What Is a Snagging List in Building Work?

A snagging list is a written list of the small faults, unfinished items and cosmetic defects found at the end of a building job, which the builder agrees to put right before the work is signed off. Typical snags are a door that catches on its frame, a patch of paint that has been missed, a gap in the sealant around a bath, a cracked tile, a socket fitted slightly off level or a scuff on a new skirting board. None of them stop the room being used, but together they decide whether a job feels finished.

The list is usually made during a walk round of the finished work, ideally with the builder there, and agreed in writing so both sides know exactly what is outstanding. Snags are different from defects, which are more serious problems such as leaks, damp or anything structural, and both are different from the small changes every new piece of building work goes through as it dries out. This guide explains what belongs on a snagging list, how to carry out the walk round, how it connects to the final payment, and what the law says if the work is not put right.

What counts as a snag

A snag is something that is not quite right or not quite finished, and that a competent builder would expect to fix as part of the job. Going room by room, the usual ones are these.

• Doors and windows that stick, rattle, catch or do not latch properly
• Paint misses, runs, drips on floors and glass, and patchy cutting in at ceilings
• Gaps or untidy joints in skirting, architrave and window boards
• Sealant that is missing, gappy or smeared around baths, showers, worktops and sinks
• Cracked, chipped or uneven tiles and grout that is missing or stained
• Sockets, switches and light fittings that are not level or not working
• Taps that drip, slow drains and radiators that do not heat evenly
• Outside, missing pointing, untidy cappings and building rubbish left behind

Snags on a kitchen or bathroom tend to be about alignment and sealing. On an extension or a renovation they are more often about how the new work meets the old, which is where the joins show.

Snags, defects and the things that are normal

It helps to sort what you find into three kinds.

Snags are the minor items above. They are expected on any job of any size and they are simply part of finishing.

Defects are more serious. Water coming in, damp patches, a floor that bounces, doors that suddenly stop closing because something has moved, or work that does not meet the building regulations all belong here. Report these straight away rather than waiting for the walk round, and keep a written record of when you did.

The third kind is not a fault at all. New plaster, new timber and new concrete all hold water when they go in and shrink slightly as they dry. Fine hairline cracks where a new ceiling meets a wall, or along the joints in new plasterboard, are a normal part of that drying out, and they are best filled when the room is first redecorated rather than chased the week after handover. Knowing this saves a lot of worry and a lot of unnecessary call backs.

How to do a snagging walk round

Choose good daylight and allow proper time, because rushing the walk round is how snags get missed. Go through the work room by room and do more than look. Open and close every door, window and drawer. Turn every tap on and off and run the shower. Switch every light on and try every socket. Look along walls and ceilings at a low angle, where uneven plaster and paint misses show up. Check outside as well as in.

Write everything down, take a photograph of each item, and go through the list with the builder at the end so you agree what is on it and when it will be done. A single agreed list is far more useful than a series of messages sent over the following weeks.

What the law says if snags are not put right

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats every contract for a service as including a term that the trader must perform it with reasonable care and skill. If the work falls short of that, the Act gives you the right to require repeat performance, meaning the trader has to put it right within a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience to you, and at their own cost, including labour and materials.

Citizens Advice's guidance on problems with building work adds a practical point. The law does not say what counts as a reasonable time, so it is something you agree between you, which is exactly what a dated snagging list does.

Snagging a new build

On a newly built home, snagging is the same exercise on a larger scale, and the timing matters more. If the house is registered with NHBC, its guidance on the first two years of the Buildmark policy explains that during that period it is the builder, not NHBC, who is responsible for putting right problems caused by not meeting NHBC's requirements, and that you should contact the builder as soon as you reasonably can and keep a record. Anything you notice during that window belongs in writing, inside it. Our new builds page covers the build process that leads up to handover, and how we run one.

Whatever the project, keep the building control completion certificate with your snagging list and the rest of the paperwork. The government's guidance on building regulations approval points out that without approval you will not have the certificates you may need when you sell.

The snagging list and the final payment

The cleanest way to handle snags is to agree, before work starts, how the final payment relates to finishing them. That belongs in the written agreement along with the price and the payment stages, and it is one of the questions to ask a builder before hiring. A builder who is happy to talk about snagging at the quoting stage is usually one who plans to finish properly, which is part of how you know a builder is reliable.

How we handle the finish

Snags turn up on building jobs of every size, and what separates a good finish from a frustrating one is how they are handled. Every job we take on ends with the same stage, the finishing touches, and like every other stage it is managed by Alex personally. Before founding AGC he spent 12 years project managing multimillion pound contracts for a carpentry company.

The first step of our aftercare is a post completion check, in which Alex reviews every part of the finished work with the customer to make sure it is completed to a high standard and works as it should. That is the natural moment to agree one written list, so everything outstanding can be planned and cleared together rather than reported piecemeal by text over the following weeks.

It is not the last step. Things settle, timber moves with the seasons and a door that was perfect in October can catch in February. That is normal, and it is why our customers keep Alex's number after the skip has gone. If anything needs checking or adjusting after the work is complete, he is available to help.

Conclusion

A snagging list is the written record of the small things left to finish or correct at the end of a building job, agreed between you and the builder and cleared before the work is signed off. Sort what you find into snags, more serious defects and the normal signs of new work drying out, walk the job properly in good light, and put everything in writing with photographs. The Consumer Rights Act gives you the right to have work that falls short put right at the trader's cost, and on a new build the NHBC warranty sets out who is responsible in the first two years.

If you would like a builder who treats the finish as seriously as the build, AGC Carpentry & Building Services is based in Ashford and works across Kent, including Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Hythe and Sevenoaks. You can see finished projects on our work page, and contact us to talk about your next job.