How do I do a snagging list properly?

Snagging fails for two reasons. It is done after the final payment, when nothing motivates a return visit, and it is done as a running commentary instead of a document. A single numbered, photographed list issued while the retention is still held is a completely different conversation from a series of texts saying the skirting looks odd.

What you'll need

• A bright torch
• A phone for photographs
• A spirit level and a tape measure (optional)
• Low-tack masking tape to mark items (optional)
• The specification and the quote, to check against

Step by step

1. Do it before the final payment, always.The money outstanding is what gets snags fixed. Agree at the start of the job that a retention is held until the list is cleared, so this is a process rather than a negotiation.
2. Inspect in daylight, and take your time.Artificial light hides filler marks, roller lines and colour variation. A dry, bright day and two unhurried hours will find more than any amount of expertise in the evening.
3. Work round each room in the same order.Door, walls, sockets and switches, window, radiator, skirting, ceiling and light, floor. A fixed circuit means you notice absence as well as defects, and it stops you missing whole categories.
4. Use a light held flat against the wall.Raking light across a surface shows filler shadows, roller marks, poor joints and undulations that are invisible face-on. This one technique finds most decoration snags.
5. Check the things that are meant to move.Every door, every window, every drawer and cupboard, every tap, every switch. Open and close and operate all of them. Handles, locks, catches and closers are where second fix defects hide.
6. Write each item specifically."Living room, wall behind the sofa: filler shadow visible in raking light, approximately 300mm above skirting, item 14" rather than "walls need attention". Specific items get fixed; vague ones get discussed.
7. Photograph every item with scale in shot.Something recognisable for size, and a wider shot showing where in the room it is. Number the photographs to match the list.
8. Separate defects from shrinkage and from change of mind.Fine cracks at junctions after the first heating season are shrinkage, normally dealt with at the end of the defects period rather than immediately. Wanting a different colour is not a snag. Being honest about this makes the real items land harder.
9. Issue one consolidated list.Numbered, with photographs, sent in one email, with a request for a date to complete them. A single document is the thing you can refer back to.
10. Agree a date and re-inspect against the list.Walk it again with the numbered list in hand and sign off items individually. Anything not done stays open rather than being quietly dropped.
11. Keep the defects period open.Some faults only appear with time, weather and heating — cracking, sticking doors, damp patches, failing seals. Note the end date of the agreed defects period and inspect again before it expires.

Tips

• Have someone else walk the job too. A second person notices completely different things, and they have not spent three months getting used to the compromises.
• Check the loft, the outside, the drains and the meter cupboard. They are outside the decorated rooms and outside most people's snagging.
• Do not accept fixes that create new snags — a filled crack left unpainted, a resealed bath with silicone on the tile. Re-inspect properly.

Common mistakes

• Snagging after the final payment — Nothing obliges or motivates a return visit once the money has gone. Hold a retention and snag while it is still outstanding.
• Reporting snags one at a time as you notice them — It reads as nagging, it is impossible to track, and neither side can say when it is finished. One numbered list with a completion date is better for both parties.

Questions people ask