When to book, what a good inspection covers, your rights with the developer, and why an engineer-led survey finds more.
Book an independent snagging inspection as soon as possible after legal completion — ideally within the first few weeks, and again before your 2-year builder warranty period ends. An engineer-led inspection typically costs £300–£600 for a 3–4 bed house and takes 3–4 hours on site.
A "snag" is anything in a new-build home that isn't finished properly or doesn't work as it should — from a sticking door to a genuinely serious defect. New homes are built to a schedule, by multiple trades, often under pressure to hit legal completion dates, and it shows: independent surveys of new-build homes regularly find well over a hundred individual snags in an average house. Most are minor and quick to fix. A small number are worth taking seriously, and telling the two apart is exactly where an engineer's eye earns its fee.
The six areas a thorough snagging inspection works through, inside and out.
A thorough visit works systematically through the whole property — externally (roofline, render and brickwork, guttering and downpipes, external doors and windows, drainage falls away from the house, driveways and paths) and internally (plaster and paint finish, floor levels, doors and windows operating smoothly, staircases, sockets and switches, heating and ventilation, and loft insulation and access). Photographs are taken of every item, referenced against a floor plan, and written up so nothing gets lost or disputed later.
New-build homes in the UK are typically covered by a structural warranty (commonly NHBC "Buildmark", Premier Guarantee or LABC Warranty) that obliges the developer to fix defects reported within the first two years, and covers major structural issues for up to ten. Most volume developers also sign up to the Consumer Code for New Homes or the New Homes Quality Code, which sets out how complaints should be handled and gives you a route to an independent ombudsman if the developer won't resolve a valid snag. A written, dated, photographed snag list is the single most useful thing you can hand a developer or an ombudsman — vague verbal complaints are far easier to deprioritise.
Generic snagging checklists are good at catching cosmetic issues — scuffed paint, a loose tile, a sticking window. What they're not built for is telling the difference between ordinary new-build settlement and something that actually needs a structural engineer's attention: is that crack over the door just plasterboard shrinkage, or is it moving because a lintel isn't bearing properly? An engineer-led inspection covers everything a standard snag list does, plus a trained structural assessment of anything that looks like more than cosmetics — and produces a report that carries real weight with a developer or warranty provider.
No obligation, no jargon — just a clear fixed fee and an honest view of what your project needs.