Snagging items at handover: tracking them until they're signed off

The handover report is signed, the client has listed six snags, and the crew has already moved to the next job. Three weeks later the client calls: two snags haven't been fixed, and the final payment will wait. Nobody knows exactly which two, because the list is on a sheet of paper in a van.

The short answer: treat each snag like a small job, with an owner, a date and proof. The rest of this article explains how to keep that list without spending your evenings on it.

What handover triggers for the contractor#

Handover, or formal acceptance, is the act by which the client accepts the work, with or without reservations. It marks the official end of the job and starts the guarantee periods.

For the contractor, three consequences matter:

• The snags in the report must be fixed. Under French law, the one-year completion guarantee requires the contractor to repair the defects listed at handover, and those that appear in the following year.
• There is no single legal deadline for clearing them. It is set by the report or the contract. Where it isn't, the rule is a "reasonable time", which everyone reads their own way.
• The client keeps leverage. An open snag justifies a reminder, a formal notice, and very often a final payment that doesn't arrive.

In other words, handover doesn't close the job. It opens a task list the contractor answers for over the next year.

Why snags get lost#

Not through carelessness. They get lost because they are scattered from day one.

• The list is on paper, in the handover report, written by hand during the walkthrough.
• The photos are on the site manager's phone, mixed with those of five other jobs.
• The details arrive by text message: "the skirting in the hallway, not the one by the entrance".
• The repair is assigned verbally to a tradesman, who comes by one morning and leaves without telling anyone.

The result: when the client asks where their snags stand, you have to call three people to piece together an answer. And a snag fixed without proof is a snag the client can dispute.

When I go on holiday, I'm still the one handling all the paperwork.

As long as tracking depends on one person's memory, it stops when that person is away.

The five-step method#

You don't need any particular tool to start. A well-kept table is enough for a handful of jobs. What matters is the discipline at each step.

1. One line per snag, written precisely. The room, the item, the defect: "bathroom, basin seal lifting on the left side". A vague snag such as "finishes to redo" gets argued about forever.
2. One photo per snag, taken during the walkthrough. It records the state on handover day, and it stops anyone reopening what the line meant.
3. An owner and a date. Who fixes it, and by when. A snag with no name falls between two people.
4. Proof of repair. The after photo, dated, attached to the original snag. That is what gets the sign-off signed.
5. A sign-off report. Signed by the client after checking, it closes the list. It is the document to keep for the whole guarantee period.

The resulting table fits on one page:

The Monday review#

Once a week, the site manager goes through the list for every job that has been handed over. Three questions are enough: which snags are late, which are fixed but not yet signed off, and which client to call to book the sign-off visit.

It is also the moment to connect with invoicing: a final payment blocked by a forgotten snag shows up here, not three months later. The same logic applies to margin, which is worth tracking without waiting for the final invoice.

What changes with an application built for your business#

The table works as long as someone updates it in the evening. It falls apart in the first busy week. An application built around the way you work removes that copying.

• The handover report is filled in on site, on a tablet or phone: each snag is a line with its photo, and the client signs on screen.
• Each snag is assigned to someone, who finds it in their list for the day with the address and the photo.
• The repair is proved in one step: the tradesman takes the after photo, and it is filed under the right snag.
• The sign-off prepares itself: once every line is fixed, the sign-off report is ready to sign, and the final invoice can go out.

The owner sees, on a single screen, every job that has been handed over and the number of open snags on each. More on the construction page.

What not to do#

Signing a handover while promising to "sort it out afterwards" without writing anything down. For the client as for the contractor, a verbal promise is worth nothing once there is a disagreement.

Leaving the sign-off unsigned. A snag that has been fixed but never checked is still, on paper, an open snag.

Snagging at handover: the key takeaways#

Handover doesn't close the job: it opens a list of repairs the contractor answers for during the completion guarantee year. Each snag is handled like a small job, with a precise description, a photo, an owner, a date and proof of repair.

A weekly review of every handed-over job is enough to avoid forgotten snags and blocked final payments. The signed sign-off report is the only document that truly closes the list.