What is a snag list?
A snag list records defects and unfinished work found during a site inspection before handover. What belongs on one, who writes it, when it happens, and how to make it actually get fixed.
Read the guide →Snagging guides
Practical guides to snag lists, site inspections and handover — written for the people who actually walk the building.
Snag list vs punch list: what is the difference?
Snag list and punch list describe the same thing in different places. Where each term is used, the small practical differences in how they are run, and which to use with an international team.
Read the guide →Snagging checklist for a new build
A room-by-room snagging checklist for new-build homes — what to check in every room, plus the exterior, services and documents most inspections miss.
Read the guide →Snag list template: what to include (and why spreadsheets fail)
The fields a snag list template actually needs, a copy-and-paste structure you can use today, and the reasons spreadsheet templates break down on real projects.
Read the guide →Practical completion: what it means and what to check
Practical completion is the moment a building is handed over — and the moment your leverage changes. What the term actually means, what to inspect before you sign, and the disagreements that come up every time.
Read the guide →The defects liability period, explained
The months after handover when the contractor must come back and put things right. What counts as a defect, what does not, how the end-of-period inspection works, and how retention is released.
Read the guide →How to write a site inspection report
A site inspection report is read by people who were not there, sometimes years later and sometimes by a lawyer. How to structure one, how to describe a defect so it gets fixed, and what photographs actually need to show.
Read the guide →Site meeting minutes that actually get actioned
Minutes are the project record, and on a contested job they are evidence. How to number points so they survive across meetings, write actions that get done, and handle the objection period.
Read the guide →Hiring a snagging surveyor: what to expect
What a professional snagging survey actually involves, what the report should contain, when to book it around your completion date, and how to use it once you have it.
Read the guide →Snagging an apartment block: handling volume
Forty units, common parts and a phased handover break the methods that work fine on one house. How to number, sequence and track defects when the same fault repeats across every floor.
Read the guide →Photographs that hold up: evidence on site
A photograph of a crack could be any wall in any building. What to shoot, how to show location and scale, what metadata matters, and why the timing of the shot decides whether it proves anything.
Read the guide →Snag list templates: Word, Excel, PDF or app?
Four ways to run a snag list, and what each one costs you on a real job. Which template format survives photographs, revisions and a subcontractor who says he never received item 42.
Read the guide →Snag list format in Excel: columns, set-up and limits
A working Excel snag list: the exact column order, the four set-up steps that make it usable on site, how to issue it by trade, and the two things a spreadsheet cannot do.
Read the guide →What is a snagger?
A snagger is the person who inspects a building for defects before handover. Who does the job in practice, what an inspection day involves, when it is worth hiring one, and what separates a good snagger from an expensive walk-round.
Read the guide →Snagging around the world: snag lists, punch lists and defects lists
The same job has a different name, a different deadline and a different safety net in every country. A quick guide to what snagging is called, when it happens and what protects you — across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Oceania — nineteen countries in all.
Read the guide →Snagging in the UK: new builds, warranties and your rights
How snagging works in the UK — the pre-completion inspection under the New Homes Quality Code, the two-year builder period inside a 10-year warranty, the 30-day fix expectation, and practical completion on commercial jobs.
Read the guide →Snagging in Ireland: new homes, closing and HomeBond
In Ireland, snagging a new home before closing is standard practice. When to do it, who to hire, why the list goes through your solicitor, and what structural cover like HomeBond does — and does not — protect you against.
Read the guide →Snagging in Malta: off-plan apartments, the deed and the 15-year rule
Most new homes in Malta are apartments bought off plan. When to snag (before the final deed), who to ask (usually your perit), what to agree in the promise of sale, and the Civil Code rule that keeps the perit and contractor liable for serious defects for 15 years.
Read the guide →Punch lists in the USA: substantial completion, retainage and the walkthrough
In the United States the snag list is a punch list. How it works on commercial jobs (substantial completion, the architect’s certificate, retainage and the one-year correction period) and on new homes (the final walkthrough and the builder warranty).
Read the guide →Deficiency lists in Canada: PDIs, Tarion and provincial warranties
In Canada the snag list is a deficiency list. How the pre-delivery inspection and Tarion’s 30-Day and Year-End forms work in Ontario, the warranty ladders in other provinces, and deficiencies on commercial jobs.
Read the guide →Defects lists in Australia: practical completion and statutory warranties
In Australia snagging is the defects inspection at practical completion. How the defects liability period works on commercial jobs, and the statutory warranties that protect home owners — using NSW and Queensland as examples.
Read the guide →Snagging in New Zealand: the 12-month defect repair period
New Zealand gives home owners a 12-month defect repair period and implied warranties that last up to 10 years. How they work, why the completion date matters, and how to write a defects list your builder cannot dispute.
Read the guide →Snagging in Dubai and the UAE: handover inspections and defect periods
Snagging is routine for property handovers in Dubai and across the UAE. When to inspect (before you sign the handover), the one-year period for finishing defects, ten-year decennial liability for structural ones, and the second inspection most buyers forget.
Read the guide →Defects inspection in Singapore: HDB, condos and the defects liability period
In Singapore, new HDB flats and private condos come with a one-year defects liability period. When it starts, how to report defects, the longer cover for leaks and spalling concrete in HDB flats, and what CONQUAS scores do and do not tell you.
Read the guide →Snag lists in South Africa: NHBRC warranty and handover
South African new homes registered with the NHBRC come with three layers of builder responsibility: three months for deviations from the plans, one year for roof leaks, and five years for major structural defects. How to snag at handover so you do not miss the first one.
Read the guide →Snagging in France: réserves, livraison and the three guarantees
In France, snagging means listing réserves on the handover report. How the procès-verbal works, the one-month window after you get the keys in an off-plan (VEFA) purchase, and the one-, two- and ten-year guarantees that follow.
Read the guide →Snagging in Germany: Bauabnahme, the Mängelprotokoll and the 5-year warranty
In Germany everything turns on the Abnahme — the formal acceptance of building work. Why you must reserve known defects in the protocol, how precise each entry needs to be, and the five-year (BGB) or four-year (VOB/B) warranty that follows.
Read the guide →Snagging in the Netherlands: the oplevering and the 5% rule
Dutch new-build buyers snag at the oplevering, with an opleverlijst of defects and often an independent inspector. The three-month maintenance period, the 5% rule that lets you hold back money with the notary, and the Woningborg and SWK warranties.
Read the guide →Snagging in Spain: new-build handovers and the 1-3-10 rule
Snagging a new-build property in Spain, from the Costa del Sol to Madrid. When to inspect, why the handover matters, and the Building Act’s one-year (finishes), three-year (habitability) and ten-year (structure) guarantees.
Read the guide →Snagging in Portugal: new homes and the 10-year structural warranty
Buying a new home in Portugal from a developer now comes with a ten-year warranty for structural defects and five years for other non-conformities. How to snag before the deed, how to report defects, and why the first inspection still matters.
Read the guide →Snagging in Italy: handover, the 60-day notice and serious defects
In Italy the deadlines for building defects are short and strict. The 60-day notice and two-year limit for ordinary defects under the Civil Code, the ten-year liability for serious defects, and how to record defects at handover.
Read the guide →Snagging in Cyprus: off-plan buyers and the contract of sale
In Cyprus, a buyer’s protection against defects depends mostly on the contract of sale. What to put in it before you sign, why an independent snagging inspection at handover matters, and how to deal with a developer who does not come back.
Read the guide →Snagging in India: possession, the snag list and RERA’s 5-year rule
Indian home buyers increasingly snag their flat at possession. How RERA protects you — a five-year period from possession for structural and workmanship defects, with repairs due within 30 days of written notice — and how to write a snag list the builder must act on.
Read the guide →Snagging in Qatar: handover, defects liability and decennial liability
In Qatar, snagging at handover is governed mainly by your contract and its defects liability period, while the Civil Code imposes strict ten-year liability for serious structural defects. How the two fit together, and how to snag a property in Doha.
Read the guide →