Snagging and the handover pack: finishing a job so the client signs off and the final payment arrives
The last 5% of a job takes 20% of the effort and decides whether you get paid promptly and recommended. A tidy snagging process and a complete handover pack turn the end of a project from a drawn-out negotiation into a sign-off and an invoice.
Snagging, properly
Snagging is the list of minor defects to be put right before the work is accepted: paint runs, a sticking door, a cracked tile, a missing cover plate. It is not an opportunity for the client to add things they forgot to ask for; that is a variation, and the contract should say so.
- Do your own snag before the client does. Walk every room with a critical eye and fix what you find
- Walk the job with the client, record each snag against its location with a photograph, and agree the list on the day
- Set a date for completion of snags and close each one with a photograph
- Get the client to sign off the list, not just the job
EstiMate's snagging puts numbered pins on the drawings, attaches the photograph, assigns each item to a trade, and lets the client report snags from their own phone into the same list. Sign-off is a tap, with a record.
Practical completion
The job is practically complete when it can be used for its intended purpose, with only minor snags outstanding. That is the trigger for the completion payment and the start of the defects period. Say so in writing: a practical completion notice with the date, the outstanding snags and the defects-period end date. On a domestic job this is the email that releases the final stage.
The handover pack
The client's solicitor, their insurer and the next builder will all want it, and a complete pack is what makes the client feel they got a professional job.
- Building control completion certificate
- Electrical installation certificate and Part P notification
- Gas Safe certificate and Building Regulations compliance certificate for gas work
- FENSA or CERTASS certificate for windows and doors
- Structural engineer's drawings and calculations
- As-built drawings and any planning and party wall documents
- Warranties and guarantees: roofing membrane, glazing, appliances, boiler
- Operation and maintenance instructions: boiler, heating controls, ventilation, bi-fold doors
- Product data sheets and the paint colours and tile references
- Photographs of hidden work: drainage, insulation, steel connections, before they were covered
- A 360 tour of the finished space, which clients love and which doubles as your portfolio
- The contact for defects, and the end date of the defects period
EstiMate assembles the handover pack from the documents already on the job: certificates uploaded as they arrive, the progress photographs, the drawings and the 360 tours, in one branded PDF with a link the client keeps.
Defects period
A defects period of 3 to 12 months follows practical completion. Tell the client how to report a defect and respond quickly; a prompt fix in month four is what gets the review and the referral. Record each one and its fix, so the end of the defects period is a clean close with any retention released.
Getting the last payment
Invoice the completion stage on the day of practical completion, with the signed snag list and the handover pack attached. The client has everything they need, the job is demonstrably finished, and the payment follows. Automatic chasing on the invoice handles the rest.
Ask for the review
The handover is the moment of maximum goodwill. Ask for a Google review on the day the pack is sent, with the link. Then put the 360 tour and the photographs on your website and in your next quote as the case study, and the job starts winning the next one.
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