Questions buyers ask us
Straight answers. If yours is not here, call us.
Booking and access
Can I have a snagging inspection before I complete?
Yes. Developers signed up to the New Homes Quality Code must let you arrange a pre-completion inspection once the home is finished. We carry CSCS cards so we can attend on a live site. Give us the developer and site and we will arrange access.
What if the developer will not let you on site?
Complete, then book a snagging inspection for the first few days after you move in. The report goes to the developer under the two-year defects period. You lose the leverage of not having completed, but nothing else.
Do I need to be there?
No. Many buyers leave us to it and get the call afterwards. If you would like to walk round with us at the end, you are welcome.
How long does it take?
At least two hours for a typical home, longer for larger ones. The report follows within 48 hours.
How far ahead should I book?
As soon as you have a completion date. We can usually fit you in within a week, but earlier is safer.
The inspection
Is this the same as a survey?
No. A snagging inspection is a detailed check of the finish and workmanship against the standards the developer has signed up to. It is not a structural survey, a valuation or a RICS HomeBuyer or Building Survey. If we see something that needs a surveyor or engineer, we will tell you.
Do you remove anything during the inspection?
Not on a standard inspection. It is non-intrusive: we don’t remove fixed parts, lift floors or open sealed units. If you want us to open things up, book the intrusive inspection (£1,000). We lift loft insulation, take off bath panels, kickboards and faceplates, lift accessible floorboards and hatches, open drainage chambers, and put it all back.
Is the electrical check an EICR?
No. It is a visual and functional inspection by a qualified electrician, carried out alongside the snagging. If the findings suggest you need a certified Electrical Installation Condition Report, we will say so and can arrange it.
The developer has already had it snagged. Is it worth it?
In our experience, yes. Most of the homes we inspect have already been through the developer’s recommended snagger and we still find dozens of defects. Send us the earlier list and we will check it as well as adding to it.
Will you find everything?
We find everything that a thorough visual and functional inspection can find on the day. We cannot see inside walls or under floors on a standard inspection, and some defects only appear once a home is lived in. That is why the follow-up and end-of-warranty inspections exist.
After the report
Will you make the developer fix the defects?
That is between you and the developer, and we don’t get in the middle of it. What we do is give you a report so clear they can’t argue with it, and, if you want, come back once they say the work is done to check it really is.
What if the developer refuses to fix something?
Your first route is the developer’s own complaints process. After that, the New Homes Ombudsman (for developers in the New Homes Quality Code) or your warranty provider’s resolution service. Our report is written to be used in both.
What is the re-inspection?
When the developer says the snags are done, we come back and check every item on the original list: closed, still open, or made worse. £400, booked when you are ready.
Who sees the report?
You. We do not send it to the developer, the sales office or anyone else. If you want it sent to your solicitor, tell us.
Ready to book?
Tell us the plot and the date. We confirm a slot the same day.