Snagging and the defects liability period — closing a job properly
The last five percent of a job generates half its arguments. Snagging — the listing and closing of small defects at handover — decides when practical completion is certified, when the defects clock starts, and when the second slice of retention comes back. This guide walks the process for small firms.
What is a snag list, and who writes it?
At or near completion, the client, consultant or main contractor walks the work and lists every defect: the scratched panel, the door that binds, the paint run, the missing sealant line. Each item should be locatable (room, element) and testable (what "fixed" looks like). Your job is to agree the list's contents at the walk — an item argued at the walk is cheap; the same item discovered on a list you never saw is not.
Photograph every listed item as it stands. The same photos, retaken after the fix, become the close-out evidence — the pair is the whole argument, won in advance.
How do completion and the defects period connect?
Practical completion is the certificate that says the works are complete enough to hand over; it usually starts the defects liability period — commonly months, set by the contract — during which you return to fix defects that appear, and at whose end the final retention slice releases (see retention money, explained). Snags found at the walk are normally closed before or just after that certificate; the period itself covers defects that emerge in use.
The dates matter more than the defects. The certificate date starts the clock; the clock's end is a payment date. Both belong in the diary the day they are known, alongside the retention release they trigger — the retention calculator shows what is riding on them.
How do you close snags without bleeding time?
Work the list in one planned visit, not five reactive ones: group items by trade and area, order any replacement materials the day the list lands, and book the client's re-inspection at the same time you book your own visit. Every item closed gets its photo and a line on the list signed or messaged back the same day.
What delays release is rarely the fixing — it is the proving. A closed item nobody re-inspected, a list nobody marked up, a certificate nobody chased. Treat the close-out as a small project with its own paperwork: list, photos, re-inspection, certificate, release. That discipline is also what the handover pack is for.
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What is snagging in construction?+
The inspection at handover where remaining small defects are listed — scratched finishes, sticking doors, missed sealant — and agreed between the firm and the client or consultant, to be fixed before or just after practical completion.
What is the defects liability period?+
A contract period after practical completion — commonly several months — during which the firm must return and fix defects that appear. Its end usually triggers release of the final retention slice.
Does snagging delay practical completion?+
A short snag list usually runs alongside it; a heavy one can delay the certificate. Agreeing the list at the walk and closing it in one planned visit keeps completion — and the retention clock — moving.
How do I prove a snag is closed?+
A dated photo of the fixed item, matched to the original list entry, plus the re-inspection or sign-off. Photo pairs — before and after — are the evidence that survives.