Before the visit
Four preparations, all to be made several days ahead. They determine the usefulness of the visit.
1. Check insurance. Risk shifts on signature. The client's cover must be effective on the date, not after.
2. Reread what the contract says about acceptance. Effect of approval, period before final acceptance, treatment of financial guarantees, when the balance falls due.
3. Gather the reference documents. Drawings, specification, bill of quantities, addenda. Acceptance is by comparison with what was due, not by subjective appraisal.
4. Allow the time needed. A serious acceptance does not take thirty minutes, and timetable pressure is the leading cause of omission.
During the visit
Four points of method.
5. Follow a systematic route, room by room then element by element, rather than moving about as remarks arise. Sequence prevents omissions far better than attention.
6. Check what works, not only what shows. Open every window and door, operate every item of equipment, run every tap, test every circuit.
7. Record immediately, with location and photograph. A finding noted later loses precision and value.
8. Sign only after rereading the certificate, checking that every reservation announced actually appears.
| Step | What it involves | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation | Gather plans, contract and technical documents | Several days ahead |
| Visit | Ordered route, room-by-room inspection | On the day |
| Record | Reservations located, dated and signed | At the end of the visit |
| Follow-up | Lifting of reservations and second acceptance | During the guarantee period |
The recommended route
It is in no way compulsory but it limits omissions. A written order of visit structures the acceptance.
Outside first, surroundings, façades, visible roofing, drainage, connections.
Then the plant rooms, with equipment and connections.
The main rooms, in a fixed order, floor then walls then ceiling then equipment.
Circulation and common parts last, often neglected because they belong to nobody in the mind's attention.
Junction points deserve particular attention, thresholds, joints, penetrations, precisely because they involve several trades.
The four costliest traps
Moving in before acceptance. Occupying or using the property amounts to tacit acceptance unless proved otherwise. It is the most frequent and most damaging trap.
Wording general reservations. A reservation about overall quality of finishes identifies nothing and protects nothing.
Accepting a certificate drafted after the visit. The document must reflect what was found on site, jointly.
Confusing provisional acceptance with taking possession. Accepting does not require occupying, and occupying amounts to accepting. The asymmetry deserves to be known.
If acceptance must be refused
Refusal is possible but regulated.
It must be reasoned, acceptance being refusable only on legitimate grounds.
It must be notified by registered letter to the vendor or contractor.
An unjustified refusal exposes the client. Someone refusing without legitimate grounds may face an allegation of bad faith, and the contractor may seek judicial acceptance.
Between unreserved acceptance and refusal lies the normal course: acceptance with reservations, covered in the article on reservations and their lifting.
What this means for a professional
Three rules.
Schedule acceptance with the client, explaining its effects before the date rather than on the day.
Never let occupation occur before acceptance, or have it recorded in writing that occupation does not amount to acceptance.
Take the time and record everything, those two habits preventing most post-acceptance disputes.
This article reflects a professional method at the date of checking and serves as orientation. It does not constitute legal advice and does not replace assessment of the individual case.