Bristol · South West · South Wales
The developer's inspector works for the developer
We are instructed by you, the buyer. We inspect before you complete, list every defect against the NHBC standards, and give you a report the builder cannot wave away.
What a snagging inspection actually buys you
A new build is the only major purchase most people make without an independent check. The site manager's own sign-off is not an independent check — it is the seller marking their own homework.
We spend three to five hours in the property with a moisture meter, a thermal camera, levels and a lot of patience. Every defect is photographed, located to a room, and graded against what the warranty provider will actually enforce.
The result is a document your developer's customer care team has to work through item by item. Buyers typically get between 150 and 400 items on a first inspection. That is not us being difficult — that is the current state of the industry.
How we grade defects
The full method →-
C1
Immediate
Safety, water ingress, or anything that will worsen materially if left. These are raised with the site manager on the day of inspection rather than waiting for the report.
e.g. unsealed flashing over a habitable room · missing balustrade fixing · live cable in an unfinished void -
C2
Within warranty
Genuine defects the developer is obliged to put right, but which are not urgent. The bulk of any report sits here, and this is where a written record matters most.
e.g. doors binding on frames · uneven plaster beyond tolerance · poorly cut architrave · paint holidays -
C3
Record & monitor
Within tolerance today but worth photographing now, so that if it moves you can show what it looked like at handover.
e.g. hairline shrinkage cracking · minor settlement gaps · first-winter timber movement
Services
Full fee list →-
Before you complete
Pre-completion inspection
Carried out before you hand over the money, while you still have leverage. Since 2022 the New Homes Quality Code gives buyers an explicit right to a pre-completion inspection — many buyers are never told.
- Attended before legal completion
- Report within 48 hours
- Defect list formatted for the developer's own system
-
After you move in
Post-completion snagging
The standard survey, done once you have the keys. More thorough than a pre-completion visit because we can run every service, fill every basin and test every window.
- 3–5 hours on site
- Moisture and thermal readings included
- Photographic evidence for each item
-
Before month 24
Two-year warranty review
The developer's own liability period typically ends at two years, after which you are dealing with the warranty provider instead. This inspection is timed to land before that door closes.
- Booked for months 20–22
- Re-checks previously reported items
- Written specifically for a warranty claim
-
Follow-up
Re-inspection
After the developer says the work is done. We check what was actually fixed against the original list, and note anything the remedial work has itself damaged.
- Item-by-item against the original report
- Half the original fee
- Common outcome: 20–30% of items not actually resolved
Recent inspections
Anonymised at client request-
4-bed detached · Emersons Green287 items at pre-completion
Including a soil vent pipe terminating inside the loft void. The buyer delayed completion by nine days; all C1 items were resolved before the money moved.
C1 · 4C2 · 231C3 · 52 -
2-bed apartment · Bristol HarboursideDamp traced to a blocked cavity
Reported by the buyer as condensation. Moisture readings and thermal imaging put it at a mortar-bridged cavity behind the bedroom wall — a build defect, not lifestyle.
C1 · 1C2 · 96C3 · 18 -
3-bed semi · Weston-super-MareTwo-year review, 41 items still open
The developer had marked the original list as closed. Nineteen items had never been touched; four had been made worse by the remedial visit.
C2 · 34C3 · 7
“We were told by the site manager that the pre-completion inspection was not something buyers were allowed to arrange. Snagwright sent us the section of the New Homes Quality Code that says otherwise, and the appointment was booked the next morning.”Buyer · 4-bed detached, South Gloucestershire · March 2026
What we will not do
We do not accept work from developers, house builders or their contractors — not as a policy statement, but because it is the whole basis on which our report is worth anything to you. An inspector who takes builder work has an interest in the list being short.
We also do not quote a per-item price, take a percentage of anything recovered, or pad a report to justify the fee. Fixed fee, whatever we find.