Apartment inspections

During the inspection the inspector will check the apartment for anything that needs maintenance or repairing and they will also assess the cleanliness of the apartment. Inspections can be carried out also during other times of the tenancy if necessary. In this case the tenant will be notified in advance.

The inspection carried out during the last month of your tenancy is called preliminary inspection.  The preliminary inspection is an extra service offered by Hoas as a way of providing guidance to the tenants in what they need to do before moving out. Based on the preliminary inspection, the inspector may order such maintenance or repair work that is due to normal wear and tear; these will not be charged to the tenant. The inspector may also order repair work for problems which were caused by the tenant’s negligence and which tenants cannot be allowed to repair themselves. Such work would be for example replacing wash basins.

If necessary, the inspector may leave a cleaning request for the tenant. At the time of the preliminary inspection, the inspector will not order a cleaning, but the level of cleanliness will be checked again after the tenancy agreement ends. The preliminary inspection also does not release the tenant from their responsibilities because the situation may change after that during the last month of tenancy. Any damages caused after the inspection can be charged from the tenant.

If any cleaning or repair request have been given to tenant in the preliminary inspection the apartment will be checked again during the first days of the next month after the tenancy has ended. This is called moving inspection. Carry out the final cleaning and all the other necessary actions before the tenancy agreement ends. It is not possible to fix the shortcomings after the tenancy agreement has ended and the keys have been returned.

If the tenant has failed to fix the shortcomings requested in the preliminary inspection or any other issues are found during the moving inspection, the inspector will order the required repair or cleaning work. At this point shortcomings will be remedied by a Hoas partner and the matter is out of the tenant’s hands. The tenant may be charged for the work in accordance with tenant charge sheet.

If you have any questions regarding the inspections, please contact the Hoas maintenance services.

Cleaning or repair requests can be given to tenant based on the inspection. Cleaning request lists the most visible shortcomings in the cleaning level and it does not release the tenant from the responsibility of cleaning other things as well. Cleaning and repair requests must be taken care of by the given date or in a case of moving out during the time you still have access to the apartment. You are not able to fix those things after there is a new tenant in the apartment. The tenant can be charged for neglecting these requests.

If you let us know that you have pets in your apartment when you give your notice, the inspector will call you before coming for the inspection. Please note that if we cannot reach you by phone to set a time for the inspection, there will be no preliminary inspection. In this case, the apartment will only be inspected after your agreement has ended. The housing inspector will then post a set of instructions through your letterbox listing the issues to be considered.

Sometimes only some of the tenants in a family apartment move out and the rest continue to live there. In these cases, the apartment inspection takes a different course.

The inspector will check the condition of the apartment, but will not comment on the level of cleanliness (except in cases of gross neglect, where the surfaces in the apartment are at risk of permanent damage). The inspector will also not check the ceiling connection boxes.

The inspector will go over certain points that affect the condition of the apartment and may, for example, make a note of shelves that are bolted into the wall and add a request to remove the shelves, fill the holes with putty, and paint over them. This ensures that the tenants have a chance to agree on the repairs between them. It is also intended to make sure that the tenant staying on in the apartment understands that unless the faults are fixed during this move, they will be responsible for them later. In that case, the tenant remaining in the apartment has to either fix the faults or pay the cost of fixing them to Hoas when they move out.

The preliminary inspection is an extra service offered by Hoas as a way of providing guidance to the tenants in what they need to do before moving out. Even if we cannot carry out the inspection, the tenant still has to make sure the apartment is in an acceptable state before they move out. If repair work or extra cleaning is found necessary during the inspection carried out after your agreement has ended, the lack of a preliminary inspection is not an acceptable excuse. Tenants receive instructions for moving out when they get a confirmation for their notice of termination.

There may be a moving inspection in the case that the tenants have made a handing over the keys agreement with each other.

By signing a handing over the keys agreement, the new tenant accepts the cleaning level of the apartment, but not the overall condition of the apartment. If there has been shortcomings noticed on the preliminary inspection (i.e. a broken door), the inspector will check the shortcomings again. If they have not been repaired, the inspector will order necessary maintenance work.

In shared apartments only the cleaning level of the room is accepted by signing the agreement, not all common areas.

If you send the handing over the keys agreement to Hoas late and cleaning has already been ordered, the costs will be charged according to the tenant charge sheet from the tenant who moved out.