What should you check locally?
The ingoing (move-in) inspection, sometimes called an incoming inspection or a check-in, is common practice for a residential lease, and in some places a legal requirement. The rules differ from place to place, so before move-in check what applies where the home is.
| Step | When | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Written lease | Before you sign | Whether the lease must be in writing, and what it must say. |
| Ingoing inspection | Before the tenant moves in | Whether you must inspect together, and whether the list of defects goes with the lease. |
| Deposit | Before occupation, if the landlord asks for one | Whether it is capped, where it must be held, and whether it earns interest. |
| Receipts | Every payment | Whether a written receipt is required, and what it must show. |
| Outgoing inspection | When the lease ends | When it must happen, and who arranges it. |
| Deposit refund | After the lease ends | How soon it must come back, and how deductions must be shown. |
Your lease may add terms of its own. Where the lease and the local rules seem to differ, ask a tenancy advice service or a lawyer where the home is.
What should you record on the day?
Walk the home together and write down what you see, room by room. This list covers what usually comes up at the end.
- Every room Walls, ceilings, floors, windows and their locks, doors and handles, light fittings and plugs, curtains and blinds.
- Kitchen and bathrooms Taps, drains, water heater, stove and oven, cupboards, tiles and grout, any damp.
- Outside Garden, gates, remotes, walls, outbuildings.
- Keys, remotes and meters The keys and remotes handed over, and the meter readings.
- Each defect In writing, with a photograph taken close up and one from across the room.
- The first page The date and both names.
Keep the list of defects with the lease.
Print this page and only the checklist prints, on one page.
How do you keep it as one sealed record?
Five steps turn the walk-through into one file that landlord and tenant can both check at move-out.
- 01
Photograph
Take the photographs with your phone, room by room, with the notes.
- 02
One PDF
Upload them to KuduDoc and keep the photographs as one PDF.
- 03
Both sign
Send it for signing: an ordinary electronic signature from each of you.
- 04
Seal
The completed file gets a fingerprint and a timestamp anchor. See what a seal records.
- 05
Check later
At move-out, either of you can check the sealed file, free, without an account.
The other person signs from the link in their email, with no account to make. Personal allows up to three signers on a document: landlord, tenant and agent.
12 Oak Avenue Wed 1 Apr 2026
Johan Pretorius, landlord, with Lerato Mokoena, tenant
- Entrance
- Lounge
- Kitchen · 2
- Main bedroom
- Bathroom · 1
- Outside
- Keys and meters
Kitchen
Signed on the day 12 pages · 26 photographs
Public checker At move-out · 29 Mar 2027
A match shows that the file has not changed since it was sealed. It does not show what the rooms looked like or who is right about a mark.
If there is a dispute later, a seal gives both of you a way to show the file is unchanged since sealing.
If you also signed a paper inspection report, keep the paper. A sealed scan does not replace a paper original where one is required.
Opening the file in Adobe Acrobat? It shows the seal as certified by KuduDoc. Here is what a PDF reader’s signature messages mean, and how to check whether a PDF has been changed.
Letting several homes? Record the inspection on your phone in the lease register, beside each lease’s dates.
What happens at the end of the lease?
Landlord and tenant inspect together when the lease ends, at the time your local rules or your lease set. Bring the sealed ingoing record and compare the rooms against it.
Then the deposit. When it comes back depends on what is owed, on your lease and on the rules where the home is. Many places set a deadline counted from the end of the lease, often a longer one where there are deductions. Ask for receipts for any deduction.
Keep the lease, the deposit receipt and the inspection together, so the outgoing inspection starts with the ingoing record open.
Questions people ask
What is an ingoing inspection?
A joint inspection of a rental home by the landlord and the tenant before the tenant moves in, to record any defects or damage. It is common practice, and in some places a legal requirement. The list of defects is usually kept with the lease.
When is the outgoing inspection?
When the lease ends, usually in its last days or when the keys are handed back. Landlord and tenant arrange it together. Your local rules or your lease may set the timing.
What if the landlord does not inspect with the tenant?
It depends on where the home is. In some places a landlord who skips the joint inspection loses the right to deduct for damage; elsewhere it leaves both of you with less to show. Check your local tenancy rules.
How long does a landlord have to refund the deposit?
It depends on the rules where the home is and on the lease. Many places set a deadline counted from the end of the lease, often a longer one where there are deductions. Ask for receipts for any deduction.
Does the deposit earn interest?
It depends on where the home is. In some places the deposit must be held in an interest-bearing account or a deposit protection scheme; in others it need not earn interest. Check your local rules and your lease.
Does a sealed inspection report prove the damage was there?
No. Sealing shows that the file is unchanged since the day it was sealed. That is a fact about the file’s bytes, not about what the rooms looked like or who is right about a mark. It gives landlord and tenant the same record to look at later.
Do we both need a KuduDoc account?
No. Whoever sends the inspection report needs one, and a free Personal account is enough. The other person signs from the link in their email, with no account to make. Anyone can check the sealed file later on KuduDoc’s free public checker, without an account. Personal allows up to three signers on a document.