Snagging is the process of inspecting a finished or nearly finished building to find small defects and incomplete items, and listing them for the contractor to put right. The list is called a snagging list. Items are typically minor: paint marks, ironmongery that does not close, damaged finishes, missing fixings.
Worked example
A fit-out contractor finishes a £1.2m office project. The Client's inspection produces a snagging list of 140 items, and the contractor agrees to close them in three weeks. Retention is held at 3% of the contract sum.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Retention held | £36,000 |
| Released at Practical Completion (half) | £18,000 |
| Snagging labour, 140 items at about 45 minutes | £2,350 |
| Return visits by two subcontractors | £1,100 |
| Cost of snagging | £3,450 |
The half release at completion is a common arrangement, not a rule: check the contract. The UK government plans to ban cash retention: see Retention for where that stands.
Snagging and retention
Snagging usually runs around practical completion, and it is where cash can stall. Under many contracts, retention is released in two stages: the first at practical completion, the second after the defects liability period once defects have been made good.
If a client delays signing off practical completion because of an open snagging list, the first release moves with it. Clearing the list quickly is therefore worth real money.
Snags are also different from defects that appear after practical completion, which the contractor returns to fix during the defects liability period, and from latent defects that come to light after that period has ended.
Snagging in the cost report
The cost of snagging is rarely budgeted line by line. It falls into labour, Subcontractor return visits and sometimes replacement materials, and it comes at the end when budgets are mostly spent.
Set a snagging Allowance for each project, hold it as its own Cost Code, and compare it with actual. Where a defect is a subcontractor's, record the back-charge so the cost is recovered rather than absorbed.
Related terms
Practical Completion, Defect Liability Period, Retention, Subcontractor, Final Account.
Planyard's job costing tracks retention held against each subcontractor and lets you code snagging costs separately, so you can see what a handover really cost.
