An inspection carried out today in Birmingham highlighted the importance of carrying out a snagging survey and to opt for us to conduct a heat loss check...
In haste of the inspection of this property, the customers were told by the sales agent of their developer there was no need to pay for us to attend as it was a "waste of money".
​Despite the internal finish being relatively good, the fundamentals were poor and ranged from missing cavity trays and weep holes, to draughts and poorly laid / missing insulation.
In short, the property was left vulnerable to damp from from driving rain ingress and the customers heating bills would have been astronomical.
On arrival an external thermal camera inspection identified extensive heat loss from the bay window. Thanks to the builder leaving gaps at the sides of the fascia, we were then able to use a borescope camera to identify there was no insulation. With the radiator directly underneath in bay, the heat was going straight up and out.

The inspection continued to identify massive draughts due to gaps under ledges, doors and around the eaves. There was also poor roof insulation, as shown in the below example snapshots:-

It goes to show that most developers concentrate on minor snagging issues and miss the more important issues that matter.

As part of our snagging inspection we check that sockets not only work but also abide by Part P of building regulations. Customers are often surprised when we raise electrical shortfalls based on the installation certificate they are issued with, but like anything else with new-build houses it is open to design shortfalls and human error. The following photographs are taken from snagging inspections carried out this week.

The above image is taken from the NHBC 2018 guidelines and relates to the areas of the UK exposed to wind driven rain. This is important to factor in when snagging new build houses to ensure adequate protection from penetrating moisture.
Brickwork is porous, meaning rainwater in abundance will penetrate through it into the cavity so it is important on exposed walls that the water is allowed to escape through weep holes. Often we find they are blocked or not there at all, as shown in a couple of screenshots from recent inspections below: