Key Takeaways
- A snagging list records small defects and unfinished items at practical completion, to be put right before the retention is released.
- A snag is a cosmetic or minor workmanship item. A defect is a failure of the work itself, and it is covered by the builder's obligations for far longer.
- Hold a 5% retention: half released at practical completion, the rest after a rectification period of 3 to 6 months (JCT, 2026).
- Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 work must be done with reasonable care and skill, and you have six years to bring a claim (legislation.gov.uk, 2026).
- Inspect in good daylight, room by room, with a torch, a level and a tape, and photograph everything.
- Not every imperfection is a snag. Hand-applied finishes carry tolerances, and a list that ignores them costs you credibility on the items that matter.
The difference between a good renovation and a great one is in the details, and snagging is how you make sure those details are right. Done well it is a short, unemotional process that closes the job out properly. Done badly it turns the last fortnight of a good project into an argument. Here is how to inspect the work, what genuinely counts as a snag, and how to raise the list without losing a builder you would want to use again.
What is snagging?
Snagging is the process of identifying and recording minor defects and unfinished items at practical completion, then having the builder put them right before final sign-off. It is a normal stage of any renovation, not a complaint, and a reputable contractor plans for it. We snag our own projects before we invite the client to, because it is better to have found the thirty items yourself than to be shown them.
Practical completion is the point at which the work is finished enough for you to use the house, even if a short list remains. It triggers handover, the certificates and the first half of the retention. It is not the same as the job being perfect, and treating it as though it were is where most snagging disputes start.
What counts as a snag, and what is a defect?
A snag is cosmetic or minor and is fixed within the rectification period. A defect is a failure of the work to be what it was meant to be, and it remains the builder's responsibility long after the retention has gone. The distinction matters because it decides who pays, when, and for how long you can still ask.
| Item | Snag or defect | Why, and what to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Paint runs, roller marks or patchy coverage | Snag | Cosmetic. Fixed on the snagging visit |
| Gaps or shrinkage in silicone sealant | Snag | Normal movement in the first weeks. Raked out and redone |
| A door that sticks or a drawer out of line | Snag | Adjustment, often after the building has dried out |
| Hairline shrinkage cracking in fresh plaster | Snag | Expected as the building dries. Filled at the second visit, not the first |
| A crack wide enough to take a credit card | Defect | Movement rather than shrinkage. Needs a cause established first |
| Tiling laid over untanked substrate in a shower | Defect | The work is not what was specified. Comes off and is redone |
| A radiator that never gets hot, or a socket that fails testing | Defect | The installation does not work. Fixed and re-certified |
| Falls to a wet room or a shower tray running the wrong way | Defect | A build error, not a finish. See our wet room guide |
| Missing building control, Part P or FENSA paperwork | Defect in the handover | Withhold sign-off until the certificates arrive |
What is not a snag is a hand-applied finish behaving like one. Plaster is floated by hand and will not be optically flat under a torch held against the wall. Grout lines in a natural stone floor vary because the stone varies. Timber moves. A list that treats those as failures buries the three or four items that genuinely need attention, and it is the fastest way to lose a good builder's goodwill.
When should you snag?
Twice. The main inspection comes at practical completion, before the final invoice is settled, because the leverage disappears the moment the money does. Book it for a day when the site is clear and the light is good, and allow two to three hours for a three-bedroom house.
The second comes after the rectification period has run. Shrinkage cracking, sticking doors, sealant gaps and grout hairlines all appear as the building dries out and settles into use, so a short second list is expected rather than a sign that something went wrong. See how long a renovation takes for where handover sits in the programme.
How to inspect, room by room
Go through the house methodically in good daylight, finishing one room before you move on. Take a torch, a spirit level, a tape and a phone. The torch matters most: shone along a wall at a shallow angle it shows every ripple in the plaster, where looking straight at the wall shows almost none.
- Walls and ceilings: marks, cracks, patchy paint, missed edges above door frames and behind radiators, and ripples under raking light.
- Floors: scratches, lifting, gaps at skirtings and thresholds, and any bounce or creak underfoot. See flooring options compared.
- Doors and windows: open and close every one, check the gap around each leaf is even, and that locks engage without lifting.
- Tiling and sealant: grout lines, cut edges at corners and around sockets, lippage between tiles, and silicone at every junction. Tap suspect tiles: a hollow ring means poor adhesive coverage.
- Kitchen and bathroom: cabinet doors aligned, worktop joints tight, and every waste tested by draining a full basin rather than running a tap.
- Services and outside: every socket, switch, tap, shower and extract fan, every radiator warm top and bottom, plus pointing, gutters and made-good render around new openings.
Record each issue with the room, the exact location and a photograph, numbered in one document. Forty photographs with no locations is not a snagging list, it is a puzzle, and it takes longer to resolve than the work itself.
Hold back a final payment
Retain 5% until the snags are cleared, and agree it in the contract before work starts rather than raising it at handover. The standard UK approach, which the JCT contracts formalise, is that half the retention is released at practical completion and the remaining half after the rectification period, typically 3 to 6 months, once the outstanding items have been made good.
Your position after the retention is gone is still strong. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 the work must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and where it is not you can require repeat performance, a price reduction or compensation. The limitation period is six years from the date of the defective work, and a builder cannot contract out of those rights.
Retention and rectification period practice per the Joint Contracts Tribunal guidance on rectification periods, 2026. Statutory rights per the Consumer Rights Act 2015, legislation.gov.uk, and Citizens Advice guidance on problems with home improvements, 2026. The 5% figure is standard UK domestic practice and is a matter for your contract, not law.How do you raise a snagging list without souring the relationship?
Send one list, once, in writing, with a reasonable timescale attached. The tone of the first email decides how the last fortnight goes, and a builder who has run a good job for four months will fix a fair list willingly and resent an unfair one.
- Send one consolidated list, not a drip of texts. Nothing erodes goodwill faster than a new item every evening for three weeks.
- Separate the must-fix items from the would-be-nice ones. Being explicit that four of the twenty-six are the ones you actually care about gets those four done properly.
- Do not list what you changed your mind about. A tile you now dislike is a variation and it is chargeable. Only a failure to meet the specification is a snag.
- Agree a date rather than demanding one. Some items genuinely have to wait for the building to dry out, and a builder who says so is being straight with you.
- Walk it together. Twenty minutes on site with the list in hand resolves more than twenty emails, and it lets the builder show you where a tolerance applies.
- Confirm the fixes in writing, then release the retention promptly. Paying a good builder on time is how you get them back for the next project.
What paperwork should come with handover?
The certificates are as much a part of completion as the snagging list, and they are what your buyer's solicitor will ask for years later. Do not release the final retention without them: the building control completion certificate for any notifiable work, the Part P electrical installation certificate and schedule of test results, Gas Safe notification for gas work, FENSA or Certass certificates for replacement windows, and the structural engineer's calculations where a beam was installed. See Building Regulations explained.
Ask for the as-fitted specification at the same time, including paint colours, tile references and appliance model numbers, along with the manufacturer warranties. You will want all of it in three years when something needs touching up or replacing.
GS Renovation snags every project internally before handover, then walks the list with the client, so the finish is right before we hand the keys back. See also planning a home renovation, the order of works, our budget and contingency guide and full house renovation costs in London. For a renovation done properly to the last detail, whether that is a whole-house renovation in London or a bathroom renovation, contact us or call 07472 424 226.