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At a new home orientation, ask your builder six kinds of question: where every shutoff is and how it works, how each system runs and what its settings should be, what maintenance the warranty expects from you, what materials and finishes went into the house, who installed each system, and who you call when something fails. Record the answers with photos and short videos as you go. The orientation is the cheapest hour of expertise the house will ever get.
The orientation is usually part of the same visit as the final walkthrough, a few days before closing. The walkthrough checklist covers the inspection half of that visit; this post covers the questions. If your builder runs a formal orientation, this is the list to bring. If not, it is the list to run yourself.
Where are the shutoffs and how do they work?
The first questions are about shutoffs, because they are the ones you will need in a hurry: where the main water shutoff is and which way it turns, where the gas shutoff is and which tool it needs, where the electrical panel is and which breaker feeds the water heater, the HVAC, the kitchen, and each floor, and where the individual shutoffs are for each toilet, sink, the water heater, the irrigation, and any outdoor faucets. Ask the superintendent to point at each one while you film.
Shutoffs to see with your own eyes
- Main water shutoff: location, valve type, which way is off, and whether there is a second one at the meter or the street
- Gas shutoff at the meter and at each appliance, and who should operate the meter valve
- Electrical panel: location, main breaker, and whether every breaker is labeled with a room
- Water heater: its cold inlet valve, its breaker or gas valve, and where the relief valve discharges
- Each toilet and sink stop valve, and the outdoor faucet shutoffs for winter
- Irrigation controller and its backflow device, and how to shut the system down
Two of these get a warning. Do not operate the gas meter valve yourself unless the utility or the builder tells you to; ask who does. And do not remove the electrical panel cover; the superintendent can open the door and point. The burst-pipe post explains why the main water shutoff is the one location every adult in the house should know before the first night.
How does each system run, and what are the settings?
For every system, ask how it runs, what the normal settings are, and what the builder or installer set it to: the thermostat schedule and fan mode, the water heater temperature, the humidifier or dehumidifier if there is one, the fresh-air ventilation system if the house has one, the sump pump and its alarm, the water softener, the irrigation schedule, and the garage door opener and its safety reverse. Ask where the filters are on each system and what size they take.
The filter question matters more than it sounds. A new house may have a filter at the furnace, another at a return grille, one in the fresh-air unit, and one in the range hood, and the builder's staff know where they all are today. Ask for each location and size and photograph the label on the filter frame. The filter guide explains what the sizes and ratings mean; the orientation is where you learn which ones your house takes.
While you stand at each piece of equipment, photograph its label. How to read equipment labels explains the model, serial, and date-of-manufacture fields; the orientation is the one time someone will point at every unit in the house for you.
What maintenance does the warranty expect from you?
Ask directly: what does the builder warranty expect the owner to do, and how often? Common answers include changing the HVAC filters, keeping gutters clear, keeping soil graded away from the foundation, caulking as the house settles, and having the HVAC serviced on a schedule, and many warranty documents exclude damage that follows from skipped maintenance. Ask which tasks the builder considers owner responsibility from day one, and ask where that is written in the document.
Then ask about the manufacturer warranties on the equipment. Several usually have a maintenance condition of their own, such as documented annual service on the furnace or air conditioner, and some have a registration step. Registering the appliance and system warranties in the first month is the follow-up task; the orientation is where you learn which ones exist and which ones the builder already registered.
If the builder uses Property Station, the starter maintenance plan and the warranty dates arrive with the claim link, and the Home Care Plan page shows the builder's warranty dates and support contacts on its Builder Guidance tab. If not, the answers to this section become the first tasks on your own schedule.
What did the builder use, and who installed it?
Ask what went into the house and who put it there: the paint colors and sheens by room, the flooring product and its care instructions, the tile and grout, the counter material and its sealer, the roofing product, the siding, the windows, and the name of the subcontractor for each trade. This is the information that makes a touch-up match, a floor repair invisible, and a warranty claim on a window go to the right company.
Ask for the subcontractor list by trade: plumber, electrician, HVAC installer, roofer, painter, flooring, cabinets, garage door, irrigation. A builder who wrote the handoff package from the builder's side will have it ready; what a good handoff includes describes what to expect. If the list does not exist, ask the superintendent for the names now, because in a year they will have moved to another site.
Who do you call, and how?
Ask who to call for a warranty problem, who to call for an emergency after hours, and how the builder wants requests sent: by portal, by email, or by form. The warranty document names the official channel; the orientation is where you find out how the builder's warranty staff actually work day to day, and who the person is. Get a name, an email, and a phone number for warranty service and a separate one for emergencies.
Ask what counts as an emergency to the builder (an active leak, no heat in winter, no power) and what the response time is for each. Ask what to do if the emergency is with a utility rather than the builder. Then put the contacts where the whole household can reach them. If your builder uses Property Station, the Support & Contact page under Builder Connect holds them, and the request page is the written channel. If not, the Emergency Contacts page is the place, and so is a card on the refrigerator.
How should you record the answers?
Record the answers the same day, in the form you will need them later: a short video per shutoff, a photo per equipment label and per settings display, a photo of the paint schedule and the subcontractor list, and a contacts entry for the warranty office. The test for each entry is whether a stranger could find the main water shutoff from it in the dark. If the answer lives only in your memory, it will be gone by the first claim.
In Property Station, shutoffs go on the Shutoffs & Key Locations page, paint and flooring on Paint & Finishes, each system and its label under Systems & Features, and the videos and schedules in Documents, which accepts MP4, MOV, and WEBM files. A spreadsheet and a folder of photos do the same job if you name the files by room and system and keep them together.
Common questions
Is the orientation the same as the final walkthrough?
Often they happen in the same visit, but they are different jobs. The walkthrough is your inspection of the builder's work and produces the punch list. The orientation is the builder's explanation of the house to you and produces the record of where things are and how they run. Give each its own hour.
What if the builder does not offer an orientation?
Ask for one, in writing, before closing. If the answer is no, do it yourself on the day of the walkthrough with this list, and ask the superintendent each question as you reach the item. The trades who installed the equipment can answer the rest once you have the subcontractor list.
Should I record the orientation?
Yes, with the builder's representative's agreement. A phone video of the superintendent pointing at each shutoff and explaining each control is the most useful record you will make that day. Short clips per system are easier to find later than one long recording.
What should I do with the answers afterward?
File them the same week, while they are fresh. Shutoff locations, equipment labels, paint codes, and contacts each have a home in the record, and a video or a photo attached to each one is worth more than a note. The point is to be able to find the answer in a hurry, years later, without calling the builder.
What should you do next?
Print this list and take it to the walkthrough with the inspection checklist. On the first weekend in the house, walk the shutoffs again without the superintendent and confirm you can find and operate each one, then set the water heater and the HVAC filters as the first recurring tasks; the yearly water heater drain is the one most new owners have never done.