranty has exclusions. The one to worry about is the warranty with none written down, because the exclusions still exist. You simply find them out later.
What happens if you sell? Some warranties end with the owner. If there is any chance you will sell, a warranty that stays with the house is worth something to a buyer.
How do you report a problem, and is there a fee to come and look? A warranty that charges for every inspection quietly discourages you from using it.

What our warranty covers on a landed home

On a landed home, everything we build carries seven years from handover: structural works, plumbing, masonry, partitions and windows. Every item in your quotation has its warranty period written next to it, so you can see what is covered and for how long before you sign anything.

There is one exception. Exterior wall painting is quoted at five years, because five years is Nippon's own warranty on the product, and we will not put a longer number on something than its maker is willing to stand behind. If Nippon extends theirs, ours goes up with it.

It is a workmanship warranty, and in practice the fault owners worry about is leakage. That is the fault it covers. Whether we built a window, masonry or a structural element, if what we built leaks within those seven years, it is ours to put right.

It follows the house, not the owner. If you sell within the seven years, whatever is left of it passes to the buyer.

These terms apply to landed property. Work on non-landed property carries our standard 12-month warranty.

What it does not cover, and why each line is there

We publish the exclusions in full because an owner who knows them can protect the cover they have. Each one has a reason.

Existing structure we did not touch. We cover the areas we worked on. Unless the job is a complete structural A&A, we cannot warrant the parts of the house that were already standing and that we never built or altered. This matters most on older houses, where much of the structure around the new work was already there.
The joint where a new extension meets your existing house. On a car porch, a balcony or a backyard extension, we cover the new extension itself, but not the joint where it meets your existing structure. It is the line where something we built meets something we did not. If you are adding an extension, ask your QP how that junction is detailed, and look at it closely at handover.
Work carried out by others. We will still answer your questions about it, but we do not warrant what somebody else built. No builder honestly can, which is the same point we make in taking over a stalled A&A project.
Wear and tear. The warranty answers a fault in what we built, the kind of defect that causes a problem. It does not cover the ordinary ageing of finishes and fittings. Our handover guide explains why fine hairline cracking at plaster junctions in the first year is normal drying shrinkage rather than a defect.
Repairing existing work we did not do. We can take it on, but it is quoted separately as its own job rather than carried by this warranty.
Damage caused by work someone else does after handover, including work commissioned by a later owner. If another trade cuts through what we built, that is not a defect in our workmanship.

The exclusion owners trip over: later work by someone else

The last exclusion is the one most likely to catch a careful owner, because the later work usually looks harmless. A few examples of the kind of job that can cut through what was built:

An aircon installer coring a new pipe hole through an external wall.
Someone bolting an awning, a bracket or a signboard through a finished facade.
A solar or water tank installer fixing mounts through a waterproofed roof.
A handyman drilling into a waterproofed bathroom floor or wall to fix a rail or a cabinet.

None of these is wrong in itself. The problem is that once a wall, roof or wet area has been opened by someone else, a leak at that spot is no longer a question about our workmanship. Three habits protect you:

Think twice before anyone drills into a wet area, a roof or an external wall during the warranty period. Ask the other contractor how they will seal what they open, and get the answer in writing.
Photograph the area before and after the other trade has been. A dated photo settles questions that memory cannot.
Keep the other contractor's details and scope in writing. If a leak later appears at that spot, that is a conversation with them, and you need to know who they were.

When something appears: what to do that week

A small leak left alone does not stay small. Report early.

Take photos and a short video of the problem, and of where the water appears when it rains or when the shower runs, if that is when it shows.
Note when it started and whether anyone has worked on that part of the house since handover.
If we built it, send them to us, or ask us to arrange for someone to come and look. There is no inspection fee during the warranty period, and if it turns out to be a small issue, we settle it at no charge.
Do not let another contractor open it up first. Once somebody else has hacked into the area, it is much harder for anyone to say what the original fault was.

Selling within the seven years

Because the warranty follows the house, it is part of what you are selling. Keep it with the documents from handover: the quotation with its per-item warranty periods, the handover list, and the as-built drawings. When you sell, hand them to the buyer with the keys, and put it in writing that the balance of the warranty passes with the property.

If you are buying a landed house that has had recent works, ask the seller who built them, when handover was and whether any warranty passes to you. If nobody can produce the paperwork, treat the works as having no warranty at all, and read reading A&A approval history before buying for the other questions worth asking.

Warranty and insurance are not the same thing

Owners sometimes ask whether the warranty is insurance. It is not. Our public liability insurance is in force for the whole of your project, while the works are running. The warranty is our own commitment about what we built, and it starts at handover. When you compare builders, ask about both separately. And when you compare quotations, put the warranty terms side by side along with the exclusions and allowances covered in why two builders quote very different prices from the same drawings.

The short version

The handover list is for what you can see on the day. The warranty is for what appears later, and it starts at handover.
Get the warranty in writing, per item, with its exclusions, before you sign.
On a landed home, ours is seven years on everything we build, five years on exterior painting, and it passes to a buyer if you sell. Non-landed work is 12 months.
Photograph before and after anyone else drills into a wet area, roof or external wall, and report a leak early.

The photo above is a finished bathroom from one of our landed house A&A projects. You can see the rest of that job in our project photos.

If you are comparing builders for a landed A&A and want to see how our warranty is written against your scope, or you have a question about work we have already handed over, WhatsApp us on 9107 2601. Wong Lye Pte Ltd holds a BCA General Builder Class 2 (GB2) licence and builds A&A works, reconstructions and extensions on landed homes across Singapore. The full warranty terms are on the A&A works page.

Common questions

Is the handover defects list the same as the warranty?

No. The handover list records what is not right on the day and closes the construction stage. The warranty covers what appears after that list is signed, and on a Wong Lye landed project it runs from handover, not from the day work began. Put everything you can see on the handover list rather than leaving it for the warranty.

How long is the warranty on landed A&A works with Wong Lye?

Seven years from handover on everything Wong Lye builds on a landed home: structural works, plumbing, masonry, partitions and windows. Exterior wall painting is quoted at five years because that is Nippon's own warranty on the product. Every item in the quotation has its warranty period written next to it. Work on non-landed property carries a standard 12-month warranty.

Does the warranty transfer if I sell the house?

Yes. The warranty follows the house, not the owner, so if you sell within the seven years the balance passes to the buyer. Keep the quotation with its per-item warranty periods, the handover list and the as-built drawings together and hand them over with the property.

What does the warranty not cover?

Existing structure Wong Lye did not touch unless the job is a complete structural A&A, the joint where a new extension such as a car porch, balcony or backyard extension meets the existing house, work carried out by others, wear and tear, repair of existing work Wong Lye did not do, and damage caused by work someone else carries out after handover, including work commissioned by a later owner.

What should I do if a leak appears after handover?

Report it early. Take photos and a short video, note when it started and whether anyone has worked on that area since handover, and send them to the builder who did the work. With Wong Lye there is no inspection fee during the warranty period and a small issue is settled at no charge. Do not let another contractor open the area up first.