Snagging Surveys in Bedworth

Paintwork and plaster are usually where the count starts. On a Bellway plot at Astley Fields or a Cartwright Homes bungalow at McArthur Gardens, we often find patched plaster, roller marks, missed cuts around sockets, scuffed skirting, uneven caulk and paint bleed on trims. These are small defects on paper. In the room, they add up fast.

Function matters just as much. A door that will not latch, a window that does not seal, a socket that sits out of square, a bath panel that is loose or a kitchen unit that is not aligned all go on the list. Those issues can be easy to miss if you only view the home once, and they are exactly the sort of thing a buyer’s solicitor will not catch at handover on Hospital Lane or Smarts Road.

The last group is the one buyers tend to underestimate. Construction defects can include uneven floors, gaps in skirting, poor tiling tolerances, badly fitted kitchens, drainage falls that do not work and external levels that leave water where it should not sit. Regulatory items matter too, especially on larger schemes like the 455-home Hospital Lane development, where we check for fire-stopping clues, ventilation problems and anything that suggests the build does not match the standard expected under the warranty.

• Cosmetic defects like paint, plaster and sealant
• Functional defects like doors, windows and sockets
• Construction defects like floors, kitchens and external levels
• Regulatory defects like fire-stopping, ventilation and drainage falls

Bedworth has a busy pipeline of schemes, and that affects the sort of snagging we see. Bellway is active at Astley Fields, Persimmon has the 455-home Hospital Lane scheme after outline permission and detailed consent, Taylor Wimpey has a proposed 150-home site off Woodland Lane, and Harper Group is working on 23 council homes at Armson Road and Cheveral Road. Different builders have different site teams and different trades on rotation, so the finish can vary from plot to plot on the same street.

The local ground matters too. Bedworth sits on the eastern edge of the North Warwickshire coalfield, with a long mining history dating back to the 13th century, so our inspectors pay close attention to cracks, floor levels, lintels and brickwork where movement looks more than simple shrinkage. The River Sowe flood warning area, which includes Heather Drive, Brooklea, Croft Pool and Delamere Road, is another reason to look closely at drainage falls, external levels and where rainwater is actually running. If water sits in the wrong place on a new estate, it often shows up on the snag list before it becomes a bigger problem.

Bedworth’s Town Centre Conservation Area and listed buildings in the wider district also shape the local picture, especially where new homes sit near older streets or infill plots. Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council handles local planning and conservation control, but our job is different. We record workmanship defects that a planning file will never catch, from missing sealant around windows to uneven paving and poor garden levels on the edge of a new scheme near Chamberlaine’s Almshouses or Exhall Hall.

• Bellway at Astley Fields
• Persimmon at Hospital Lane
• Taylor Wimpey at Woodland Lane
• Harper Group on Armson Road and Cheveral Road