SnagPal is a free new build snagging app for iPhone and iPad. Moving into a brand-new home, you have a window to report every defect, the snags, to your developer so they get put right. Walk the property, photograph each snag in seconds, annotate it, pin it on the floor plan and organise it by room, then export one clean, branded PDF to send your developer. It works fully offline, needs no account and keeps your data on your device.
Free vs roughly £300-600 for a professional survey. No sign-up, no subscription, no cloud.
Why it matters
A short, plain-English primer before we get into how SnagPal helps you do it.
A brand-new home is supposed to be finished, but in practice almost every new build is handed over with a list of small defects, the snags. A snag is any fault or unfinished bit of work: a scuff on a door, a paint run, a gap in the sealant, a loose handle, a tile that is not quite right. None of them are disasters on their own, but they are yours to spot and report.
That is what snagging is: walking your finished home, finding the defects and reporting them to the developer so they get put right. There is usually a window after handover in which the developer is expected to fix reported snags, which is why catching them early and recording them clearly matters so much.
The exact deadlines, what counts as a defect rather than normal wear, and how to escalate if your developer goes quiet all depend on your warranty and the consumer code that covers your home. We have kept this page practical and pointed you to the guides for the detail, rather than guess at specifics that vary from home to home.
The short version
New builds come with defects, you have a window to report them, and a clear, evidenced list is what gets them fixed. SnagPal is the free tool that captures that list and turns it into a report you can send.The buyer journey
Snagging your own new build is more straightforward than it sounds. Here is the whole journey, and where SnagPal fits in.
Completion and handover
You complete on the purchase and the developer hands over the keys. The home is finished on paper, but new builds almost always have small defects to flag.
Your snagging window opens
From handover you have a window to report defects to the developer so they put them right. The guides below cover timings and your rights in plain English.
Walk the property and log every defect
Go room by room and photograph each snag in seconds, add a short note, annotate the photo and tag the room. The list builds itself as you walk.
Pin snags on the floor plan
Drop a numbered pin on a floor-plan photo for each snag so there is no guessing where each defect is when someone comes to fix it.
Export one branded PDF
When you have finished the walk-through, export the whole list as a clean PDF report in a single tap, with every photo, note and pin laid out properly.
Send it to your developer
Email or share the PDF with your developer or site manager. A clear, dated, evidenced report is far harder to dismiss than a few photos in a text.
Track what's been fixed
As snags are put right, mark each one resolved and keep an eye on what is still open, so you know exactly where things stand at re-inspection.
A journey for the property Plot 14 shown as four stages: handover where you get the keys, marked complete; snag the property to log every defect, marked complete; send the PDF, one report to your developer, marked as the current step; and track the fixes to mark snags resolved.
Step 3 - Log every defect
Walking a new home you will spot dozens of small things: a scuff on a door, a paint run, a gap in the sealant, a tile that is not quite right. Each one needs a photo and a quick note before you move on, and if logging a single item is slow, the whole walk-through becomes a slog.
SnagPal makes that the fast part. Photograph the defect, give it a short title, tag the room and set a status. That is one snag logged, and it takes seconds, so you can keep moving through the property and catch everything while you are stood in front of it.
A new snag form showing a captured photo, a title of scuff on cabinet door, the room set to kitchen and the status set to open, with a save snag button.
Step 4 - Pin on the floor plan
When you send a list of forty snags to a developer, the first question is always where exactly is it. Room names are not always enough, and whoever comes to fix the snags weeks later should not have to guess. A pin on the floor plan answers it for them.
Add your plan by photographing the one in your pack or importing the image, then drop a numbered pin for each snag. The pins carry through into the PDF, so the report you hand over comes with a visual map of every defect in the property.
A floor plan for Plot 14 with four numbered yellow pins placed in different rooms, captioned four snags pinned to this plan.
Steps 5 & 6 - Export and send
The report is the bit that does the work. A clean, dated PDF with every photo, note and floor-plan pin laid out properly is a serious document, and it is far harder for a developer to brush off than a handful of photos sent over text.
SnagPal turns your whole list into that PDF in one tap, online or off. You add your own name and details, then email or share it with your developer or site manager. You keep your own copy as the record of what you reported and when.
A branded snag report PDF preview with your logo block, the property Plot 14, a date, and rows of snags with thumbnail photos, captioned page 1 of 6, beside an export PDF report button.
Free on iPhone and iPad. No account, no subscription, no cloud. Your data stays on your device.
Why buyers choose it
You are doing this once, on your own home. SnagPal is built to make that as painless, and as free, as possible.
A professional snagging survey typically costs somewhere around £300 to £600. SnagPal is free to download and free to use, with no account, no subscription and no per-report charge. For most buyers, doing it yourself with SnagPal is more than enough.
An empty new build often has patchy mobile signal, and you do not want to be hunting for bars while you snag. Capturing, annotating, pinning and exporting all happen on the device, so the whole walk-through works with no signal at all.
There is no account to create and nothing is uploaded to a cloud. Your photos, notes and reports live on your own device, and the PDF goes only to the people you choose to send it to.
You do not need to be a surveyor or know any jargon. Open the app, walk the property, tap to add each snag, then export. There is no setup and nothing to configure before you start.
Helpful reading
Snagging is more useful when you understand the process and your rights. These plain-English guides cover the detail this page deliberately keeps light.
A plain-English primer on what snagging is and why it matters for a new home.
Read the guideThe complete UK guide to the snagging process, timelines and who fixes what.
Read the guideNHBC Buildmark, the builder's warranty and the New Homes Ombudsman, explained.
Read the guideWeighing up whether to pay for a survey? Read do you need a professional snagging survey for an honest look at doing it yourself for free versus paying an inspector.
Where to next
See the full feature set, why it is free, or how the snag list itself works.
A detailed walk-through of capture, annotation, floor-plan pins, reports and offline use.
Learn moreWhy SnagPal is genuinely free, offline and account-free, and how that compares to paid rivals.
Learn moreWhat a snag list is, the full workflow, the PDF output and how it works on iOS and iPad.
Learn moreNew to all this? Start with the SnagPal overview on the homepage.
FAQ
As a rule of thumb, snag as soon as you reasonably can after handover, ideally in the first days or weeks while everything is fresh and before you fill rooms with furniture. New builds usually come with a window in which the developer will put right reported defects, so the sooner you report them the better. Exact timings depend on your warranty and the consumer code that applies to your home, so check your paperwork. Our guides on the snagging period and your new-build rights cover this in plain English.
When you have finished walking the property, SnagPal exports your whole list as a single branded PDF in one tap. That PDF includes every photo, your notes, the annotations and the floor-plan pins, with each snag's room and status. You then email or share it with your developer or site manager straight from your phone or iPad, and you keep your own copy as a dated record of exactly what you reported.
Yes. SnagPal is free to download and free to use, with no account, no subscription, no in-app purchases and no per-report charge. Every feature, including unlimited branded PDF exports, is included, and your data stays on your device. There is more detail on the free snagging app page.
Not necessarily. A professional survey is an option and typically costs around £300 to £600, and some buyers like the reassurance of a trained inspector, particularly on larger or higher-value homes. For most buyers, though, a careful do-it-yourself snag with SnagPal is free and perfectly capable of producing a thorough, evidenced report. It comes down to your budget and how confident you feel walking the property yourself. Our guide on DIY versus a professional snagging survey weighs up both.
Yes. Capturing snags, annotating photos, pinning them on the floor plan and exporting the PDF all run on the device with no signal needed. That is deliberate, because new builds and empty properties often have poor mobile signal. You can snag the whole home offline and send the report later once you have a connection.
Yes. SnagPal is a native iOS app that runs on both iPhone and iPad. Many people carry an iPhone around the property and prefer the larger iPad screen for annotating photos and placing floor-plan pins. There is no Android or web version.
Free on iPhone and iPad. Walk the property, log every defect, and send your developer a clean PDF.