New builds and warranties
Does a snagging company’s list use RICS condition ratings?
No. A snagging list is a list of items the snagging firm noticed, often against the builder’s specification. RICS condition ratings belong to a home survey. Stapling them together does not turn a scratched door into a rating 3, or a rating 3 roof into a snag the builder must paint.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
NHBC’s Buildmark wording, not the snagging firm, decides what the warranty covers and when. The first two years are not the same as the later insurance years, and other brands are not Buildmark. A home survey on a new plot is still visual. It does not test every drain or circuit because the home is new.
Use the snagging list with the site manager. Use the home survey for defects that are more than decoration, if the survey found any. There is no RICS price for a snagging company. Do not ask the seller of a second-hand house to work to a new-build snagging list.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Are you writing ratings, or is this a snagging note someone else prepared?
- Which items are incomplete, and which are condition?
- Did you test services, or only look?
What are the typical next steps?
- Send snags to the builder in the way the contract requires.
- Do not recode snags as ratings unless a surveyor has done so.
- Read the warranty for anything that is actually a defect in the structure or the waterproofing.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Can a new home have a rating 3?
Yes, if the surveyor judges the element serious or urgent under the RICS wording. New is not a rating.
Does a snagging list satisfy a lender?
Only if the lender says so. A snagging firm is not the lender’s valuation.