Your First Year After Handover: Using the Free Service Period

The day you receive the keys feels like the end of a long project, but the first twelve months in a new building are really the last stage of construction. At Uniq Builders Mysuru, every package ends with a workmanship warranty and one year of free service after handover. That year is valuable only if you use it well, and many owners let it slip by without a plan.

A new house or commercial space settles into its surroundings slowly. Concrete and plaster continue to cure, timber reacts to its first monsoon, and plumbing and electrical lines carry real daily loads for the first time. Small issues that could not appear during construction tend to show up in these months.

Why the first year matters more than the handover walk-through

A handover inspection checks a building nobody has lived in yet. It is a snapshot, not a stress test.

Daily use is different. A family of four runs water in several bathrooms at once. An office switches on every air conditioner on a hot April afternoon. Rain in the Mysuru region arrives in heavy spells, which tests terraces, window frames and external joints far more than a dry-season inspection can.

The free service period exists for exactly this gap. It gives you a defined window in which the team that built the structure can return, look at what has emerged, and put it right under the terms of your agreement. After that window, the same fixes usually become paid maintenance, so timing counts.

What to watch for, season by season

You do not need to be an engineer to spot early signs. You only need to look with some regularity. A simple seasonal routine works well for most homes and small commercial buildings.

First three months (settling in)

• Hairline cracks in plaster, especially where walls meet beams or columns. Fine shrinkage cracks are common in new work, but note their location and length.
• Doors and windows that stick, drag or fail to latch.
• Slow drains, gurgling traps or low water pressure on upper floors.
• Switches, sockets or circuits that trip or feel warm.

Monsoon months (the real test)

• Damp patches on ceilings below terraces, bathrooms or water tanks.
• Water seeping around window frames or through external wall joints.
• Ponding on the terrace that does not drain within a reasonable time after rain stops.
• Efflorescence, the white powdery deposit that appears on masonry when moisture moves through it.

How to keep a service log that actually helps

The most useful thing an owner can do in the first year is keep a single, dated record. It can be a notebook, a shared note on your phone or a folder of photos. What matters is consistency.

For each observation, record:

1. The date you noticed it.
2. The exact location (floor, room, wall, fixture).
3. A clear photo, with a coin or ruler for scale if it is a crack.
4. Whether it has changed since you last looked.
5. Any conditions at the time, such as heavy rain the night before.

A log like this turns a vague complaint (“the bedroom wall looks damp”) into a specific service request that a site engineer can act on. It also shows whether a crack is stable or growing, which is the first question any structural professional will ask.

Keep your handover documents in the same place: the written specification, working drawings, and any warranty terms you received. When you raise an issue, being able to point to what was specified makes the conversation quick and factual.

Raising requests and working with the service team

Uniq Builders keeps architecture, structure, interiors and construction in-house, with engineers, architects, surveyors and craftsmen on its own payroll. In practice, that means the people responding to a service request understand how your building was designed and put together. You can read more about how that structure works on the Uniq Builders company blog.

A few habits make the service period smoother:

• Report early, not in a batch at month eleven. A small leak left for months can damage plaster and paint that were otherwise fine.
• Group minor items sensibly. Three sticking doors can be one visit. An active leak should be reported on its own, straight away.
• Share photos with every request. It helps the team bring the right materials and people.
• Ask what caused the issue. Understanding the cause helps you avoid repeating it, for example a drain outlet blocked by leaves.

You can reach the team on +91 98449 93200 by phone or WhatsApp, or at hello@uniqbuilders.com, Monday to Saturday between 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM. The full set of contact details, including both office addresses, is on the contact page.

It also helps to know what the service period is not. Damage from later alterations by other contractors, misuse, or wear from normal ageing of consumables is generally treated differently from a workmanship defect. The exact scope is set out in your written terms, so read them once at handover rather than at the moment you need them.

Closing the year well

About a month before the free service period ends, walk through the whole building with your log in hand. Check that every recorded item has been attended to and that nothing has returned. If you added interiors later, or plan to, this is also a sensible time to discuss them, since the team already knows the structure. Our residential interiors service covers anything from a kitchen or wardrobes to a full home.

Then shift into a routine maintenance habit. Clean terrace drains before every monsoon and reseal joints around wet areas when they show wear. A building that came through its first year with issues properly closed tends to stay easy to look after.

If you are still planning your build, it is worth understanding what happens after handover before you choose a package. The after-handover commitments are part of every option on the packages page, alongside design, approvals support and construction to a written specification.

Frequently asked questions

Does every Uniq Builders package include the free service period?

Yes. The Premium, Gold, Platinum and Villa options all include a workmanship warranty and one year of free service after handover. The detailed terms are part of the written specification shared with you, and terms and conditions apply.

Should I wait until the monsoon to report a small crack?

No, report it when you first notice it, with a photo and the date. The team can advise whether it is a normal shrinkage crack or something to monitor, and your log will show whether it changes through the rains.

What happens to an issue I report near the end of the year?

Report it as soon as you see it and keep the dated record, since that shows it was raised within the service period. This is also why a full walk-through about a month before the year ends is so useful: it leaves time for any follow-up visit.