Snags
A snag list that actually closes
Most snag lists die in a WhatsApp thread. Here is how to run one from the handover walkthrough to the last verified fix.
Every studio knows the moment: the client walks the site a week before handover and the list starts. A chipped tile by the balcony door. A shutter that drops on the hinge side. Paint on the switchboard. By the end of the walkthrough there are thirty items, and by the end of the week nobody is sure which ones are done.
The fix is not a better spreadsheet. It is being strict about what a snag is and who closes it.
Write down where it is, not just what it is
“Wardrobe gap” means nothing to the carpenter who wasn’t on the walk. “Master bedroom, wardrobe, right end, 6–8 mm gap to the wall” gets fixed on the first visit. Write the spot the way you’d describe it on the phone, and take one photo that shows it in context and one that shows it close up.
Give it a severity, and leave it alone
A cracked countertop and a missing silicone bead are not the same job. Mark each snag Low, Medium or High when it’s raised, and don’t re-rank the list every week. Severity is a fact about the defect, not about how busy the contractor is.
“Fixed” is not “done”
The contractor saying it’s fixed is half the story. Someone other than whoever did the work should look at it and accept it, and that acceptance should be recorded with a name and a date. It’s the single habit that stops the same snag appearing on the next walkthrough.
Close the ones you won’t fix, honestly
Some snags won’t be actioned: the client accepted a variation, the item is outside scope, the “defect” is the natural grain of the stone. Don’t delete them. Mark them won’t fix with the reason, so when the question comes back in six months the answer is already written down.
Keep warranty separate from handover
A defect found on the handover walk and one the client reports three months after moving in are different conversations. Record which moment each snag came from. It tells you where your quality slips, and it keeps the warranty work from hiding inside the handover list.
In DoYourDesign, every snag carries its photos, spot, severity, assignee and due date. It moves from open to fixed to verified, and the verification is done by someone other than the person who fixed it. Each snag records whether it came from inspection or warranty, set from the project’s status when it’s raised and editable afterwards.