Trusted Home Inspectors in Braintree

The best time to have a survey completed is prior to legal completion as this would allow the developer to complete the works detailed on the snagging report before you move in. Unfortunately some developers do not allow access to the property prior to completion so we recommend getting booked in within the first 5 days of completion. Most developers have a specific time period for home owners to report any initial snags, this can differ from 7 days, 14 days or on rare occasions 28 days. The best time to report all snagging items is as soon after completion as possible, this is because the builder will take more responsibility for any reported snags, even for minor snags identified such as chips or damages. Although it is best to report any snagging items as early as possible, it is still beneficial to book a snagging report anytime up to two years after completion. This is because most developers will offer a two year warranty period on their new homes. This allows the time for the building to settle and any major defects which may have not been identified can be reported and dealt with. If you are wishing to book a snagging survey before completion, it is important that a date can be agreed by your developer in writing to allow us to have full access to the property without any disruptions for a full day. Building Control and Warranty Sign-off would also have to be provided to ensure that the house is ready for surveying.

Once a booking has been made, one of our Acuro Snagging surveyors will arrive at your property at your convenience, to carry out the survey of your home. The snagging inspector will carry out a thorough examination of all aspects both inside and outside of your home. During the visit the inspector will photograph and log detailed descriptions of all defects found with your home. Once the visit is complete and all defects have been logged, our inspector will compile all the information into an electronic report. This report will then be sent across to our dedicated quality control team to check for accuracy and detail. Once the quality control team are happy with the report, the electronic snagging report will be sent across to the homeowner via email, to be passed on to the developer. We are able to advise on the best place or person to send the report to. Once the report has been received by the builder, they will then have to work through and rectify all of the reported issues within the electronic report to the customers satisfaction.

There are a number of different new build structural warranty providers in the industry, each with a different set of standards of expectation for developers. Our reports focus on the three largest in the UK, NHBC, Premier Guarantee and LABC. If your structural warranty is provided by an organisation not listed here, please get in touch and we will discuss how this will affect your report.

A de-snag service is offered to customers who have already had a snagging survey completed with us, but would like us to come back and check all the defects have been completed, and meet the required Warranty provider standards and Building Control regulations. Further details on the De-Snag service can be found on the Our Surveys page.

We always recommend customers have their snagging survey completed once they legally own the property and have their new home keys in their possession. We can complete a survey prior to you owning the property, and in these cases, this is usually by arrangement with the developer.