The Alberta New Home Walkthrough Checklist (2026): What to Catch Before You Take Possession
Your pre-possession walkthrough is the one moment when the builder's attention, your leverage and an unlived-in house all exist at the same time. Everything you document that day is easy to get fixed. Much of what you miss becomes an argument later. Bring this list, bring a phone charger, and do not let anyone rush you.
Most Alberta buyers do this walkthrough once in their life, on a day they are excited and exhausted, standing beside a site supervisor who does it every week. That asymmetry is the whole problem. Here is how to walk through like someone who has done it before.
What this appointment actually is
Before possession your builder will schedule a walkthrough, variously called the pre-delivery inspection, PDI, orientation, or pre-possession walkthrough. Two different things happen at once, and conflating them costs people money.
It is an orientation. They show you where the shut-offs are, how the furnace and HRV work, what maintenance you owe in year one. Genuinely useful, and the part builders emphasise.
It is also the defect record. You and the builder document what is incomplete or damaged, and that list becomes the reference for what gets fixed. This is the part that matters financially, and it is the part that gets rushed.
Under Alberta's New Home Buyer Protection Act, your new home carries mandatory warranty coverage on the 1-2-5-10 structure: one year on labour and materials, two years on delivery and distribution systems such as heating, electrical and plumbing, five years on the building envelope, and ten years on structural. Surface and cosmetic issues generally live in that first year, which is exactly why documenting them now, in writing, matters so much.
Before you go
- Bring a second person. One looks, one writes. Alone, you will miss things.
- Book it in daylight, and ideally not the same day as possession. Evening walkthroughs hide flaws that morning light makes obvious.
- Bring: a phone with battery, a phone charger (to test outlets), a small level, a marble or ball, painter's tape, and a flashlight. The marble and the level are for floors. The tape is for flagging items in place.
- Ask for the list format in advance and confirm you will leave with a copy signed by both parties.
- Allow two hours minimum. If the builder has booked forty-five minutes, say you need longer.
Photograph everything, with the date on. Wide shot of the room, then close-up of the defect, so there is no argument later about which room a scratch was in. Put painter's tape beside each flagged item and include the tape in the photo.
Room by room
Every room, every time:
- Open and close every window and door. They should latch without force and not swing on their own.
- Test every outlet with your charger, and every switch. Note any that control nothing.
- Look along walls from an angle with the light behind you. Drywall seams, nail pops and roller marks only show in raking light.
- Check paint coverage at edges, ceilings and behind doors.
- Flooring: gaps, lifting seams, squeaks, and transitions between rooms. Roll the marble to find slope.
- Look up. Ceiling texture, light fixtures secure, no stains.
Kitchen: run every appliance briefly. Open every cabinet and drawer, check soft-close and alignment. Look for chips on countertop edges and around the sink cutout. Check the range hood actually vents. Confirm the dishwasher is plumbed and does not leak on a short cycle. Check caulking at the backsplash and sink.
Bathrooms: run every tap hot and cold. Fill and drain each sink and tub, watching for slow drains and leaks underneath. Flush every toilet, check for rocking. Test the exhaust fan. Look closely at tile grout, silicone, and the shower base. Water where it should not be is the most expensive category of defect in the house.
Mechanical room: ask them to show you the furnace filter, the HRV and its controls, the hot water tank, the main water shut-off, and the electrical panel. Confirm the panel is labelled. Photograph the model and serial numbers of everything, you will want them for warranty claims.
Basement: if unfinished, look at the floor and walls for cracks and any moisture staining. Check that the sump pump, if present, is operational. Confirm the floor drain is clear.
Garage: operate the door, test the auto-reverse safety with an object, check the man-door seals, look at the slab for cracking.
Outside: walk the perimeter. Check grading slopes away from the foundation, which matters enormously in Calgary-area clay soils. Look at siding alignment, caulking around windows, downspout placement and whether they discharge away from the house. Confirm what landscaping, fencing and driveway work is included and what is deferred to a seasonal completion.
The Alberta-specific things people forget
Generic checklists are usually written for Ontario. These matter here.
- Grading and drainage. Our soils move. Confirm positive slope away from the foundation and ask when final grade will be certified, because it is often deferred past possession and tied to a holdback.
- Seasonal deferrals in writing. Landscaping, driveways, walkways and final grade are frequently completed in the next warm season. Get the committed timeframe documented, not verbal.
- HRV commissioning. Heat recovery ventilators are standard in new Alberta homes and are often left unbalanced. Ask whether it has been commissioned and how to run it in winter.
- Furnace and hot water venting. Confirm exterior vents are clear and correctly separated, and ask how to keep them clear of snow.
- Hail and roofing. Ask what the roofing material is and whether it is impact rated. In the Calgary area this affects insurability and premiums, not just durability. See our hail and home insurance guide.
- Energy certification paperwork. If the home is Built Green, ENERGY STAR, Net Zero or has an EnerGuide label, get the certificate at possession. If your down payment is under 20%, it may entitle you to a refund of 25% of your mortgage insurance premium, worth thousands. Chasing that paperwork months later is how people lose it. See the energy rebate guide.
Signing off without signing away
At the end you will be asked to sign. Here is how to do that safely.
- Nothing is "we'll take care of it" unless it is written down. Verbal commitments from a site supervisor evaporate when that supervisor moves to another community.
- Leave with a copy, signed by both parties, listing every item.
- Do not sign a statement that the home is complete and satisfactory if it is not. Sign acknowledging the walkthrough occurred, with the deficiency list attached. If the form's wording concerns you, say so and ask to amend it.
- Ask for dates. An item with no committed date is an item with no plan.
- Ask how to submit warranty claims and to whom, and get that contact in writing. It is often a different channel from your sales representative.
If something significant is genuinely incomplete, raise it immediately rather than at the closing table. Refusing to close has real consequences for your own deposit and financing, so call your lawyer before you consider it. In most cases the right move is to take possession with a strong documented list rather than to escalate, and if you are dealing with a slipped date on top of it, our guide to delayed possession rights covers where you actually stand.
After you move in
The walkthrough is not your last chance, which is the reassuring part.
Your first year covers labour and materials, and it is when nearly everything cosmetic surfaces: drywall cracks as the house settles through its first heating season, nail pops, sticking doors, grout shrinkage. This is normal in a new home and it is claimable.
Practical habits that make year one work:
- Keep a running list from day one rather than trying to remember in month eleven.
- Submit in writing, through the builder's stated warranty channel, and keep copies.
- Know your deadlines. Warranty claims have submission windows. Missing the end of a coverage period is the most common way a valid claim dies.
- Many builders schedule a formal year-one review. If yours does not, submit your list before the anniversary anyway.
Buying new in Calgary and want someone in your corner at the walkthrough who is not paid by the builder? Get in touch.
Frequently Asked Questions
This article is general information for Alberta new-home buyers, not legal, construction or inspection advice. Warranty terms, coverage periods and claim procedures are set by your warranty provider and the New Home Buyer Protection Act, and builder processes vary. Confirm details with your builder, your warranty provider and a licensed professional before relying on them.
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