Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of let’s get snagging if you are in the process of buying or have bought a new build property then this podcast is for you. 

My Name is Ian and I run Lively Professional services Ltd a new build snagging companIn this episode let’s have a look at 

Some of the most common snags we find during our inspections and why!

I am going to start this podcast with a thought for you, here we go, all house building developers can put professional snaggers out of business. Just think about it.

I know that’s a big statement to make and one which in all probability will never happen. Where am I coming from with this, well if developers built their houses correctly and to a good standard then why would new build home buyers need to use the services of a professional snagger at a cost to them not the developer.

Personally, developers are not going to achieve the quality of new build homes they should be handing over to customers, so it is safe to say this is never going to happen unless we see a dramatic change in the house building industry’s attitude and culture. What amazes me is they don’t think they are doing anything wrong. I know I have been there!

I have conversations daily with some of our customers who are having difficulties with their developer whether it is pre completion or post completion customers are being treated disgracefully by some developers.

Forget the five-star status they all proudly show off, the ones who don’t have a five-star status are trying really hard to get one, and the ones who have it are only too quick to publicise it to potential customers because it helps sales.

This is purely industry led and is the house building industry patting itself on the back. Look at it this way, who are you more likely to buy your new property from, a developer with two or three stars or one with five stars. Five stars of course because this is telling you they are the best they have five -stars.

So, let’s have a look at what a five-star house looks like when we do our inspections.

Here are ten of the most common snags we see.

1.    Damaged Artstone windowsills and heads, this a very common snag and one which we should not see.

2.    Damaged brickwork, how many times do we see damaged bricks, why has the site manger not had them replaced?

3.    Missing Cavity trays, I have this argument daily any penetration through a cavity should have a tray installed this is a building regulation, not my rules, but extractor and boiler flue duct very rarely have them fitted. There are a few developers that fit them but not all do.

4.    Lead flashings not sealed correctly or patinated, the number of times we see lead flashing not fully sealed or pointed with mortar which is only going to crack and fall out when the lead expands and contracts. Lead should also be patinated to prevent it from leaching that is when you see grey staining below it on the tiles or slates.

5.    Dry verges not mechanically fixed, this is covered by British standard 5534 / 8612 roofers know they should be mechanically fixed using proprietary fixings and not as we sometimes see screwed to the end of the guttering

6.    Guttering holding water having incorrect falls, you would be surprised at the number of times we see this.

7.    Scratched Glass, this is something you need to check during your demonstration and handover meetings, make sure you have a good look for scratched glass and make sure it is documented on the developers’ forms.

8.    Poor plasterwork, the number of board joints and poor plastering we see is getting worse, no one checks behind sinks and toilets. Site mangers get on your hands and knees and have a look.

9.    Poor decoration, this nearly always comes down to poor preparation and poor plastering, you sometimes have to feel sorry for the decorator who has to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear when he is handed a poor house to decorate.

10.                       Missing Insulation, we see this a lot especially when using a thermal camera during the colder months. This can be a simple fix or one which needs a lot of work. Why doesn’t the site manager look in the roof area before handing the house over.

These are just a fraction of what we highlight in our reports, and we haven’t started to dig deeper.

Here are ten of the worst snags we see,

1.    Blocked drainage, this is not common, but we do snag houses where the drainage is blocked, so how has it passed a drain test during the final inspection.

2.    Brickwork not plumb, level and out of tolerance, this issue can be a nightmare to get the developer to rectify and will sometimes need the warranty providers input to get the developer to take it down and rebuild. Although warranty providers can also be very difficult when trying to sort brickwork out.

3.    Fire doors not complying with Building Regulations, this is far too common a snag, we see this on most developments and especially on apartment doors, there is no excuse for this.

4.    Creaking floorboards or micro cracking, creaking floors can be a nightmare to fix because sometimes the cause is not apparent and needs investigating. There are several things which can cause this and it can just be a matter of elimination. 

5.    Creaking stairs especially on the kite winders, this is nearly always down to the joiner not constructing the stairs properly.

6.    Ceiling lines out of tolerance, this is normally caused because the blockwork underneath the joists and wall plate are not straight or level.

7.    Walls out of plumb, this can be because the plasterer has not plumbed his boards when dabbing the walls or the joiner not constructing his studwork plumb.

8.    Cold air ingress and cold bridging, we see this a lot when we use a thermal camera, windows and doors can be adjusted, however, cold bridging can be a little more difficult to fix, if more attention to detail was observed during the construction phase these issues could be eliminated.

9.    Bathroom and en-suite extractor ducts not connected in the roof, how many times do we see this, no one checks to make sure they are connected and connected correctly to a tile vent or wall vent with a jubilee clip and not just tape.

10.                       Damaged roof trusses, these can be a nightmare for new build homebuyers who don’t use a professional snagger to identify them, they can cost a lot of money to repair they also need repairing to the manufacturer’s instructions because they are a structural part of the building.

The list goes on, but the real question for me is why these houses are being signed off by developers and warranty providers, surely, they see these issues and can do something about it. Even when some of these snags don’t comply with their standards, they are still happy to sign them off and issue a final certificate. This is ridiculous and does not help improve the quality and standards of newly built homes.

Another question is, what is the site managers doing walking past these issues daily and doing nothing about them. You must ask yourself do they ever leave the office to check the build quality, or do they not know what the build quality should be. If that is the case, then that’s a training issue for the developer.

The whole situation is disgraceful, new build homebuyers should not be left having to deal with getting their snags rectified, sometimes taking weeks or months for the developer to fix them.

I know it is easy to pass judgement and I have been in that position putting pressure on site managers to deliver numbers. It is not a nice position to be in, but that is no excuse for poor quality and handing houses over that are not ready.

This situation has to change, unfortunately, we live in a greedy world, developers are only interested in numbers, if they build 400 new homes this year then next year the number will be 450 new homes. One of the reasons for this is the government needs developers to build more homes, and shareholders demand more return on their investment, however, the government also need to make sure developers are building quality homes, not homes that are poorly built and to a poor standard, this is not fair on new build homebuyers.

My feeling is this trend is unsustainable given the shortages in available labour and materials. You only have to look at how many times handover dates get pushed back, our appointment dates are constantly having to be moved this leaves new homebuyers in a right predicament having to rearrange removals and any other things they have organised for their new home, sometimes even having to extend or re-apply for their mortgage if the offer runs out.

Most developers should now be signed up to the New Homes Quality Board this came into effect on the 4th September 2022. The NHQB are promising and improvement in how new build homebuyers are treated and the quality of new homes that are being handed to customers.

Having just come through the silly season of Christmas completions where developers rush to achieve their numbers, usually with no regard to quality, have we seen an improvement in quality, the answer to this is no, we are not.

Time will tell if the new homes quality board are really going to make a difference.

For now it’s business as usual, but like I said at the beginning of this podcast, developers have the ability to put professional snaggers out of business, there’s a challenge for them, will they take it up and give new build homebuyers what they deserve.

Let’s see

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 If there is anything you would like me to cover then please drop me an email to Socials@livelyprofessionalservices.co.uk 

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 So until Next Time see you soon.,