[Anonymous]

Hi everyone, this is my first post.

I have just had a quick look round our new 2 bed apartment in Bel Air (Costa del Sol) which I bought off-plan from Ocean View Properties in 2003. The apartment looked in very good condition.

Ocean View recommend a professional snagging company to check the property I think the cost is about 400 euros.

The lady who was arranging the furniture package said that it would be unlikely to find any major problems (but she does work for Ocean View!)

Has anyone had any dealing with snagging companies are they a waste of money or a neccesity?

Has anyone else bought through Ocean View, what has been your experiences?

[Anonymous]

After all the commission they have received they ought to do it for free! I think its a waste of time because the developers rarely put any faults right anyway.

[Anonymous]

I’m a qualified and independent building surveyor, and there are several of us out here working in Spain now. I regularly carry out snagging inspections for clients. You have every right to have this done to check that you are getting both what you expect and what you are paying for, before you hand over the final stage payment.
Faults I commonly find include: unsafe balcony railings, improperly vented fireplaces, sinks and baths with no sealant, broken ceramic tiling, incomplete plumbing, doors which don’t close properly, missing door furniture, damaged marble sills….etc etc. Maybe not the end of the world, although the first two are downright dangerous, but not what a new home owner wants to find when they first take possession.
Check the qualifications of your “snagger” is all I can say! Are they a building professional and are they independant, ie commissioned by you?

[Anonymous]

I would agree that you should have professional help with the snagging but it also depends what the contract says. Normally the architect and other members of the professional team (if there is one) should prepare with the contractor a “Defects List” and this should be signed and agreed with both parties who then inform the developer accordingly, if he is not also the contractor. There should be a contractual “defects liability period”, could be 6 months or longer depending on the contract. Since other defects can arise during this period it is sometimes agreed that some defects in the original list can be left to be remedied at the end of the defects liabilty period, when any newly found defects should also be remedied.

Here in the U.K. there is normally a 5% retention held from payments to the contractor with 50% released on completion and the production of the agreed defects list, including confirmation that defects have been dealt with satisfactorily. The remaining 50% of the retention is released at the end of the defects liability period upon confirmation that all new or outstanding defects have been repaired.

Any decent contractor or developer should agree to these conditions.

Terry English

[Anonymous]

I absolutely agree that the retention system does tend to concentrate the mind of the builder! It puts the buyer back in control. But, as far as I know, in Spain, it is normally only used as an alternative to the now otherwise mandatory 1, 3 & 10 years builder’s warranties. Which is a shame.
However anyone is perfectly at liberty to try and agree any contract terms they like with their builder, including a monetary retention period. But this of course must be done at the outset, it can’t be imposed retrospectively.

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