Top Tips for Choosing a Home Snagging Company
When purchasing a brand-new home, you want it to be as perfect as possible. A good home snagging company will examine any issues with workmanship and identify works that fall short of building regulations. A professional snagging report can also help give weight to your argument if you’re having any quality of service issues with builders or other contractors.
Your new home is likely the most expensive investment you will make so finding the right snagging company is important to ensure your property is up to the highest of standards. Below are our top tips to help you choose between home snagging companies.
Costs
The fees most professional snagging companies offer are fairly similar but will vary dependent on type and size of property. A snagging inspector may seem like just an additional cost in an already expensive process, however building companies may use contractors of varying experience and small issues (snags) may not be noticed at the time of the build. Spotting these issues early ensures you avoid any big costs in the future. Watch out for any snagging company charging significantly lower than average, chances are they do not have the relevant qualifications and experience to do the job.
Experience
The snagging company you choose should have experience within the building industry, home construction processes and building regulations. You should be comfortable asking about their background and you should find they have high level experience in the building sector. The Premier Snag team is made up of former site managers for new-build properties so we have extensive experience of finding potential issues and identifying common problem areas.
Independence
Some snagging companies work directly for housing developers which has the potential to impact upon their independence. The time pressures of building development schedules / sign off deadlines should not be an influencing factor on the thoroughness of snagging inspections. Likewise customer are often told they cannot see snagging reports completed on behalf of developers which compromises transparency. Premier Snag only produce detailed snagging reports on behalf of homeowners and the company is 100% independent from building contractors.
Reviews
A good snagging inspection company will have recommendations, testimonials, and reviews. Reviews on third-party sites such as Trustpilot, Google and social media should be taken into consideration as it will give a truer picture of the company’s reputation. Looking at other people’s experiences will help give you better insight into their professionalism, quality, and speed of service.
Sample Snagging Reports
Sample reports will give you a good idea of how much depth the company typically provides for its customers. You should look for reports which incorporate photographs and descriptions of any issues, room by room throughout the house; including garage and roof spaces. The report is an official document you want to present to your building company or the developers of your property, so it needs to be professionally presented and correct. You can download our sample snagging report here.
COVID Secure Home Visits
During these unprecedented times it is important to ensure any professional tradesperson visiting your property has a robust COVID-19 policy in place to ensure good health and safety practice. Where possible is advisable to book a snagging survey before you move into the property so that inspections can be made while the house is empty.
If you have already moved in to your property it is important to minimise the number of house members present at the time of your inspection. Your property surveyor should provide you with confirmation of your appointment time in advance so you can plan ahead to ensure social distancing can be maintained. Our COVID-19 policy statement can be read here.
Additional Services & Advice
If you have specific survey requirements or site access limitations be sure to ask questions before booking to ensure the service you get will match your needs. Alongside our two detailed snagging inspection packages Premier Snag also offer specialist drone roofing surveys and property re-inspection services.
A good home snagging company will make it easy for you to get in contact and should be able to advise on your warranty rights should you have any issues getting your house builders to correct any issues.
Booking a professional snagging inspection helps you ensure your home is built to the highest of standards for the years to come and avoid any costly surprises once your warranty period expires. Whilst we aim to make online booking as simple as possible we are always happy to answer any your queries via email, phone, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.