Snagging your new house before final payment

Arrange snagging before handover and before final payment falls due. A written list makes it easier to agree repairs while the builder is still on site. Paying or moving in does not automatically remove your rights over defective work. Agree repair dates and follow the payment and notice procedures in your contract. Your contract and specification help establish what work is due; ask your certifier about compliance and a solicitor about disputed payment.

What counts as a snag

A snag is anything that is unfinished, damaged, or does not match the drawings and specification. The next step depends on what you find:

Problem	What to do
Finish or workmanship: missed paint, a sticking window or cracked tile	Check against the specification and put it on the builder’s snag list. Agree repairs before final payment falls due, following the contract
Possible non-compliance: missing insulation, incorrect fire stopping or missing ventilation	Ask your designer or certifier to assess it against the regulations. Give written notice, arrange repairs and re-inspection, and resolve it before certification
Possible structural or hidden defect: a moving wall or persistent damp from a wall or roof detail	Ask an engineer for a report. Then pursue the builder, applicable structural defects cover or legal advice as appropriate

Agree with the builder, before the inspection and ideally in the contract, what counts as a defect as opposed to a small snag: “a defect is anything not in accordance with the drawings, specification and the contract standard of workmanship”. A request to change an agreed finish may be a variation: agree its price and effect on the programme before authorising it.

When to snag

Do not wait for the builder to say it is finished. Snagging works best in three passes:

1. Stage inspections during the build. Anything that will be covered (insulation, cavity trays, airtightness membrane, drainage, first-fix electrics and plumbing) can only be checked before it is closed up. Agree an inspection plan with your designer or certifier and keep records; a final snag inspection cannot establish what is hidden. See the stages guide.
2. A first full inspection when the builder says the house is complete, before the final instalment and before you move furniture in.
3. A re-inspection once the builder reports the list is done. Tick off each item yourself. Do not accept a verbal “all sorted”.

Plan a further review during the contractual defects period, including after the first heating season where timing allows. Report new damp, cracks or system faults promptly rather than waiting for that review.

Before the inspection

Gather the drawings, specification, schedule of finishes, the Building Energy Rating (BER) assessment, any list of changes agreed on site and your certifier’s inspection records. Inspect in daylight, on a dry day if possible and then again in or just after rain. Allow enough time for the house and the agreed inspection scope.

Bring a torch, a spirit level or a long straight edge, a phone for photos, masking tape or small stickers to mark each defect on the wall, a tape measure, and a notebook or spreadsheet. If a professional proposes thermal imaging, ask what conditions are needed and what the survey can establish.

What to check

• Outside. Roof lines, flashings and gutters (water should reach the downpipes, not pool), render and brickwork for cracks and colour mismatch, window and door seals, ground levels falling away from the walls, drainage covers and rodding access, driveway falls, boundary treatment.
• Walls and ceilings. Cracks, uneven plaster, paint finish in raking light from a window, nail pops. Record where each crack is and whether it changes. Ask an engineer about growing cracks, displacement or persistent damp; crack width alone does not establish whether a defect is structural.
• Floors. Level (use the straight edge), squeaks, gaps at edges, damage to timber floors, tiles that sound hollow when tapped.
• Joinery. Doors that close and latch without catching, hinges and handles tight, skirting and architrave joints, stairs and handrails solid, fitted units level with doors that align.
• Windows. Every window opens, closes and locks. Seals continuous, no scratches on the glass, no condensation between panes, trickle vents present if specified.
• Electrics. Every socket and light works. Ask the registered electrician to demonstrate safe operation and provide the completion certificate; check the consumer unit is labelled, and that smoke and heat alarms are present and linked as specified. Keep a copy of the certificate.
• Plumbing and heating. Run every tap and flush every toilet, check pressure and hot water at each outlet, look for leaks under sinks, check each heating zone comes on and heats, and confirm thermostats and controls do what the user guide says.
• Ventilation. Extractor fans in kitchen and bathrooms run and move air, and the whole-house ventilation system (if fitted) is commissioned, with filters accessible and the manual left with you.
• Attic and under stairs. Insulation continuous with no gaps or compressed areas, attic hatch insulated and sealed, fire stopping visible where the design calls for it, no stored builders’ debris.
• Wastewater system. Access covers, commissioning records, the installer’s maintenance instructions and details of any required servicing. See wastewater treatment systems.

Keep checks to areas you can safely reach. Do not open electrical equipment, climb onto roofs or enter an unsafe attic. A visual snag list and a socket tester cannot certify electrical or structural safety. Ask the relevant professional to investigate concerns.

Recording defects

List each item with room, location, description, photo and a target date. A spreadsheet with a row per item works well: columns for room, description, photo file name, date raised, date promised, date fixed and signed off. Number the items so the builder can answer by number.

Send one consolidated list, by email, keep a dated copy, and ask the builder to confirm receipt and a date. A single list helps you track agreed work and dates. Send any new problems as a second numbered list; keep the original so you can see what has been resolved.

Paperwork to collect

The paperwork is as important as the finishes, because you will need it to sell, remortgage, or insure the house.

Document	Why it matters
Certificate of Compliance on Completion	For works within statutory certification, get the signed certificate and confirm registration before occupation. See the paragraph on completion certification below
Final BER certificate	Replace the provisional rating with a final rating based on the finished house. You need a BER to sell or let
Electrical certificate	Obtain from the registered electrical contractor; confirm any lender or insurer document requirements
Gas or oil installation certificate	Obtain the applicable installation and commissioning records if you have a fuel-fired appliance
Heat pump, solar and ventilation commissioning records	Evidence for operation, maintenance and the BER assessment; check any applicable grant requirements
Airtightness test result	Part of the BER evidence
Manufacturer warranties and manuals	Windows, boiler or heat pump, roof tiles, wastewater unit
As-built drawings	Services and drainage routes, valuable later for extensions
Structural defects cover documents	If your lender or buyer requires it, confirm eligibility and inspection requirements early rather than assuming it can be bought at completion
Planning conditions compliance	Evidence that conditions were met, such as landscaping, boundary or wastewater requirements

Where statutory completion certification applies, your assigned certifier and builder sign the certificate and upload it through the Building Control Management System (BCMS). The authority checks that it uses the prescribed form, is signed and complete, and enters it on the statutory register. Confirm registration before occupation or use. A single dwelling whose owner lodged a valid opt-out of statutory certification (possible for eligible homes since September 2015) follows a different certification route, while still having to comply with Building Regulations. Agree the documents needed for occupation, final drawdown and any future sale with your professionals and lender.

A new dwelling’s provisional BER is based on drawings and is valid for a maximum of two years. Replace it with a final BER based on a survey of the finished house.

Holding back money

Check the final payment date, certification requirements and notice procedure before handover. An outstanding snag does not automatically allow you to withhold the entire balance. The contractual tools to agree at the outset include:

• Retention. A percentage of each payment, or of the total, held until defects are fixed. Figures and release conditions vary by contract, so read yours. Release may be split between completion and the end of the defects period, subject to your contract and the required certification.
• A defects liability period. The builder remains obliged to come back and fix defects for a stated period after completion. Check that it is written in your contract.
• Final payment conditional on sign-off. Release only against written sign-off from your certifier or designer.

Hypothetical example: on a contract of €300,000 with a 5% retention, €15,000 is held. If the contract releases half at practical completion and half after six months, you would release €7,500 at completion once the snag list is cleared, and keep €7,500 until the end of the defects period. If your contract has no retention clause, you have much less leverage. That is a reason to settle this when you choose the contract rather than at the end.

Retention and a legal right to withhold payment are different. For service contracts within Part 4 of the Consumer Rights Act 2022, section 91 provides a withholding right and requires a statement to the trader. For defective services, the amount must be proportionate to the reduction in value of what was supplied. Ask your solicitor whether it covers your building contract before withholding or deducting money; repair cost alone is not an automatic entitlement. If you are on a project-managed build, the same principle applies to each trade contract.

If the builder will not fix defects

1. Put the list in writing with dates, and refer to the contract and specification clause for each item.
2. Give a reasonable deadline in writing and say what you will do if it is missed.
3. Ask your designer, surveyor or engineer for a written assessment of disputed items. This provides evidence; it does not itself settle liability.
4. Get quotes for the outstanding work. If the contract allows, you can arrange another contractor and deduct the cost from money held.
5. Take legal advice before appointing someone else, terminating, withholding or deducting money. Part 4 of the Consumer Rights Act 2022 sets standards and remedies for service contracts within its scope. The contract date and circumstances matter; do not rely solely on the older 1980 Act.
6. For payment disputes, check whether the Construction Contracts Act 2013 applies. It excludes a contract relating only to a dwelling of no more than 200m² where a party occupies or intends to occupy it as their residence; other exclusions also apply. A contractual dispute route may still be available. See the contracts guide.

Act promptly on unresolved defects

Do not treat the contractual defects period as the deadline for every legal claim, or assume that discovering a defect starts a fresh period. The applicable time limit and when it starts depend on the claim and facts. Get legal advice promptly on a serious or unresolved defect; a snag email or ongoing negotiations should not be assumed to preserve your right to sue.

Common snagging mistakes

• Snagging only after paying in full.
• Relying on a verbal promise instead of a numbered written list.
• Inspecting only in dry weather, so leaks and gaps at windows are missed.
• Accepting a certificate of compliance without checking it names the right address and has been lodged and entered on the register.
• Moving in without confirming the applicable completion and occupation requirements.
• Forgetting to test the heating in each zone and the ventilation, which are often left until winter.
• Not keeping photos of the condition at handover.
• Treating structural movement as a snag. Call the engineer.

After you move in

Keep a running list of issues over the first year, particularly settlement cracks, heating and ventilation performance, and damp after the first winter. Report each one in writing. Before completion or occupation, agree the insurance transition in writing with your broker or insurer. Confirm the construction policy’s end trigger and that replacement cover accepts the actual occupancy and any outstanding work.