Snagging Survey in Bath

Snagging surveys in Bath start from £320 for smaller flats and £380-£450 for the semi-detached and terraced homes that make up much of the BA2 new build market. Local Bath-based snagging inspectors including Certified Snagging are active in the area. SAM Conveyancing offers Bath surveys from £375 excluding VAT. Adding thermal imaging - which we recommend for all Bath new builds given the importance of verifying energy performance credentials - adds approximately £80-£130 to the base survey cost.

Our inspectors cover the full BA2 postcode including Bath Western Riverside (Berkeley Homes One Waterside), Mulberry Park in Combe Down (Curo), and all other active and recently completed new build schemes across Oldfield Park, Twerton, Widcombe, and the wider BA2 area. For buyers who moved in within the past two years and have not yet commissioned a snagging survey, we can still inspect within your NHBC warranty period. If you are unsure whether your address qualifies, request a quote with your full postcode and development name.

For the terraced homes and townhouses typical of Bath's newer developments, an inspection takes approximately 3-4 hours. Larger detached homes take 4-5 hours. Apartments in larger blocks like those planned for Bath Western Riverside require additional time to cover communal areas and shared services relevant to your ownership. Thermal imaging is completed as part of the same visit. Your written report with photographs arrives within three working days.

Combe Down has a well-documented history of Bath Stone mine workings beneath the hill, which required major stabilisation work from the 1990s onwards under the Combe Down Stone Mines Project. Modern new builds at developments like Mulberry Park will have been designed with this geology in mind, and foundation specifications should account for local ground conditions. Our snagging inspectors flag any visible signs of differential settlement - uneven floors, sticking doors, diagonal cracking around openings - that might warrant referral to a structural engineer. These are distinct from normal settlement hairline cracks that all new builds produce in their first year.

Ideally, you should commission a snagging survey before legal completion, or as early as possible after moving in. The New Homes Quality Board's Pre-Completion Inspection (PCI) process - introduced in 2022 - gives buyers the right to access the property before completion to identify defects, though not all developers facilitate this smoothly. If access before completion is not possible, booking within the first three months of moving in gives you the best chance of capturing all defects while they are clearly attributable to the builder rather than ordinary occupation. You retain the right to report defects for the full two-year builder warranty period.

Heritage and planning restrictions in Bath primarily govern external appearance - materials, massing, roofscape, and visual character. These rules exist to protect Bath's UNESCO World Heritage Site status. What they do not cover is the internal build quality: insulation performance, heating system commissioning, drainage function, or the standard of internal finishes. Our snagging surveys focus entirely on what the planning process cannot verify - that your home is built correctly on the inside. External issues like brickwork, mortar joints, window installation, and roof detailing are also covered in our inspections.

Industry research consistently shows that professional snagging inspectors find an average of 150 defects in new build homes, compared to the 20-30 that buyers typically identify themselves. The Home Builders Federation's March 2025 survey found that 93.7% of new build buyers reported problems to their builder after moving in. In Bath, where build costs are high and site programmes are under pressure from planning complexity and labour availability, these national patterns hold true. Having a professional report documents every issue clearly, gives you leverage with your developer, and protects your position if disputes arise later about when defects first appeared.

The NHBC Buildmark warranty is the standard warranty provided with most new build homes registered with the National House Building Council. It gives you a two-year period during which the developer must fix defects, followed by 8 years of structural insurance. Most major Bath developers including Berkeley Homes and Curo register their properties with NHBC. The key limitation is that the warranty covers defects reported and documented during the relevant period - it does not automatically rectify issues you have not raised. Our snagging report creates the evidence trail you need to make effective warranty claims, particularly for issues that might otherwise be disputed.