Defects Liability Period

The defects liability period — typically 12 months from practical completion — is your safety net. During this time, if a tap starts leaking, a door doesn't close properly, or a crack appears in the render, the contractor is contractually obligated to come back and fix it at their cost. It's not a warranty in the consumer law sense, but it serves a similar purpose.

For developers, managing the DLP well is about being systematic. You need to identify defects, notify the contractor in writing, give them reasonable time to rectify, and follow up if they don't. Most contracts require you to issue a final defects list near the end of the DLP — this is your last chance to get things fixed under the contract.

The DLP also has financial implications. The second half of retention (typically 2.5% of the contract sum) is held until the DLP expires and all defects are rectified. If the contractor doesn't fix defects, you can use that retention money to engage someone else to do the work. But you need to follow the correct contractual process — you can't just pocket the retention.

Where developers often get caught out is on multi-unit projects where different buildings reach PC at different times. Each building has its own DLP, which means you could be managing overlapping defects periods across multiple stages — all with different expiry dates and different retention release triggers.