Can I refuse to sign if I find problems at handover?

Yes. Under the general rules on defective work in the Code des Obligations et Contrats, you can refuse delivery, or return it within a week, and set the builder a reasonable deadline to fix the defect before deciding whether to have it corrected at their cost, ask for a price reduction, or pursue cancellation.

Do I need the permis d'habiter before I move in?

You should ask to see it, or at least confirmed proof it has been formally requested, before treating a handover as complete. It is issued by the commune after an inspection confirms the finished building matches the approved plans, and a building without one is not yet legally cleared for occupation.

How long does the structural guarantee last after handover?

The relevant article of Moroccan contract law is applied in practice as a ten-year guarantee against collapse or an evident danger of collapse caused by defective materials, a construction fault or a soil problem, running from the date the works were received. It does not cover cosmetic defects, which need to be caught and recorded at handover itself.

What if I cannot be in Morocco for the handover date?

A power of attorney lets someone you trust walk the property and sign the procès-verbal on your behalf. Choose someone willing to check every room properly rather than simply the person available on the day, since what they do or do not reserve in writing is what you are left with afterwards.

Handover and Snagging on a New-Build in Morocco

7 November 2026 · 7 min read · Buying · Process

A new build handover in Morocco is not just the day you get the keys. It is the day you sign a document, usually called a procès-verbal, that records whatever is wrong with the property at that moment and sets out what happens next. What you write on that document, and whether you check it properly before you sign, decides how much leverage you keep once you have moved your furniture in.

Buyers who fly in for one weekend to accept a flat they have never stood inside tend to sign quickly, because the alternative is flying back. That is exactly the pressure a snagging process is meant to resist. Morocco does have real legal protections behind a defective new build, from the general law on defective work to a decennial guarantee against structural collapse, but none of them help if the paperwork at handover does not reflect what you actually found.

This covers what handover involves in practice, the occupancy permit that has to exist before it, how to record defects so they still count later, and what protection survives after you have accepted the property.

What handover actually involves

Handover is the point where the seller, whether that is a developer on a VEFA sale or a private seller on a finished resale, formally hands you possession of the property. On a purchase bought off-plan, this is also when the last instalment of the price is due: the law sets the final 20% of the price as payable on signing the final deed of sale and handover of the keys, not before.

In practice this means walking the property with the seller or their representative, going room by room, and listing anything that is wrong on a procès-verbal both sides sign. Anything you do not list at this stage, and do not formally reserve, becomes much harder to claim for later. This is why a rushed handover is the single most common way buyers abroad lose leverage they actually had.

If an architect supervised the build on your behalf, under the general construction rules their own sign-off can carry real weight here, since they are putting their name to the fact that the work matches the approved plans. Ask for that sign-off in writing, separate from the handover document itself.

The occupancy permit has to exist before you move in

Before any new residential building can legally be occupied, it needs a permis d'habiter. Under Décret n° 2-18-577 of 12 June 2019, it is the president of the commune who issues it, on the developer's or builder's request, once they have filed a declaration that the works are finished.

That request triggers a site inspection, called a récolement, carried out by a joint commission of the prefecture or province and the commune, which checks the finished building against the approved plans and the original building permit. If the works were directed by an architect, their own certificate of conformity can stand in for that inspection. As of 2026, the same decree sets fixed internal deadlines for the commune: it has to tell the applicant the date of the site visit within three working days of the file being lodged, and convene the inspection commission within ten working days. Once the commission has reported, the commune president has to decide within a further two working days of receiving that report.

Ask to see the permis d'habiter, or at minimum proof it has been formally applied for, before you treat handover as final. A finished-looking building without one is not yet legally ready to be lived in, whatever the developer's brochure says.

Recording defects so they still count

Moroccan contract law gives a buyer real rights when work is delivered with defects, under the general rules on louage d'ouvrage, the law that governs any contract for building work. Articles 767 and 768 of the Code des Obligations et Contrats entitle you to refuse delivery, or hand it back within a week of being given it, by setting the builder a reasonable deadline to put the defect right. If that deadline passes without the fix being made, you can have the defect corrected at the builder's expense, ask for a reduction in price, or pursue cancellation of the contract, alongside damages where they apply.

None of that works if the defect was never written down. Treat the handover procès-verbal as the document that triggers these rights, not as a formality: list every crack, every door that does not close, every tile that is already loose, with enough description that a disagreement later can point back to it. Photograph each item on the day, with the date visible, and keep your own copy of the signed procès-verbal, not just the seller's.

A buyer who cannot be in Morocco for handover should not sign anything sight unseen. Someone can walk the property and accept it on your behalf under a properly drafted power of attorney, but choose that person for their willingness to actually open every cupboard, not just their availability on the day.

The guarantee that survives after you move in

Serious structural problems are covered separately, and for far longer. Article 769 of the Code des Obligations et Contrats holds the architect, engineer and the contractor directly engaged by the owner liable if the building, or part of it, collapses, or shows an evident risk of collapse, because of defective materials, a construction fault, or a problem with the ground itself. As of 2026, the article itself is oddly worded: one sentence refers to this liability running for five years from completion, while the next paragraph states plainly that the ten-year period runs from the date the works are received. Moroccan legal writing on this article has never fully resolved that contradiction, but the ten-year reading is the one applied in practice, and it is what the article's own text uses to set the clock running.

This is not a guarantee that covers a dripping tap or a patch of damp grout. It exists for the scenario where a structural failure appears years after you have been living in the property, which is exactly when a buyer is least likely to still have leverage through the ordinary channels above. Ask for the names of the architect and contractor of record at the point you buy, not after something goes wrong, since that is who this liability actually attaches to.

A practical checklist for the walkthrough

Go through a finished unit methodically rather than reacting to whatever is visible first:

Run every tap and flush every toilet, checking water pressure and that drains actually clear
Test every light switch and socket, and open the electrical consumer unit to see it is properly labelled
Open and close every door and window, checking seals, especially on anything facing the street or the sea
Look for hairline cracks around door frames and window reveals, which can indicate settling
Check tiling for hollow sounds underfoot, which usually means poor adhesion that will come loose later
Run the lift, if there is one, and check communal stairwells and entry doors, not just your own unit
Ask when the building's own insurance and the syndic structure, if there is one, actually start

Frequently Asked Questions

It is the document signed by buyer and seller at handover that records the state of the property and lists any defects, known as reserves. Anything not written down and reserved at this stage becomes far harder to claim for later, so treat it as the operative legal record of the handover, not paperwork to get through quickly.

Picking up the keys on a new-build?

The document you sign at handover decides what you can still claim later. Get a Moroccan property lawyer to check the reserves are recorded properly, and that the guarantees named in your contract are real, before you accept the keys.

Speak to a Lawyer