Home inspection and hidden defects: what to check before you buy in Sweden

An inspection rarely stands alone. It is usually a visual building-technical check, and your duty to investigate (undersökningsplikt) reaches wider than that. The good news: if you discover a genuine hidden defect afterwards, you can make a claim for up to ten years when you buy a house. Here is what you need to check before you sign, and what you are actually entitled to afterwards.

What the inspection really covers (and does not)

A transfer inspection (överlåtelsebesiktning) is, as a rule, a visual building-technical survey. The inspector looks, feels and assesses what can be seen. What is normally left out is electrics, heating, water, sanitation, appliances, ventilation and the ground. That is a big gap to be aware of, because several of the most expensive defects sit in exactly those areas.

Your duty to investigate when buying a house covers more than the inspection does: the ground, the buildings and their fixtures, electrics and heating, water, sanitation, appliances, ventilation, radon, the fireplace and the chimney. In other words, you often need to add further checks, for example an electrical check, a radon test, or a specialist to look at the ventilation.

Area	Included in a standard inspection?
Building technique (visible)	Yes
Electrics	Usually not
Heating and water	Usually not
Sanitation and appliances	Usually not
Ventilation	Usually not
Ground and drainage	Usually not
Radon	No, separate test

What counts as a hidden defect

A defect is hidden (dolt fel) only when several things are true at once. It was present at the time of purchase, it could not be found through a careful investigation, it was not to be expected given the age and condition of the house, and it differs from what the seller stated. A worn 1970s bathroom is therefore rarely a hidden defect, because it is expected. A leak behind a wall that looks intact, on the other hand, may well be.

This is where the duty to investigate matters. A defect you should have found through the investigation that the situation called for cannot be raised against the seller later. The older the house, and the more warning signs there are, the more thorough you are expected to be.

Risk constructions: pay extra attention

Some building elements carry a raised risk of hiding defects. Rendered single-stage sealed timber-frame walls are a classic example. An inspector notes these as a raised risk in the report and recommends a deeper investigation by a specialist. If you see such a note, take it seriously and order that deeper check before you bid, not after.

How common moisture damage is

Moisture is not unusual, so do not panic, just be thorough. About 36 percent of buildings, roughly 751,000 of them, have moisture or mould damage that can harm the indoor environment, once schools and pre-schools are excluded. Most of the damage is in single-family houses, about 718,000 of the affected buildings. Putting right every moisture-damaged house is estimated to cost around 101.3 billion kronor, of which more than 90 percent applies to single-family houses. The takeaway for you: a moisture and ventilation check is among the most valuable money you can spend before buying.

How long you can hold the seller liable

This is the safety net beneath you. When you buy a property (a villa or house with land), you can claim hidden defects for up to ten years from the day you take possession. But you must complain within a reasonable time from when you discovered the defect, so do not put it off.

A bostadsrätt (co-op apartment) follows different rules, because it is not real property. There the limit is two years from possession, and here too you must complain within a reasonable time from discovery. For a bostadsrätt there is no statutory duty to investigate, but you still cannot complain afterwards about defects you should have spotted during an investigation.

	Villa or house with land	Bostadsrätt
Claim period	Up to ten years	Two years
Statutory duty to investigate	Yes	No, but still a limited right to complain
Complain within a reasonable time	Yes	Yes

An inspection clause when time runs short

If you cannot complete a full investigation before signing the contract, you do not have to gamble. The agent should then suggest a besiktningsklausul (inspection clause), which gives you the right to withdraw from the purchase if defects are found at the inspection. Ask for it if it is not offered. It costs you nothing and buys you time to check the house properly.

Worked example: what a defect can cost

There is no official rate card for repairs, but the trade’s price guides give a sense of the order of magnitude. Treat the figures as indicative reference values from building firms, not official amounts. They vary with size, condition and region.

Work	Indicative range
New bathroom	150,000-300,000 kr
New roof	200,000-500,000 kr
Drainage	150,000-400,000 kr

Say the inspection flags a raised risk in the bathroom and you later have to replace it entirely: an item of perhaps 150,000-300,000 kr. Against that, 4,500-6,500 kr for an extra moisture check before buying is cheap insurance. Better to check now than to claim later.

Checklist before you sign

• Read the inspection report (besiktningsprotokoll) and look for notes about raised risk
• Add what the inspection does not cover: electrics, water, ventilation, radon
• Order a deeper investigation for every risk construction that was noted
• Ask for an inspection clause if you cannot finish checking in time
• Keep all documentation, it becomes your evidence if you need to make a claim