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Snagging isn’t a single event on handover day. It’s a twelve-month window, and the defects that cost the most tend to appear somewhere around month eight.
Most owners treat it as a one-off. They snag at handover, submit a list, get some paint touched up, and then the year quietly runs out while a condensate drain slowly stains a ceiling nobody’s looking at.
These new build snagging tips are organised as a timeline rather than a checklist, because in Dubai the calendar decides what you’ll find. Heat exposes one category of defect and rain exposes another, and neither shows up in the first week.
Week one: get the fundamentals in place
Before anything else, establish two dates and two accounts. Get DEWA and your cooling account live so the property can actually be tested, then find out when your defects liability period ends.
That second one catches people out. The one-year period usually runs from the building’s completion certificate date, not from your key collection, so ask the developer for that date in writing. If you took handover four months after completion, you have eight months of cover, not twelve.
Put the expiry in your calendar immediately with reminders at 90 and 30 days. That single piece of admin prevents most of the problems we see in month thirteen.
Month one: get the full list in
Submit your snag list inside the first month, while the fit-out contractors are still mobilised in the building. This is the highest-leverage moment of the entire year and it’s short.
The reason is logistical rather than legal. During the handover wave, the trades are on site every day. Six months later that team has moved to another project, and a two-hour fix needs a mobilisation nobody wants to arrange.
- Submit in writing. Through the developer’s official portal or app, not by message to whoever handed you the keys.
- Lead with severity. Open with the critical and major items by reference number. Triage happens on the first paragraph.
- Keep the reference. Save the submission number, date and photographs. All three matter if an item is disputed later.
- Ask for dates. Request a rectification schedule rather than an acknowledgement.
- Verify the fixes. Re-check work yourself instead of accepting a status change in the developer’s system.
Months two to four: watch how it settles
Look for movement. Most new build snagging tips stop at handover, but materials shrink and settle through their first full temperature cycle, and genuine new defects appear that weren’t there when you signed.
Doors start binding or dropping as frames move with daily use. Hairline cracks open at wall and column junctions. Silicone at baths and worktops shrinks back and splits. Tiles that sounded hollow at handover become audibly loose once furniture is in and people are walking the same routes daily.
Keep a running note on your phone rather than trying to remember. A photograph with a date is worth far more than a recollection eight months later.
Months five to eight: let the summer do the testing
Summer is the best diagnostic tool you have, and it’s free. Under sustained August load, mechanical faults that hid all spring become obvious.
- Ceiling stains where a condensate drain backs up because it was laid without fall
- Damp patches from chilled water pipework that was never properly insulated
- Rooms that never reach setpoint, pointing to an uncommissioned fan coil unit
- Electricity bills far above what the property size suggests
- Musty smells or growth appearing behind wardrobes on external walls
If any of those appear, act immediately rather than waiting to bundle them with a later list. Air conditioning defects get worse and they damage other things while they do it.
Month nine: book the second inspection
This is the most valuable of all the new build snagging tips, and it’s the one almost nobody follows. Commission a full independent survey at month nine or ten, not month twelve.
Work backwards from your expiry date. Allow two days for the report, a week for submission and acknowledgement, and four to eight weeks for rectification and a re-check. That arithmetic puts the inspection at month nine.
The second survey also verifies the first. A good inspector checks whether items closed after your original list were genuinely fixed or simply marked as done, which is a gap we find constantly. If this is your first purchase, our first-time buyer snagging guide covers the whole sequence from handover through to the end of the period.
Months ten to twelve: close it out
Chase rectification and re-check everything before the window shuts. Anything still open when the period expires becomes your cost.
If a developer stops responding, the escalation route runs through the Dubai Land Department’s Real Estate Violation System, filed through the Dubai REST app. Complaints carry a six-month window from the issue arising, so raise things promptly rather than politely waiting.
One thing that continues past twelve months: structural liability runs for ten years under Article 880 of the UAE Civil Code. That covers stability and structural failure, not finishes, but it’s worth knowing the cover doesn’t disappear entirely.
What should you photograph, and how?
Photograph every defect twice: one close-up showing the problem and one wider shot showing where in the room it is. A close-up of a crack proves nothing if nobody can find the wall it’s on.
Include something for scale where size matters, keep the date stamp on, and file by room rather than chronologically. When a developer disputes an item eight months later, the photograph with a verifiable date is what settles it.
The same applies to meter readings at handover. Photograph the DEWA and cooling meters with their serial numbers visible, because disputing three months of construction-period consumption without that image is a slow argument to lose.
What if you’ve already passed the first year?
Get the property documented anyway. A report still establishes whether a defect is structural, which determines whether the ten-year liability applies, and it gives you a baseline before you spend money on repairs.
It’s also worth doing before you sell. Resolving documented defects is worth more at resale than presenting a buyer with damp patches and no explanation for them.
What does the second year onward look like?
Maintenance rather than claims, with one exception. Once the one-year period closes, servicing and repairs are yours, so the useful move is establishing a routine before you need one.
Air conditioning benefits most from that. Filters cleaned before summer, condensate drains checked for clear flow, and coils serviced annually will prevent the majority of the problems owners then blame on the build. Water heaters, booster pumps and pool plant all reward the same attention.
The exception is structural. Ten-year liability under Article 880 continues, and if genuine structural symptoms appear in year three, that’s a different conversation with a different route. Document it properly rather than patching over it.
FAQ’S_ New Build Snagging Tips for First Year
How long do I have to report defects in a new Dubai property?
One year for general workmanship and MEP defects, running from the building’s completion certificate date rather than your key collection. Structural elements carry ten-year liability under Article 880 of the UAE Civil Code.
Should I snag more than once?
Yes. Snag at handover and again around month nine or ten. The first catches construction defects, the second catches performance failures that only appear after a full summer and wet season.
What defects appear after moving in?
Shrinkage cracks, split silicone, binding doors, loose tiles, condensate drain leaks under summer load, and waterproofing failures after rain. None of these are visible on handover day.
Can I still claim if I’ve already lived in the property?
Yes. Occupation doesn’t waive your rights. The one-year period runs regardless, and defects raised inside it should be rectified at the developer’s cost.
What if the developer fixed something badly?
Raise it again with the original submission reference. A defect logged, marked closed and still present is a stronger item than a new one, so keep every reference number from your first list.
Do I need to be present for the inspection?
Not usually, provided the inspector has access. Many owners hand over keys and receive the report remotely, which works fine as long as utilities are live.
Is it too late to snag at month eleven?
It’s tight but worth doing. Submit immediately and ask for written acknowledgement, because an item logged inside the period generally stands even if rectification runs past the expiry date.
Treat the year as the deadline, not the day
The best new build snagging tips all come down to one habit: know your expiry date and work backwards from it. Snag at handover, watch through the summer, and get a proper second survey with three months to spare. That’s the pattern that separates owners who pay for their own repairs from owners who don’t. It’s how we schedule work for clients at Dubshy.
Wherever you are in your first year, book an inspection and we’ll build the timing around your defects liability expiry date.
