New Build Snagging

We made a decision in 2017 that we would not longer offer to carry out snagging surveys. The last one we carried out took weeks of back and forth to arrange. Then a challenging full day of inspection. Followed by one day writing the report and referencing the NHBC guidance at each stage. Then another day creating a useable spreadsheet for the developer. The fees we charged for this were fairly minimal and meant there was no business case for continuing to offer this work.

The market

There were lots of firms offering snagging services at the time but the quality of these differed significantly. From basic “counting the screws in the hinges” to better quality. There were no trade associations linked to the quality nor benchmarking. So, there was no set standard. Hence ours which was far more in depth and referenced the standards, was massive compared to the volume snagging reporting firms. The prices were incredibly low, we did not know how a good job could be done for the money. Invariable a good job was not done. We see this when doing homebuyers reports of more recent housing and defects that have not been spotted now. With vendors dealing with the fall out

What changed

We were asked to visit a new build property for a returning client that we had done two older houses for previously and genuinely liked them. We only allowed an hour or two on site. So said we would have a nose round with them. What was found was shocking. Truly shocking. Uneven floors, walls out of true, poor detailing, cracking generally. The site agent assured us that these would be dealt with. The only way to sort the floor was to remove the Kitchen, a very costly and damaging exercise. This was all spotted with 2 hours. Here is a slide show of just a few of some of the issues we have found.

We felt the need for a better-quality professional service was required. There are other companies coming to this realisation. With well-known you tube channels showing the poor workmanship and corner cutting that appears rife, this has actually become comedy viewing.

What is the future for snagging surveys?

We teamed up with Gary. He is an ex-site manager with 30 years’ experience in Construction. Thus he became the perfect Poacher turned Gamekeeper. He has previously worked for the NHBC and is site manager trained. We have created our own bespoke document to able quick and easy delivery of the information in one annotated picture-based report. The RPSA must have been having the same thoughts as us. With this market dominated by volume house builders marking their own work. They have just introduced their own new reporting standard. Gary Has attended the recent training for this as well and can offer the RPSA version or our own bespoke