Snagging in Construction: The Complete Guide

What is a snag list?

A snag list is a record of all the defects and unfinished work found when a building project — or a stage of it — is inspected before handover. Each item (“snag”) is written down with its location, a description of what's wrong, the trade responsible for fixing it, and its status. Once every snag is closed, the work is accepted.

The word “snag” just means a minor fault: a door that catches, mastic that's missed, paving blocks not fully bedded, paint runs, a cracked tile. Individually small; collectively the difference between a job that's finished and one that isn't.

If you want to get straight to it, there's a free snag list template here — Excel and printable PDF.

Snag list, punch list, defects list — same thing?

Broadly, yes. “Snag list” (or “snagging list”) is the UK and Irish term. In the US the same document is a “punch list”. Formal UK contracts (JCT, NEC) tend to say “defects list” or “schedule of defects”, and a defect found after handover during the rectification period is treated differently from a snag found before it. More detail: punch list vs snag list.

When does snagging happen?

• Before handover (practical completion). The main inspection. The contractor or client walks the job, lists every snag, and the trades close them out before sign-off.
• At stage completions. On larger sites, each plot, floor or phase gets snagged as it finishes rather than leaving everything to the end.
• During the defects liability period. Most contracts give the client 6–24 months to report defects that appear after handover; these come back to the contractor to put right.
• New-build homebuyers often commission an independent snagging inspection of their home before (or just after) legal completion. That's a professional survey service — a different thing from the contractor-side snagging this guide covers.

Who writes the snag list?

Depends on the job. On small domestic work, usually the contractor themselves, sometimes with the client. On commercial projects, the main contractor snags their subcontractors' work first, then the architect, contract administrator or clerk of works carries out the formal inspection. The best-run jobs snag their own work before anyone else gets the chance to.

How to run a snagging inspection properly

1. Inspect in a fixed sequence. Room by room, plot by plot, clockwise from the door — a set routine is what stops items being missed.
2. One snag, one entry. Vague entries (“tidy up garden”) cause arguments. Specific ones (“remove rubble pile against east fence, plot 3”) get fixed.
3. Record the location precisely — plot, room, elevation. On outdoor work, GPS coordinates remove all doubt.
4. Photograph every snag. A dated, located photo is the single most useful thing on a snag list. Photograph the fix too, so you can show before and after side by side.
5. Assign every snag to a named person or trade, with a date to close it by.
6. Track status honestly — open or closed, nothing in between. “Nearly done” is open.
7. Re-inspect before sign-off. Check each closed snag against its photo rather than taking anyone's word for it.

Why photos decide disputes

Most snagging arguments aren't about whether something was wrong — they're about when: was the paving damaged before or after handover? Was the fix done inside the agreed window? A written list can't answer that. A photo with a timestamp and location can. Keep photos attached to their snags, not loose in a camera roll, and most disputes never get started. (This is exactly what SiteSnap Pro does: photos tagged to client, site and plot as you take them, snags assigned to the person fixing them, and a PDF report at the end.)

Common snagging mistakes

• Snagging too late, so the trades have left site and every fix needs a return visit
• Lists kept in WhatsApp threads — unfindable within a fortnight
• Photos in one place, the list in another
• No named owner per snag
• No re-inspection, so “closed” snags turn up again at handover
• Chucking the records once the job's done — the defects period is still to come