A snag is a defect found in your property after building work is complete.

A snag is typically something that is damaged or broken, not fitted properly, or generally unfinished or incomplete.

Snags vary from minor to major but are typically minor cosmetic issues, such as a scratch on a window, a missing door hinge, or a crack on a work surface.

However, minor snags may not cause problems in the short term but if these are not rectified in an appropriate manner, they can become a more serious issue in the future.

Major snags on the other hand are still very common and should be dealt with immediately as these generally violate building regulations and technical standards.

These kind of major snags are typically missed by the average home owner, without the experience and training or the correct equipment that is necessary to identify them.

Our inspectors are all experienced professionals and work to current building regulations and technical standards to ensure all snags, minor and major, are identified and reported.

Snagging is the necessary process of inspecting and identifying any defects/faults or issues within a new build home. This process is carried out by thoroughly inspecting the property and reporting any issues to the builder to rectify them.

Any snags reported that are a breach of the warranty providers technical standards or building regulations, the builder will be responsible to rectify them as a part of the builder’s two-year warranty.

This two-year warranty period is a vital time for homeowners and any snags/defects should be reported as soon as possible and listed into a ”Snagging List/ Report”

Anyone that is buying, or has already purchased, a new-build property within the last two years will benefit from a professional snagging survey.

If you want to make sure your property is built to a high build standard or would like peace of mind that your home has been built safely, a snagging survey is what you require.

A professional snagging company are able to provide comprehensive reports gained through years of experience and training. This is essential as snagging is a task that requires extensive knowledge of the build process, regulations and warranty provider tolerances.

The average home owner will not have the industry experience or know what each trade does and what is considered acceptable under the warranty provider.

A professional inspector on an average property can generally find anywhere from 100 – 250 snags per survey and this can be more, depending on the build quality. Relevant warranty providers building standards are also referred to and included within our snagging reports for each defect. This is an important feature as this helps provide clarity and understanding of each defect to get them resolved by your developer.

The benefits linked with using a professional snagging company are too great to not go ahead for the price paid for the property.

The question should be “Could you afford to miss costly defects that should have been corrected during the builders two year warranty period?”

The best time to have a survey completed is prior to legal completion as this would allow the developer to complete the works detailed on the snagging report before you move in.

Unfortunately some developers do not allow access to the property prior to completion so we recommend getting booked in within the first 5 days of completion. Most developers have a specific time period for home owners to report any initial snags, this can differ from 7 days, 14 days or on rare occasions 28 days. The best time to report all snagging items is as soon after completion as possible, this is because the builder will take more responsibility for any reported snags, even for minor snags identified such as chips or damages.

Although it is best to report any snagging items as early as possible, it is still beneficial to book a snagging report anytime up to two years after completion. This is because most developers will offer a two year warranty period on their new homes. This allows the time for the building to settle and any major defects which may have not been identified can be reported and dealt with.

If you are wishing to book a snagging survey before completion, it is important that a date can be agreed by your developer in writing to allow us to have full access to the property without any disruptions for a full day. Building Control and Warranty Sign-off would also have to be provided to ensure that the house is ready for surveying.

Our snagging inspectors will thoroughly examine all areas that can be visually accessed both internally and externally on each property. We will identify any cosmetic issues or damages as well as plumbing, electrical, carpentry, loft and cavity wall insulation issues (with our thermal camera), tiling, mastic, cleaning, plastering, painting and all external finishing. We check that every property is compliant to technical standards and building regulations and include a thermal imaging service to gather evidence to defects that require further investigation. Our thermal imaging will identify any cold spots or draughts around windows or doors and can find faults with heating systems like radiators or under floor heating. Our goal is to leave you feeling satisfied knowing that your new home will be finished to the quality which you expected.

Once a booking has been made, one of our Acuro Snagging surveyors will arrive at your property at your convenience, to carry out the survey of your home.

The snagging inspector will carry out a thorough examination of all aspects both inside and outside of your home. During the visit the inspector will photograph and log detailed descriptions of all defects found with your home. Once the visit is complete and all defects have been logged, our inspector will compile all the information into an electronic report. This report will then be sent across to our dedicated quality control team to check for accuracy and detail. Once the quality control team are happy with the report, the electronic snagging report will be sent across to the homeowner via email, to be passed on to the developer. We are able to advise on the best place or person to send the report to.

Once the report has been received by the builder, they will then have to work through and rectify all of the reported issues within the electronic report to the customers satisfaction.