The Art of a Successful Snag
One of the main problems with buying off plan is obtaining the
final finish unit to the standard promised by the promoters in
their sales brochures. When the developer informs you that your
property is complete and ready for inspection your first sight
of the property can be an eye opening experience. In many
instances not only is the apartment dirty but is barely in a
condition which is appropriate for snagging, more often than not
without electricity and water supplies.
The developers aim at this point is to complete the sale and if
all of the documentation is in place will probably already have
a served a notice to complete within a period specified as set
out in the contract documentation. Completion should be resisted
until you or your advisor is satisfied with the condition of the
property; there is no incentive for a developer to undertake
works after the sale has been completed. Your lawyer should be
able to advise on the correct course of action to take in order
to delay completion without incurring penalties, if they are
reluctant to be involved I would suggest that you change
advisors.
The purpose of the snag is to highlight defective and incomplete
works including defective and damaged finishes, damaged units
and appliances, inconsistencies from the agreed specification
etc. Begin the snag armed with the specification and plans (if
available), the first thing to do is to double check that they
are showing you the correct property, many apartments are
identical and more often than not there are no numbers on doors.
Check that the layout of the unit is as per the specification
i.e. number of bedrooms, bathrooms, general layout etc. Also
check that you have been provided with the correct ranges of
sanitary wear, kitchen units and appliances etc. At this point
you will have look all over the property if the property is
significantly incomplete, proceed no further. Ask the developer
to bring it to a standard where an effective snag can be carried
out.
I usually begin the detailed snag of the interior at the front
door to the apartment and run through the apartment on a
room-by-room basis referring to the rooms as marked in the
specification. In the absence of a point of reference make it
clear which rooms you are referring to, I usually take a compass
and refer to rooms on the basis of orientation, the difficult
rooms to reference are usually the bedrooms. Look at each aspect
of a room in a logical sequence I often start with floors, walls
and ceiling finishes and move on to joinery, electrics etc. Look
in detail at everything, open and test all doors, look at
cupboards, wardrobes, kitchen appliances and units etc, make
notes of any defect noted. Try to use technical descriptions
where possible and be clear on the locations of defects within
rooms. If there are faults repeated throughout the property add
a general comment section to the report, i.e. if painted wall
finishes are uneven and rough throughout add this to the general
comments. A camera can be a useful tool, photographs can be a
good point of reference when you come to write up the report.
Where units have no service supplies, make clear reference that
these services and associated appliances were not tested. Note
that there is usually a 1-year defects warranty to cover these
items, the 10-year warranty relates to the structure.
After completing the internal snag look at the exterior, armed
with a good set on binoculars. Again be clear as to what section
of the property you are snagging, view on an
elevation-by-elevation basis and do not forget the roof and
garage areas. Check that all amenities on the site have been
provided i.e. parking spaces, pools, tennis courts etc. Very
often particularly on urbanisations external areas will not have
been fully completed at the time of your snag.
After completion of your hand written (or dictated snag) have it
typed up. In some instances the developers representative will
attend the snag with you and take notes, I do not recommend that
you rely on these notes, make your own list. Developers often
request that you sign their copy, I would not advise that you do
so at this stage. Forward a copy of your report to the developer
and to your lawyer. Following submission of the report contact
the developer and obtain time scales for completion of the
defects noted on your snag list. Be aware that very often the
end result is a compromise, it is difficult to work back and
obtain perfect finishes, as the saying goes 'it is difficult to
make a silk purse from a sows ear' try to categorise the list as
to items essential and those upon which you can compromise.
Do not be daunted by the fact that you have produced a long list
of defects, or to the developer's initial comments on sight of
the report. I recently snagged a very expensive apartment in
Puerto Banus, when I produced the list the developer commented
'what were expecting an apartment to the standard of a new
Ferrari', my reply was 'yes'.