A new-build snagging survey is a non-intrusive visual inspection of a newly built property to identify defects that need fixing by the developer, ideally before moving into the property. The majority of new home buyers are not advised by their solicitors to have a professional snagging survey carried out.
Whilst most new home buyers see this as an extra cost, the feedback from the people we have carried out snagging surveys for, feel it is money well spent, as the number of defects we identify are far more than what they would have identified.
How long does a snagging survey take?
It is important to allow enough time as the survey can take up to 5 hours, but this is dependant on the size of the property and the defects that are identified during our snagging survey.
We encourage the new home buyer to be in attendance during the snagging inspection as it allows them to ask questions and we can explain our snagging survey process. The inspection involves our surveyor looking at every external and internal area of your new build property.
What does a new-build snagging survey involve?
When you move into your new home, you can find the defects yourself with our ultimate checklist. The problem is, it’s hard to spot these small defects until you’ve been living in your home for a while and by the time you spot them, your warranty may have expired and you could incur costs of several thousands of pounds to repair these defects.
As petty as it may sound, you should write down every issue that you find and report them to the developers as soon as possible whilst you’re still covered by your warranty.
A snagging survey covers the ground floor, upstairs floors and roof space as well as external areas, including:
- The front boundary (which is normally the front footpath)
- The garden areas, driveways, footpaths
- Each external elevation (including the main roof and low-level roofs)
- The functionality of windows and doors
- Internal areas of your new house are checked (starting at the front door and moving into your hall and all rooms that radiate from it)
- The garage, both externally and internally
- All boundary fences
- Insulation
- Roof coverings
- Any service connections such as fan ducts, soil pipe connections and durgo valves
What happens after the snagging survey?
Typically, snagging surveys are reported to the developer so that they can fix the issues identified in your new home before you move in. Once the survey is finished, we will sit down with the new homeowner and go through the defects we have identified. You must be aware of these issues in case you want to move in before issues are fixed or if you’ve already moved.
Following this, we send an electronic version of the snagging report to the new home buyer the same day, this is then followed up by two hard copies of the report which we send out in the first available post.
If you are in the process of buying a new home, then please contact us for a free, no-obligation quote for your snagging survey today.
Recent Comments