The sale contract: eleven points worth reading before you sign

A new-apartment sale contract is a long document, and almost all of it is identical between projects. That is precisely why it pays to arrive with a list: what varies between contracts sits in eleven points, and each converts into shekels or months.

This is a practical checklist and not legal advice. A sale contract should be read by your own lawyer — not the seller's, even if you were offered a saving.

1. The handover date

Is it a calendar date, or a function of an event ("X months from receipt of a permit")? Vague drafting weakens the right to compensation, because the formula in Section 5A is measured from the date in the contract. See the article on late handover.

2. Extension clauses

Which circumstances the contract defines as extending the handover date, and what is required to invoke them — written notice? external confirmation? An over-broad extension clause turns the date into a statement.

3. The security

Which of the five statutory securities is provided: bank guarantee, insurance, first mortgage, caution note or transfer of title. And if a guarantee — read the wording of the guarantee itself, not only the contract clause referring to it. See the article on securing a buyer's funds.

4. Linkage

Which index, from which base index, on what part of the balance, and from when. And what happens if the index falls. See the article on the construction inputs index.

5. The payment schedule

Whether it is contractual or governed by the statutory rates. Where the security is neither a bank guarantee nor an insurance policy, the payment dates are the statutory ones — even if the contract says otherwise. See the article on the payment schedule.

6. The method of payment

If the project is bank-financed, every payment must pass through the financing bank's voucher book. See the article on the voucher book.

7. The specification as an annex

Confirm the sale specification is attached to the contract as a complete annex, with the drawings, rather than referred to. A specification that is not attached is not a document. See the article on the sale specification.

8. Areas and the permitted deviation

The apartment's area, the additional areas on separate lines, and the permitted deviation — including up to 2% in area. See the article on apartment area.

9. Parking and storeroom

Whether they are attached to the apartment, and if so — expressly and by number. A parking space that will be "allocated" is not one that has been attached. A further question: side-by-side spaces or tandem.

10. Common property, by-laws and share

What has been removed from the common property and in whose favour; what may not be removed; and the apartment's share, which fixes both expenses and voting weight. See the article on common property and by-laws.

11. Handover and repairs

What the contract defines as handover, how the handover protocol is conducted, and what route applies to repairs afterwards. See the article on the handover protocol.

What a contract cannot fix

A good contract does not substitute for checking the developer. Three checks that are not in the contract but in public registers — the contractor classification, the company's status at the Registrar of Companies, and the list of registration-refusing companies — belong before the signing meeting. See the article on checking a contractor.

What you are owed even without the contract

Three rights exist by force of law and do not depend on the contract's wording: the duty to provide a security above 7% of the price; the inspection and warranty periods under the statutory schedule; and compensation for late handover under Section 5A. A contractual clause attempting to narrow them is one to draw your lawyer's attention to.