When to snag is the most FAQ by new build home owners...usually after occupying the home for six months plus! We at NS have the 30/100 rule that's worth thinking about, before you buy.
Ideally, every buyer would view a show home, sit with the site sales team and walk through the contract of purchase, scheduling a NHQB Pre Completion Inspection (PCI) when the house is 30 days from completion and asking your conveying lawyer to insert a clause that states the developer must rectify defects noted in the PCI. Now many will say the developer wont accept this, but I assure you they will and do. Once you complete and occupy, make sure the defects noted in the PCI are resolved - most snaggers charge a half fee for a re-inspection.
The benefit of this approach is you the buyer are involved in quality assuring the property from day one and, if you insert a defect clause when conveying, you have legal recourse if things go wrong...and its really not that much more effort to organise.
So if that's ideal, whats next best? Some would argue a post completion inspection within 100 days of entry is the best approach, as a post completion inspections are usually broader and more detailed than the NHQB's simpler PCI...and of course you have lived in the house long enough to know some of its issues.
The logic is good, but you also have the issue of living in the repairs while you are living in the house, which can be a issue for families or home workers. The key here is the first 100 days of occupancy - snag then, before you settle in and while the developer and after care teams are on site, and this approach can work. But take note, after the first 100 days, the probability of a easy to live with solution slowly decreases, month by month.
That's our 30/100 day rule.
The worst case, 729 days after completion, is a situation we encounter once in a while. Well intended buyers move in, suffer in silence or try to deal with the developer directly - in between work, family and life - and end up without a solution, days before the warranty is passed to the NHBC (2 years). This is the case with two recent customers - lovely families who lived with defects until in desperation they called Northern Survey. Fingers crossed, we have their problems moving forward, but this is worst case, not ideal and usually involves more blood, sweat and tears than you can imagine.
Use the 30/100 rule and snag early.
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