Buyer's duty to investigate (selonottovelvollisuus)

The buyer’s duty to investigate (selonottovelvollisuus) means the buyer is assumed to inspect the home with ordinary care before the deal. If a matter would have been detectable in such an inspection, you can no longer invoke it as a defect after the deal. In practice, things visible at the viewing, such as moisture marks, sloping floors, or old plumbing, become your responsibility the moment you could have seen them.

For a share-based apartment (osakehuoneisto) the duty is based on the Housing Transactions Act (6:12), and in a real-property sale on the Land Code (2:22). The duty is limited, however: you do not have to dismantle structures, climb onto the roof, or examine hidden parts. You are responsible for what a moderate buyer notices by sight and by reading the documents. Latent matters, findable only by a professional, fall outside this responsibility.

Always check the property manager’s certificate (isännöitsijäntodistus), the maintenance needs assessment (kunnossapitotarveselvitys), and the energy certificate (energiatodistus), and at the viewing take your time to use your eyes and your nose. If something stays unclear, ask the seller or order a condition inspection (kuntotarkastus). A condition inspection does not remove your own duty to investigate, but it documents the condition and shifts uncertainty away from you.

Outside the duty to investigate lies the hidden defect (salainen virhe): a matter you could not have detected in an ordinary inspection and that the seller did not know about either. You can still file a defect notice (reklamaatio) about it after the deal, within a reasonable time of discovering the defect.

appUse: A viewing checklist: the buyer’s own duty to inspect, which a condition inspection does not remove; native term “selonottovelvollisuus”.