Our building's defects-liability period is about to end — after that, who's responsible for fixing things?

Good that you've spotted the deadline — a lot of people miss it and lose their leverage. Here's how it works:

During the defects-liability period (DLP) — usually 12 months from handover (check your SPA/handover docs for the exact term) — the developer or contractor is obliged to fix genuine defects (workmanship, materials, MEP faults) at no cost to you. That's the window you're in now.

Once the DLP ends: - That free-fix obligation stops. Anything that fails afterwards inside your unit is generally your responsibility. - For common areas (facades, lifts, shared MEP, roof, pool), responsibility sits with the owners' association / building management, funded by service charges — not the developer. - Structural issues can carry a separate, much longer liability (often ten years — the "decennial" cover) in some contracts, but everyday finishing and MEP defects do not.

What to do BEFORE the deadline (the important bit): 1. Re-snag the whole unit now, room by room, exactly like the original handover — a year of living in it surfaces things the first snag missed (settlement cracks, doors dropping, silicone failing, small AC/plumbing niggles). 2. Submit everything as one written, photographed list before the expiry date, so it's on record as raised within the period. 3. Push to have it all fixed (or at least formally acknowledged) before the clock runs out.

Then, for afterwards, line up your own cover — an annual maintenance contract, or a finishing and snagging team you can call for the finishing and snagging work that's now on you. Getting a proper re-snag done in these last weeks is the single highest-value thing you can do.