Snag List Before Handover: Essential Items to Check

Your snag list before handover is the document that defines what your developer is contractually obliged to fix before you take the keys. Skipping items means accepting them. Here's the essential checklist. If the terminology is new to you, our explainer on what is a snag list covers the basics first.

Interior Finishes

• Walls and ceilings — under raking light, look for paint defects, cracks, and patches
• Skirting and architrave — caulked at all junctions
• Floors — flat, quiet, no scratches or lifting boards
• Internal doors — every one opens, latches and closes flush

Kitchen & Bathrooms

• Every kitchen unit door soft-closes
• Worktop seams flush and unscratched
• Sealant runs continuous around baths, showers and basins
• Drainage tested in every shower and basin
• Hot and cold tested at every tap

Services

• Every socket tested live
• Smoke and CO alarms commissioned
• Every radiator hot top to bottom
• Heating system commissioning paperwork received
• Consumer unit fully labelled

External & Boundary

• Render finish even, no obvious cracks
• Gutters aligned, no obvious leaks
• Driveway and paths fall away from the house
• Boundary fences stable, gate operates
• External tap operates and isolates

Paperwork

• BER certificate
• HomeBond / Premier Guarantee
• Compliance certificate
• Appliance manuals
• Commissioning certificates for heating and consumer unit

The reliable way to cover all of the above is a professional inspection. See our complete snagging guide, the longer new build defects checklist, and our list of the common snagging issues Ireland buyers find most often. Everything you record is written up formally in the snagging report your developer works from.