The new build snagging checklist, room by room
A snagging inspection is not a hunt for things you dislike. It is a search for work that falls short of the standard the builder signed up to. This is how to run one on a new build without wasting your own time or losing credibility with the site manager.
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What counts as a snag
A snag is workmanship or a finish that does not meet the contract, the building regulations, or the warranty provider’s standards. In the UK that usually means the NHBC Standards, LABC Warranty or Premier Guarantee technical manual, depending on who covers the plot.
Three things are commonly listed as snags and are not snags at all. Design decisions you disagree with are not defects, because the builder built what was approved. Damage caused after handover is yours. And normal drying shrinkage in the first heating season, the hairline cracks that appear at plasterboard joints and around door frames, is expected behaviour rather than bad work, though most builders will make good once at the end of the first year.
Keeping those three off the list matters more than people think. A list of forty items where six are unarguable gets read. A list of a hundred and forty where most are opinion gets skimmed and quietly deprioritised.
Before you start
Inspect in daylight. Most finish defects, particularly paint holidays, roller marks and undulating plaster, are only visible in raking light across a surface, and site lighting will hide all of it. Take a torch anyway for cupboards, the loft and under units.
Bring a spirit level, a tape, a two metre straightedge if you can carry one, a socket tester, and a marble or ball bearing for checking falls in wet rooms. Turn the heating on when you arrive so the system has run for an hour by the time you get to it.
Work the property in a fixed order and do not deviate: it is the only way to avoid missing a room. Ground floor clockwise from the front door, then first floor clockwise from the top of the stairs, then loft, then outside clockwise from the front elevation.
The room by room list
These are grouped by element rather than by room, because you inspect by element. Walk each room and run every group.
Doors, windows and glazing
- Every door opens and closes without catching, and stays where you leave it
- Consistent gaps around each door leaf, top and both sides
- Handles, latches and locks operate with one hand and line up on both faces
- Windows open, lock and seal on the gasket the whole way round
- Trickle vents present, operable and not painted shut
- No scratches, chips or blown units in the glass, checked from both sides
- Beading straight, mitred and not proud of the frame
- Mastic to frames continuous, matching colour, no gaps at corners
Walls, ceilings and decoration
- Check plaster with a straightedge, not by eye, against the warranty tolerance
- No trowel lines, blown patches or hollow sounding areas
- Paint coverage even, with no roller lap marks in raking light
- Cut lines crisp where wall meets ceiling and skirting
- No overspray on ironmongery, sockets, glass or floors
- Corner beads straight, not showing through the skim
- Ceilings free of visible board joints or nail pops
Floors, skirtings and joinery
- Floors level and free of bounce or squeak underfoot
- No lipping between boards or tiles, and no hollow tiles
- Skirting and architrave scribed tightly at corners, no open mitres
- Consistent scribe to the floor with no daylight underneath
- Stair treads solid, spindles firm, handrail continuous and fixed
- Fitted wardrobe and cupboard doors aligned and closing flush
Kitchen
- Cupboard and drawer fronts aligned, level and evenly gapped
- Soft close working on every door and drawer that has it
- Worktop joints tight, sealed and level, with no chipping at the cut
- Sink and tap secure, no movement, no leak under load
- Run every tap and check the trap and isolation valves while running
- Appliances present, correct model, connected and tested
- Extractor ducted to outside rather than recirculating, if specified
- Sealant to worktop and splashback continuous and clean
Bathrooms, ensuites and cloakrooms
- Tile lines level, grout consistent, no cracked or drummy tiles
- Sealant neat at bath, tray, basin and floor junctions
- Bath and tray supported with no flex when you stand in them
- Shower falls to the waste, checked with water rather than assumed
- WC secure to the floor, flush working, no rocking
- Extractor fan running and actually pulling, tested with tissue
- Towel rail and radiator heating up along the full length
Electrical, heating and services
- Test every socket with a socket tester, not just the obvious ones
- Every light switch operates the fitting you expect
- Sockets and plates level, flush and not cracked at fixings
- Consumer unit labelled legibly and correctly
- Smoke and heat alarms present, interlinked and tested
- Every radiator heats evenly to the top with no cold spots
- Thermostat and controls operating the boiler as expected
- Boiler commissioning paperwork completed and left on site
Outside and the roof
The external inspection is where the expensive defects live, and it is the part most people rush because they are cold by then. Stand back far enough to see whole elevations, then walk in close.
Elevations and roof
- Brickwork courses level, perpends consistent, no stepped cracking
- Mortar consistent in colour with no smears or missing pointing
- Render free of cracks, hollow areas or patch repairs in a different mix
- Roof tiles aligned, none slipped, ridge and hip mortar or clips sound
- Flashings dressed properly at abutments and around penetrations
- Gutters and downpipes fixed, aligned and running to the drain
- Soffits and fascias clean, straight and fully fixed
Ground and boundaries
- Ground levels below the damp proof course by the required margin
- Paths and driveways falling away from the building
- No ponding on paving after rain or after you empty a bucket
- Drainage covers accessible, seated and not full of building debris
- Fencing and gates plumb, secure and to the plot boundary
- Turf or planting to specification, not laid over rubble
- External tap, meter boxes and vents fitted and working
What gets refused, and why
Builders push back on finish items more than anything else, and often they are right to. Warranty standards are written as tolerances, not as perfection. NHBC Standards, for example, set out how flat a plastered wall has to be by measuring deviation under a straightedge, and anything inside that band is compliant work even if it is visible to you.
Two practical consequences. First, measure before you list a wall or ceiling as defective, and record the measurement in the item. “Wall out of tolerance” is arguable, and a recorded deviation under a two metre straightedge is not. Second, look up the current edition of the standards that apply to your plot rather than quoting a figure someone gave you on a previous job, because they are revised.
Recording it so it actually gets fixed
The most common reason a snag survives three visits is that the trade who turned up could not find it. A photograph of a scratch on an anonymous white wall tells a joiner nothing about which of the eleven white walls in the plot it is on.
Every item needs a wide shot showing where it is, a close shot showing what it is, a written location precise enough to stand alone, and a description of the remedy you expect. That is the difference between a list and a work instruction. There is more detail on this in the guide to writing a defect report that gets fixed.
Doing that on paper and then rebuilding it into a document that evening is where the hours go. Site Audit was built for exactly this loop: photograph the defect with as many shots as it needs, caption each one, set the location and the trade, and generate the report before you get back to the car.
After you send it
Send the list to one named person and ask for a written response with a date against each item. An unacknowledged list is not a record of anything.
Expect items to be split into ones that will be done before you move in and ones deferred to the end of the first year. That is normal, but get the split in writing rather than accepting it verbally, because the people you agreed it with will have moved to another site by then.
Then re-inspect. Do not sign anything off from a photograph sent by the contractor. Close each item yourself, record the date it was closed, and keep the resolved items in the register rather than deleting them. When the same defect reappears in month ten, the fact that it was closed in month two and has come back is the whole argument.
What happens next is governed by your defects liability period, and if you have not reached handover yet, by practical completion.