Reading a handover list made entirely of painting

The Oran Park handover behind most of this site produced a list with almost nothing on it but painting. Common areas six times, ground floor painting seven, ensuite five, powder room five, toilets three. No structural item. No envelope item. Owners often read a list like that as trivial and sign, and owners sometimes read it as alarming because it is long. Both readings miss it. A list of nothing but paint says the structure and the envelope were substantially complete, which is the important half, and that one trade was pulled off before finishing, which is the half you can still do something about.

Guides for Catherine Field owners and buyers

28 August 2026 · 7 min read

The washer that cost nothing and did everything

A few cents of steel between a bolt and the timber.

29 August 2026 · 7 min read

Twenty five millimetres over the edge

A measured figure, not an impression.

30 August 2026 · 6 min read

Triple grips, and the load they carry

Every truss, tied individually.

Reading a handover list made entirely of painting: common questions

Should I be relieved or worried?

Relieved about the building, and specific about the painter. Take the list room by room and have each one signed off at the reinspection.

Why not write it as one line?

Because a line saying painting throughout gets one visit from one painter. Twenty six located records get twenty six checks.

Would you ever say a house had no defects?

On a new build, effectively never. What varies is whether the items are structural, envelope or finish, and that distinction is the report's real work.