Don't sweat the small stuff
Friday March 12 2004
A SNAG is a fault, or a defect, and most properties have between 10 to 20 snags per room. That means that a two-bed apartment can have as many as up to 100 snags! However, this is not necessarily an indication of bad workmanship, but more often than not a reflection of the many and varied tradesmen needed to build the property.
For instance, especially at this time of year, every time yet another tradesman or other person enters the property they could trail in mud which when spattered on a wall, counts as a snag. The plasterer or painter does not always follow up each visit by the electrician or plumber. At this time of the year too a common complaint can be doors not closing due to wet weather conditions.
Other common causes of snags not due to poor quality workmanship, can include cracked windows on homes in large estates still being built which are caused by the construction traffic still going past your property. You must bear in mind too that your property needs time to settle, and if the heating is put on, then after a while cracks can occur in the walls. This is perfectly normal and easily rectifiable.
Other snags that can and do occur, which are directly due to faulty or unfinished work, are crooked sockets, excessive grout to tiles, loose WC seats, unlevel floors, rough finish to walls, paint spattered on fireplaces etc. Every property is different and every builder has their own method of finishing a property, so there is no hard and fast checklist to follow. It is important to remember that the foreman is relying on you to submit a snag list and that he will accept only one list, so it is vital to ensure that that list is as detailed as possible.
Due to Health and Safety regulations, you will probably only see your new home for the first time when you receive this snagging invitation. Each snag must be described clearly as well as its location in the room, so that the builders can follow and find it. The snags should be listed in order, rather than from one side of the room to the next.
Serious structural faults are covered by Home Bond 10 year guarantee. The roof is covered for two years after the architect has signed off the house. This does mean that if you should buy a show house that is already over two years old, then it is advisable to have the roof checked thoroughly. All utilities installed, such as ESB and gas, have already been checked and certified. Also it is general practice that builders, before passing a house, will run the central heating, bleed radiators and check all water pipes and the water pressure.
However, you will find that they might not finish off the outside areas such as the gardens during the winter months. In some cases they will not even think of doing so until March at the earliest depending, on access.
For those that simply cannot undertake the snagging on their own, a service run by Clare Meade called New Home Snagging Services can assist. The professional services provided by the firm, which deals purely in snagging and not surveying, include snagging the property and drawing up a comprehensive report with copies sent to both the builders and the client, liaising with the builders until the work is satisfactorily completed to a high-quality finish and then carrying out a final inspection.
New Home Snagging Services cover all of County Dublin and will go as far afield as Navan, Drogheda and the Naas area. Fees start at ?200 for a standard two-bed property in the Dublin area, a competitive rate which should particularly appeal to first-time buyers.
The firm will also advise on various final fit-out points, such as if they are considering laying semi-wooden floors, then it is vital that whomever is fitting them should first carry out a moisture test.
Clare Meade of New Home Snagging Services is contactable on tel 01-269 7616 or jmeade@indigo.ie
