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.