Questions · Asked and answered
The questions we are actually asked
Grouped by service, with the questions that apply to all of them first. If yours is not here, ask us directly and we will answer it in writing.
Before you instruct us
Fees, payment, insurance and timings. These apply to every service.
Is the fee fixed, or an estimate?
Fixed, in writing, before we attend. The only thing that changes it is the area of the property being materially different from what you told us, and we would raise that with you before starting rather than afterwards.
What if the property is bigger than I quoted?
We measure on site. If the built-up area is more than 10% above what you gave us, we tell you the revised fee before we begin and you decide whether to go ahead. We do not add it quietly to the invoice.
Is VAT included?
Yes. Every figure on this page and in your quotation is inclusive of VAT, and a tax invoice follows payment.
When do I pay?
In full 24 hours before the inspection. Payment confirms the booking; without it we do not attend. Bank transfer or card, and no deposit is taken at the time of booking.
What if I need to cancel or reschedule?
Reschedule free of charge up to 24 hours before the appointment. Inside 24 hours, or where we arrive and access is refused, we charge half the fee for the slot we have lost.
How long does it take, and when do I get the report?
Four to six hours on site for an apartment, a full day for most villas. The written report is complete before we leave.
Are you insured, and who signs the report?
We carry professional indemnity cover and every report is issued under the oversight of a qualified surveyor. Certificates are provided with the standing terms for your compliance file.
Why are you more expensive than other snagging companies?
Because the low fee is only possible if the work is unbundled: re-inspections billed per visit, the developer left to you, the thermal survey sold as an add-on, the 11-month check quoted again next year. Add those to a cheaper quote and the gap narrows considerably. We would rather publish one number that covers all of it.
Snagging inspection
New-build handover, villas and apartments.
When should I book my snagging inspection?
As soon as the developer gives you a handover date. We inspect before you sign the handover documents, which is the point at which the list carries most weight. In peak handover weeks the slots go quickly, so a week or two of notice is sensible. If you have already taken the keys, book anyway. The defect liability period runs for twelve months from handover.
How long does the inspection take?
Four to six hours for an apartment, and a full day for most villas. We do not shorten it. Four hundred checkpoints take the time they take, and the ones people skip are the ones in the risers, the roof space and behind the appliances.
What do you actually inspect?
412 checkpoints in an apartment, 488 in a villa, across eleven systems: structure and finishes, floors and tiling, joinery, windows and balconies, kitchen and fitted units, electrical, plumbing and drainage, HVAC, waterproofing and thermal, fire safety, and the common areas serving your unit. Every checkpoint is signed off individually.
What if the developer will not let you in?
It is your property, and inspections are routine in Dubai, and most developers expect them. We attend with your authority letter, or under power of attorney if you are overseas. If access is refused, you get that in writing from us so it is on record, and we reattend at no extra charge.
How long does the developer have to fix the defects?
That depends on your sale and purchase agreement, and we will read yours so you know which clause to quote. In practice most developers work through handover snags in the weeks between inspection and move-in, and the defect liability period gives you twelve months from handover for anything that emerges later. We point you at the dates in your contract rather than a general expectation, so what you ask for is what you are owed.
Pre-purchase inspection
Resale and secondary market, before you commit.
What is a pre-purchase inspection, and how is it different from snagging?
The survey is the same; the purpose is not. Snagging produces a list for the developer to fix under warranty. A pre-purchase inspection produces a list for you to make a decision on: whether to buy, at what price, and what to budget for once the property is yours. Major items therefore carry a cost estimate rather than a repair instruction.
Is this the same as a mortgage valuation?
No. A valuation tells the bank what the property is worth. It does not lift a tile, test a socket or open an air-conditioning unit. Valuers are not looking for defects, and their report will not help you negotiate.
When in the buying process should I book?
Before you sign the MOU if you can. That is when you have the most room to move on price or to ask for work to be done. If the MOU is already signed there is still time between contract and transfer, and the report still tells you what you are taking on.
Can I still walk away if you find something serious?
That depends on the terms you signed, and the contract is a question for your lawyer rather than for us. What we can do is give you a report clear enough for a conveyancer to act on. Some buyers renegotiate, some ask for the work, and some walk.
11-month inspection
The last month to claim under the developer's warranty.
When exactly should I book the 11-month inspection?
Instruct us in month ten. That leaves time for us to inspect, for the developer to carry out the repairs, and for us to go back and check them before the liability period closes. Leave it to the final fortnight and you may run out of window for the repairs themselves, even if the claim is submitted in time.
What happens if the period has already closed?
Then the developer's obligation to correct defects at no cost has usually ended with it, and anything outstanding becomes yours to pay for. It is still worth an inspection if you are about to spend money on repairs, because you will at least know the full extent of what needs doing before you commission work.
I did not use you at handover. Can you still do this?
Yes, and a good number of these instructions come from owners who used someone else, or no one, first time. We inspect from scratch against the same standards. If you have an earlier report from another firm, send it and we will check those items too.
My tenant is living in the property. Does that matter?
No. We work around the tenancy, and we need roughly half a day of access. Defects that are the developer's responsibility remain so whether or not the property is occupied, though we distinguish clearly in the report between construction defects and ordinary occupancy wear, so nothing is claimed that should not be.
Post-renovation snagging
A contractor's work measured against the specification.
Should we inspect mid-works or at completion?
Both, if the programme allows it. A stage inspection before ceilings, walls and floors are closed is the only chance to see waterproofing, falls and concealed services. The completion inspection covers everything visible and gives you the list to hold the final payment against. If you can only instruct one, make it the completion inspection.
Do you work for us or for the contractor?
For you. We are not appointed by the contractor, we take no fee from them, and we have no interest in the remedial work. Our only output is the report.
We have no written specification. Can you still inspect?
Yes. Without a specification we inspect against the Dubai Building Code and UAE Civil Defence requirements where they apply, and against British standards and normal good practice for finishes (NHBC tolerances, BS 5606, BS 5385), which is the benchmark most contracts fall back on anyway. Send us whatever you do hold: quotations, drawings, material schedules, WhatsApp messages agreeing a finish.
What happens if the contractor disputes an item?
Most disputes end when the measurement is produced. Each entry carries the reading, the tolerance it fails and the standard or specification clause that sets it, so the conversation is about a number rather than an opinion. Where a contractor still disagrees we will speak to them directly.
Remote handover
For owners who are not in the room.
Can you sign the handover documents for me?
Where a power of attorney is already in place naming us, yes. We sign at the developer's handover appointment and the property is accepted with the defect list attached. Without one, we attend, inspect and advise, and you or your appointed representative signs.
Do you arrange the power of attorney?
No. A POA is drawn and notarised through your lawyer, and in most cases legalised in the country you are in. We will tell you plainly what it needs to cover for a handover, but the document itself is not ours to produce.
How do I see the property if I am not there?
A recorded walkthrough, filmed room by room on the day and sent with the report, plus the full photographic record. The inspector who filmed it will then take you through the findings on a call booked at an hour that works where you are.
What happens to the keys?
Whatever you instruct. We hold them in our office, logged, until you arrive; or we hand them to your tenant, agent or contractor against signature, photographed and confirmed to you the same day.
How do I pay from abroad?
International bank transfer or card, invoiced in AED. Fees are shown here in GBP and INR for guidance only; the invoice and the amount charged are in dirhams.
For brokers and operators
Standing terms for agencies and letting operators.
Can the report be issued in our branding?
Yes. Full white-label is available: your logo, your cover, your document. The measurements, the tolerances cited and the photographic record are unchanged. Only the letterhead differs.
Who does the report belong to?
The party that instructs us. If you instruct and we invoice you, the report is yours to issue as you see fit. If your client instructs and pays directly, it is theirs, and we copy you in with their consent.
Do you pay a referral fee, or do we take a discount?
Either, depending on how you prefer to work. Some partners instruct us and add their own margin; others refer and are paid a fee. Both are set out in the standing terms before the first instruction.
Will you speak to our client directly?
Only as you wish. Some partners want us in front of the client from the first call; others prefer everything to come through them. Tell us which, and we hold to it.
Before the keys change hands
Tell us the property and the date. A fixed fee comes back the same working day.