Your first 90 days in a new build: the checklist

Week one: the admin sprint

Redirect the mail, transfer power and fibre, update your address with the bank and NZTA, and file the handover pack somewhere you will find it in year nine. Photograph the switchboard, the water toby and the appliance model plates while everything is new and labelled.

• House insurance active from settlement day, not move-in day
• Handover pack, warranties and appliance manuals in one folder
• Meet the neighbours before the trailer is even unpacked

The first three months: let the house settle

New homes dry out and settle. Hairline cracks in plaster and the odd sticking door are normal physics, not defects, and they are exactly what the maintenance visit is for. Keep a running list on the fridge rather than reporting each item as it appears; one tidy list gets everything fixed in one visit.

Build the ventilation habit early: extractor fans on in wet rooms, a daily airing in winter. A dry house is a durable house, and it is also the condition your warranties assume.

Warranty housekeeping

Your Master Build 10-Year Guarantee travels with the house, so keep the certificate with the property documents; it matters at resale. Register the appliance warranties in week one while the serial numbers are easy to reach, and diarise the maintenance items your handover pack lists, because a guarantee assumes a maintained home.