New build snagging checklist

What is snagging?

Snagging is checking a newly built home for defects and unfinished or poorly finished work, then listing them so the developer puts them right. The list is called a snag list, and each item on it is a snag.

The New Homes Quality Board’s homeowner guide to snagging separates the two words people use. Snags are minor or cosmetic issues that do not affect how the home works or its safety: paint runs, small scratches, scuffed woodwork. Defects are more significant problems that affect how the home functions, such as plumbing or electrical faults. Both go on your list. Anything that affects health or safety should be reported to the developer straight away rather than saved for the list.

When should you snag a new build?

There are three useful moments: the pre-completion inspection before legal completion, your first days living in the home, and a final pass before the builder’s two-year warranty period ends.

Part 2 of the New Homes Quality Code says the completion notice period is usually expected to be at least 14 calendar days, so there is time for the inspection. The inspection is not meant to delay completion. Instead, the developer must respond to what it finds, and where issues breach the warranty technical standards the developer is responsible for addressing them, ideally before legal completion or within 30 days if that is not possible.

If your home has NHBC Buildmark cover, NHBC explains that the builder warranty period is usually two years from the start date on your policy certificate, and during that time the builder, not NHBC, is responsible for putting right problems caused by failing to meet NHBC requirements. Other warranty providers set their own terms, so read your policy.

If your developer is registered with the New Homes Quality Board

Version 2 of the Code applies to homes reserved from 2 March 2026; version 1 covers earlier reservations. It says the pre-completion inspection must be carried out and recorded on the Board’s standard Pre-Completion Inspection Checklist, and that a suitably qualified inspector must use only that template. It can be reproduced digitally, but every check on the original template must still be made.

So use the official template for that formal inspection: there is one for a house and one for an apartment. Use this checklist to prepare, to catch the things buyers often forget (keys, meter readings, documents, drainage after rain) and for every snag list after you move in, where the Code does not prescribe a format. If your developer is not registered, check what your reservation agreement, contract and warranty say about inspecting before completion.

How to snag a new build properly

Work in daylight, follow the same route through every room, operate everything that moves or runs, and judge finishes from the distances the industry uses rather than from a few centimetres away.

1. Start outside, then work top down inside. Walk the elevations, then go from the loft (only where it is safe and you are allowed) down through each floor to the garage. A fixed route stops rooms being missed.
2. Judge finishes from the right distance. The NHQB template’s guidance is to inspect internal walls, ceilings and paintwork in daylight from at least 2 metres without shining a light on the surface, fitted furniture and worktops from 0.5 metres, external walls from at least 10 metres, and glazing from at least 2 metres (3 metres for laminated or toughened glass). A mark you can only find with a torch raking across the wall is unlikely to be accepted.
3. Operate everything. Every door, window, lock, tap, flush, switch, socket, extractor, appliance and heating zone. Fill baths and basins to the overflow and watch them drain.
4. Measure where there is a tolerance. The template allows spirit levels, plumb lines and tape measures to confirm a stated tolerance, such as a skirting gap of no more than 5mm or at least 25mm between handrail and wall. The aim is to confirm what you can see, not to hunt for faults invasively.
5. Mark and record as you go. Low-tack tape on each snag (if the site team agrees) helps the trades find it. Photograph and write up each item there and then, not from memory that evening.
6. Record your limitations. Rain, poor light, locked rooms, services not yet connected and areas you could not reach safely all belong in the notes, so nobody assumes they were checked.

What to photograph

Photograph every snag twice: once close enough to show the fault, and once wide enough to show where it is. The NHQB guide recommends taking photos as soon as you notice an issue, because visual evidence helps get it fixed.

• A wide shot that identifies the room and position, then a close-up with a tape measure or ruler in frame for cracks, chips and gaps.
• A spirit level in frame for anything out of level or plumb.
• A short video for leaks, slow drainage, running cisterns and noisy fans.
• Meter readings and serial numbers on completion day, and the keys and fobs you were handed.
• Rating plates on the boiler, heat pump and appliances, which help with any later warranty claim.
• Anything the developer says will be finished later, so you can show it was outstanding at handover.

Caption each photo the way you will describe the snag: room, element, position, fault. For example: “Bedroom 2, window W2, left jamb: sealant missing along lower 300mm.” Consistent captions make a list the site manager can act on without phoning you.

How to report snags to the developer

Send one numbered, written snag list to the developer’s customer care team, with photos, and keep a dated log of every reply.

• One item per line: number, room, element, exact position, what is wrong, photo reference. Order it the way you walked the house.
• Separate emergencies. The NHQB guide treats faulty external door locks, uncontainable water leaks, complete failure of heating and hot water, and total loss of power as emergencies, not snags. Use the developer’s emergency procedure for those.
• Keep a record. NHBC tells Buildmark policyholders to contact the builder as soon as they reasonably can within the builder warranty period, and to keep a record of what they said, who they spoke or wrote to, and when.

What the Code expects of a registered developer

Part 3 of the New Homes Quality Code requires an after-sales service for at least two years from completion. The developer must acknowledge snags as soon as possible and, in most situations, settle an after-sales issue within 30 days unless there is a significant reason for delay. If there is a delay, it must explain why and update you at least once a month.

If snags are not fixed

Make a formal complaint under the developer’s complaints procedure. The Code sets minimum steps: a written acknowledgement within five days, a “path to resolution” letter within 10 days, a complaint assessment and response letter within 30 days, and an eight-week letter by day 56 if the complaint is still open. A complaint that arose within the first two years after completion can be referred to the New Homes Ombudsman Service 56 days after the complaint start date. For NHBC Buildmark homes, NHBC’s resolution service may help once you have been through the builder’s complaints process and have its final written response, or have had no response within 30 days.

Common new build snags, and what usually is not one

Most snags are finishing issues: decoration, sealant, doors, drainage and heating that has not been balanced.

• Paint runs, missed patches, and paint on sockets, glass and floors.
• Shrinkage cracks as the building dries out. The NHQB guide’s rule of thumb is to report cracks wider than a £1 coin.
• Doors that stick, swing open or will not latch; cupboard doors out of line.
• Missing or patchy sealant around baths, showers, worktops and window frames.
• Radiators that stay cold at the top or never warm up; noisy pipework.
• Slow or gurgling drainage, and cisterns that keep running.
• Scratched glass or window frames, and trickle vents that are missing or jammed.
• Gardens that stay waterlogged, paths that hold water, and rubble buried under turf.
• Loft insulation left patchy and ventilation ducts that have come loose.

The NHQB guide lists things that typically do not count: consumables such as bulbs, batteries and tap washers; wear and tear or damage after you move in; problems from your own DIY; small shrinkage cracks; and condensation or mould caused by keeping windows and vents closed. A new home takes time to dry out, so keep it heated and ventilated. Faulty or missing ventilation, though, is a snag.

Running this checklist in PropertySurvey Pro

PropertySurvey Pro runs snagging inspections on iPhone, iPad and Android, works without signal on site, and builds the PDF snag list on the device, so the developer can have it the same day. Photo captions are numbered in the report, and with Pro you can mark up a photo with circles, arrows and labels to point at the exact fault.

You can dictate as you walk, or use “Talk through a room”, which turns a spoken walk-through into entries you then check. AI Polish expands shorthand such as “bed 2 W2 sealant missing low L jamb” into draft wording you review and edit; it never decides whether something is a defect. When the developer says the work is done, start a follow-up visit from the finished survey to re-inspect. The free app runs real surveys, exports PDF reports with the app’s watermark, includes 3 free uses a month of each AI tool and stores up to 25 surveys on the device. Pro (£19.99 a month or £199.99 a year) adds cloud sync, your own branding and the full AI allowance. See pricing for the detail.