Snagging surveyors

Philip did a pretty good job for us - each defect listed in both english and spanish and referenced to photos. Reasonable cost and he will email report. Cheaper and easier than travelling out.

Jerry

I know Philip well and we work together as I do not cover the Costa Del Sol and he provides an excellent service for my clients

We can provide the service in The Costa Blanca and Costa Almeria

www.inspectahomespain  e-mail inspections@inspectahomespain.com

They have a mobile number and no registered office and I believe that they are based in a property on Polaris World La Torre

I have heard nothing bad about them but when dealing with nay professional make sure that they are a legal and an experienced company operating in Spain and ask for references

Hi guys

I am posting this reply in response to Roy Howitts message below.

Snagit Murcia are not based on the Polaris La Torre resort but actually in Los Belones, Murcia near La Manga club. I am surprised that Roy has stated that we do not have a land line as our telephone numbers are clearly posted on our website and all landline numbers in Spain commence with a 9. We have posted both a landline and mobile number so we are always available for our clients.

We are totally happy to provide references from customers if required.

At present we are working with clients on the Polaris developments of Hacienda Requelme, El Valle and Condado de Alhama and also the Calidona develoment of Roda Golf. We have clients who are pre-booking our services for Terrazas de la Torre and also Corvera Golf and Country Cub.

If anyone would like to discuss our snagging service then I am happy to do so.

Thank you

Emma

snagitmurcia

Hi Emma, welcome. You are correct in what you tell members re phones.

On your site  you do state both phone & mobile numbers.

Kindly use your website in your signature, not within your actual post. Justin allows it that way.

Hi,

Has anyone dealt with a snagging company called 'HolaLife' and if so what was your experince like.

Also if faults are found, is a snagging report enough to legally delay completion until they are rectified?

Regards,

Ken.

This is correct you can only refuse to complete if there is no LFO, or if the property does not meet the specification or if for example the community areas are not completed

Legally any obligations to repair the snagging only come into effect after you have completed, and the developer the has 60 working days

There are a number of snagging service providers operating in Spain and many carry out a thorough job of checking all the final details pre or post newbuild purchase. It is important however to make sure the structure is assessed thoroughly. I have seen more serious structural issues in newbuild properties, than re-sales and this applies to all types of property from small apartments to detached million euro+ mansions.

Full structural assessement requires a Structural Survey by a qualified Building Surveyor holding a relevant degree, professional membership and professional indemnity insurance. If you are seeking both snagging and full structural assessment you can employ a building surveyor to do both or ask the snaggers to snag and the building surveyor to focus strongly on the structural side of things. Given the size of most property investments it's proven to be worthwhile assessing both the fine detail as well as the bigger picture.

Although I carry both a professional qualifucation and the necessary indemnity insurance I find your comments about having a full structural on a new property odd, especially as the last posting here was almost a year ago

I would agree that if you are having a single property built by an independant builder that a full structural surevy would be an advantage ir is very rare, and in Spain we have checked close to 3000 properties, to find a structural defect in the average new build property on a normal urbanisation

A snagging inspection if done properly by a good company is not just a check of the final details but looks at all of the building defects, it requires testing of the plumbing and electric under loading abd a gas check if connected

Yes I agree that you should check the qualications, track record and references of the person you employ as there are a lot more organisations started up now, some even setup by Estate Agents looking for additional revenues

The fact also is that the 10 year insurance based NHBC type cover, required on all new build properties in Spain is specifically designed to cover this on future defects 

Where I would say that a structural survey is necessary and not enough do this and this is an area that we do not cover is on a resale property but I cannot see the benefit from the extra expense as most people are in the current climate reluctant to even have a professional snagging survey

Hi Roy,

Thanks for your response and valued comment. Obviously I specialise on the structural side and as a building surveyor I am trained and  experienced in structural defects issues. I am involved as expert witness in numerous client court actions against builders and 10yr decenal insurance companies for structural defects, some so serious that properties have had to have evacuated. As well as carrying out structural surveys for buyers I am obviously called out by existing owners to assess some of the most serious occurences of which these area a few examples:-  2 year old 1m euro villa and pool slipping down the hill. Rock face collapse up to first floor level onto recently completed newbuild. Cracking from foundations and right through roof (2cm gap) for new blocks of golf apartments. Complete structural failure of a newbuild chalet. Serious condensation mould issues in newbuilds of all types. 

The 10 year insurance companies have proven to be very difficult to claim against , nearly always requiring the owner to take expensive court action, they are actually fialing to comply with their legal obligations and failing to rescue a situation even  when structural instability issues are proven, however to date the court action is still required when they simply refuse to accept their responsibilities, which is the norm (we are in the processof  trying to establish some precedents in court which may well serve to make the insurers more compliant). Most decenal policies cover structural stability only and not issues such as leaking roofs. In short the 10 year 'builder's guarantee' is not worth much unless owners are ready for a long haul through the court system.

The fact that you have rarely found any structural issues in 3000 newbuild properties, proves the point that a full structural survey is a valuable service, which should also be considered even for newbuilds. Based on my experience I would expect to find structural defects or issues of serious structural concern affecting a good third of any newbuilds (i.e relatively common). I agree that a structural survey on resale properties is well worthwhile, but I have researched the benefits of newbuild against resale before (for newspaper columns) and generally concluded that a fully urbanised surveyed resale (which has stood the test of time and actually often benefitted form more skilled labour and better building control than that seen in the past 10 years) is a statistically safer bet than an apparently pristine newbuild.

I agree that  some questionable snagging and even 'surveying' service operators have jumped on the band wagon in recent years despite not having the qualifications or experience to carry out such work. I have even been involved in reporting where other individuals have failed to spot issues.

Given the investment amounts and horror stories on TV (3 of which I was involved in as consultant for a Channel 4 programme) buyers would do well to commision a snagging inspection and full structural survey on any purchase. I have never met anyone who regretted having a survey but I have met  lots of people who have lost very large ammounts of money and even marriages through not having one.

I hope this therefore answers the points you have raised and confirms the need for both our services including for newbuilds.

Keep up the good work.

This message was last edited by Surveyor Costa Blanca on 2/11/2009.

This message was last edited by Surveyor Costa Blanca on 2/11/2009.

i used a company called "the survey company" got the job done quick and at a very competative rate!