# Snagging an Office Fit-Out

> Snagging is the systematic inspection of completed work to record defects, incomplete items and finishing faults so they can be corrected. In an office fit-out it should start once areas reach roughly 60% completion and continue area by area, because a defect found after finishes are done and trades have left costs far more to correct than one found while the trade is still on site.

## 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](/blog/variation-orders-fit-out-why-a-change-costs-more) 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](/blog/fit-out-handover-documents-what-you-should-receive).

## 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.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is snagging in a fit-out?

It is the structured inspection of finished and near-finished work to identify defects, unfinished items and quality faults, each recorded and assigned for correction. It covers things like paint finish, joinery alignment, glazing marks, door operation and ceiling tile damage. It is a quality check on the work, and it is different from testing that services operate correctly, which is commissioning.

### Why start snagging before the work is finished?

Because the cost of correcting a defect rises once the trade has left, the area is finished and other work sits on top of it. A misaligned partition found during installation is adjusted; found after painting, flooring and furniture, it may mean undoing finishes as well. Early snagging also gives the contractor a chance to correct patterns, not just individual items.

### What is the difference between a defect and incomplete work?

A defect is something built and wrong, such as a chipped panel or a misaligned door. Incomplete work is something not yet done, and appears on any live site. Mixing them produces a list nobody trusts. Separate them, along with anything that is really a change of mind, which belongs in the variation process rather than on a snag list.

### What is the difference between practical completion and the defects liability period?

Practical completion is the point at which the works are complete enough to be used, apart from minor items noted. The defects liability period is a stated period after that during which the contractor remains obliged to correct defects that appear. Their exact definitions, length and consequences are set by the contract, so they should be read and agreed before work begins.

### Should payment be held back until snags are closed?

That is a contract matter to agree at the start, not a rule. Many contracts hold back a portion of the final sum until agreed items are closed, so that there is a reason to finish them. The amount, the conditions and the release mechanism should be written into the contract in advance, not negotiated when the list is long.

### Is commissioning part of snagging?

No, they are separate. Commissioning shows that systems such as air conditioning, electrical and fire detection operate as designed, and it is carried out and witnessed by the relevant specialists. Snagging looks at the physical quality of the finished work. A room can pass one and fail the other, and each needs its own time in the programme.

## Sources

- [NBC 2016, Part 4](https://www.bis.gov.in/standards/national-building-code/?lang=en) — Fire and life safety - occupancy and escape
- [NBC 2016, Part 8](https://www.bis.gov.in/standards/national-building-code/?lang=en) — Building services

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Source: https://hagerstone.com/blog/snagging-an-office-fit-out-when-to-start