If your lender needs a final valuation, the timing around practical completion matters. Get it wrong and your final payment, and your handover, can be held up. Here's how to keep it on track.
At fixing stage (once the wet area tiles are done), contact your lender or broker and give your builder your lender's email, so the builder can send the final inspection certificate straight to the bank.
Your certifier issues the final inspection certificate (Form 21 in Queensland) once fit-off is complete (plumbing and electrical fitted) and the house is ready to occupy.
The certifier's final inspection usually happens after the builder's clean, just before the practical completion inspection (PCI).
Your builder will usually give you about two weeks' notice of the PCI date.
Tell your lender that date straight away, so their valuer can book in for the same day.
Once the valuation is done, it typically takes about four days for the report to reach your lender, be processed and the final payment approved.
The final payment also needs you to sign an authority releasing the funds. Don't sign it until you're satisfied practical completion has been reached and the defects list is agreed in writing.
Most lenders now pay the final claim electronically rather than by bank cheque. Before any transfer, confirm the builder's bank details by phone, using a number you already have rather than one from an email. Payment redirection scams are common.
Quick Checklist
1. At fixing stage, give your builder your lender's email.
2. When you get the PCI date, tell your lender so the valuer can book in.
3. Allow about four days after the valuation for the payment to be approved.
4. Agree the defects list in writing before you sign the release.
5. Confirm the builder's bank details by phone before any money moves.
Our C17 Handover checklist covers the rest of handover day.
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