A new build is the one property type where a traditional survey adds least and an inspection still adds a lot. The structure is covered by warranty; the finish, very often, is not what you are paying for.
The short version
A snagging list is a defects list for a new home. Do it before legal completion if the developer allows access, otherwise as soon as possible afterwards, and always inside the first two years while the developer is directly responsible for finish.
Snags and defects are not the same thing
A snag is a finishing fault: paint runs, a door that does not close square, a scratched worktop, tiling that is out of line, a radiator fixed crooked. A defect is a failure of workmanship or material that affects how the building performs: a leaking soil pipe, missing insulation, an incorrectly fitted cavity tray.
Most new-build warranties operate in two phases. In the first period, typically two years, the developer is responsible for putting right defects including much of the finish. After that, a longer structural period covers major structural elements only, and the bar is much higher.
When to inspect
- Ideally at the pre-completion inspection, when developers commonly allow a walk-through before you exchange keys.
- If that is refused or impractical, within the first weeks of moving in.
- Again before the end of the first warranty period, because things reveal themselves once the building has been heated and lived in for a winter.
What commonly turns up
- Doors and windows not adjusted, binding or not sealing
- Paint finish, filler shrinkage and poor caulking, especially at ceiling lines
- Tiling and grouting out of line or hollow-sounding
- Loft insulation disturbed by trades and not reinstated
- Drainage and external levels left unfinished
- Mastic and sealant work around baths and shower trays
Presenting the list
Room by room, numbered, each item photographed, with a plain description of what is wrong rather than what you want done. That is exactly the discipline of an inventory, and it is why a snagging list written like a schedule of condition gets actioned faster than an email of complaints.
We record condition to that standard for tenancies and leases; see the sample report for the format. For a formal structural opinion on a new build, a chartered surveyor is still the right call.
Written by The Surveyor Co, a trading name of LW Renovation Group Ltd, Lincoln. This guide describes how records are written and read; it is not legal advice. Where a deposit scheme, lease or insurer sets a rule, that rule wins.