Snagging an Office Fit-Out

The walkthrough at the end is the expensive one

Most people picture office fit-out snagging as a walkthrough at the end. The contractor says the floor is complete, the client and their consultants walk it with a clipboard, and a list of faults is produced. Then everyone waits for the list to be closed so the move can happen.

This is how it is commonly done, and it is the most expensive way to do it. By the time the walkthrough happens, finishes are complete, most trades have demobilised, furniture may be in, and staff may be waiting to move. A fault found now is not simply corrected. It is corrected in a finished room, by a trade who has to be brought back, with everything around it protected.

The case for starting earlier is not about being thorough. It is about the cost of finding the same fault at a different moment.

Why a defect costs more later

When found	What correcting it involves
While the trade is on site	An instruction to the person standing there; the fix is part of the same visit
After the trade finishes that area	The trade is recalled; the area may need protection again
After following trades have finished	Finishes on top may need to be undone and redone
After handover or occupation	Work in an occupied space, with disruption to staff and a possible dispute over cause

A partition installed slightly out of plumb is a small adjustment before it is painted. After the ceiling grid is closed to it, the flooring is laid against it and the furniture is in, the same fault may mean partial dismantling. The defect did not change; its surroundings did.

Start office fit-out snagging at around 60%, area by area

The point is not the number itself but the principle: snag each area as it becomes complete enough to judge, without waiting for the whole floor.

• Around 60% complete in an area, the main structure of the work is visible and correctable. Alignment, set-out, penetrations and coordination faults can still be corrected cheaply.
• As sections finish, run a further pass on finishes: paint, joinery, glass, flooring and fittings.
• Before the final walkthrough, the list should already be short. The last inspection confirms; it does not discover.

Area-by-area snagging also reveals patterns. If the same fault shows up in five rooms, the cause is a method or a supervision problem, and one instruction to the contractor prevents a further twenty. A single end-of-project list shows the faults but tends to hide the pattern.

Separate defects, incomplete work and changes

A snag list works only if everyone trusts what is on it. Three kinds of entry are commonly mixed, and they should not be.

• Defects: work that was done and is wrong. A chipped edge, an out-of-line door, a stain on a glass face.
• Incomplete work: work that is not yet done. On a live site, this is normal, and lists that include it early in the programme look alarming for no good reason.
• Changes: something the client now wants that was not in the agreed scope. It is not a snag. It belongs in the variation process, priced and approved before work. Our article on variation orders covers why.

When a change is placed on a snag list, the contractor may fix it without being asked to price it, or dispute it as extra work. Either way the list has stopped being a list of defects.

What a snag record contains

A good record is short and unambiguous, so that someone who was not there can find the item and know when it is closed.

• Location: floor, area, room and, where useful, a drawing reference or grid line.
• Description: what is wrong, in plain words, not "as discussed."
• Photograph: taken so the location and fault are both visible.
• Category: defect, incomplete work or change.
• Owner: the trade or person responsible for correcting it.
• Date raised, target date and date closed.
• Who verified the closure.

The last item is the one most often skipped. An item is closed when the person who raised it has seen it corrected, not when the contractor reports it done.

Practical completion and the defects liability period

Two terms are often confused, and the difference matters commercially.

Practical completion is generally the point at which the works are finished enough for the space to be used, apart from minor items that are recorded and listed. It is usually the trigger for handover, and can trigger other contractual consequences.

The defects liability period is a stated period after practical completion in which the contractor remains obliged to return and correct defects that emerge. It exists because some faults only appear with use: a door that begins to sag, a joint that opens as materials settle.

How each is defined, how long the liability period lasts and what happens at its end are all set by the contract. They should be read before the work starts, not when a fault appears. The records you should receive at completion are covered in fit-out handover documents.

What to hold back until snags close

Contracts often keep part of the final payment back until agreed items are resolved, so the contractor has a reason to finish the tail of the work. This is a matter to agree in the contract, not a rule that applies by default.

The useful terms to settle in advance are: how much is held, what conditions release it, who confirms the closure, and what happens to items that remain open at a stated date. Raising this at the end, when the list is long and the move date is close, puts both sides under pressure.

Commissioning is a separate thing

Snagging is about the physical quality of the finished work. Commissioning is about whether the systems operate: air conditioning, electrical distribution, lighting controls, fire detection and alarm, and other installed services. A room can look perfect and still have a system that does not work as designed, and the reverse.

Commissioning is carried out and witnessed by the relevant specialists against the design, and building services provisions are set out in NBC 2016, Part 8. Fire and life safety systems are governed by NBC 2016, Part 4, and what testing or certification a specific project needs must be established by its consultants and the authority having jurisdiction. Both need time in the programme, and neither substitutes for the other.

Common mistakes

• A single inspection at the end. The list is long, the trades are gone and the move date is close.
• Snag lists that mix defects, incomplete work and changes. Nobody trusts the list, so nobody closes it.
• No photographs or locations. Items are argued over rather than fixed.
• No owner on each item. A snag that belongs to everyone is corrected by no one.
• Closing on the contractor's word. The person who raised it does not see it corrected.
• Treating commissioning as snagging. The floor looks finished, but the systems have not been tested.
• Leaving holdback and the liability period unread. The terms are discovered only when a dispute begins.

What to ask

• When does snagging start, and is it planned area by area?
• Who inspects, and who verifies that an item is closed?
• How are defects, incomplete work and changes separated on the list?
• What does each record hold: location, description, photograph, owner and dates?
• How does the contract define practical completion, and how long is the defects liability period?
• Is any part of the final payment held until agreed items close, and on what terms?
• When is commissioning scheduled, and is it separate from snagging in the programme?

Standards referenced

Fire and life safety provisions in NBC 2016, Part 4; building services provisions in NBC 2016, Part 8. Contractual definitions of practical completion, the defects liability period and retention are set by the specific contract. Testing, commissioning and certification requirements for a particular project must be established by the project's engineer, consultants and the authority having jurisdiction.