Services & fees
Fixed fees, quoted before we attend and not adjusted afterwards. Every price below includes VAT, travel within the covered area, and the full photographic report.
| Property | Pre-completion | Post-completion | Two-year review | On site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 bed apartment | £395 | £445 | £375 | 2.5–3 hrs |
| 2–3 bed house | £435 | £485 | £405 | 3–4 hrs |
| 4 bed house | £495 | £545 | £455 | 4–5 hrs |
| 5+ bed / detached over 200 m² | from £575 | from £625 | from £520 | 5+ hrs |
| Re-inspection (any size) | 50% of the original fee | 1.5–2 hrs | ||
What each one is for
-
Before legal completion
Pre-completion inspection
The New Homes Quality Code gives buyers of homes registered under it an explicit right to a pre-completion inspection, by someone of their choosing. Very few buyers are told this at the point it matters.
- Attended before you release funds, while the developer still needs something from you
- C1 items raised with the site manager on the day
- Report formatted so it can be pasted straight into the developer's own defect system
-
After you have the keys
Post-completion snagging
The more thorough of the two, because everything is live: we can run taps, fill basins to check waste falls, cycle every window and door, and take meaningful moisture readings.
- Moisture meter and thermal camera on every external wall
- Levels checked on floors, worktops and thresholds
- Loft, external envelope and drainage inspected where accessible
-
Months 20–22
Two-year warranty review
Under most new home warranties the developer carries direct liability for the first two years. After that you are making a claim against the warranty provider instead, on much narrower grounds.
- Timed to leave you eight weeks to lodge anything found
- Re-checks every item from a previous report if you have one
- Written in the language the warranty provider expects
-
After remedial works
Re-inspection
Developers routinely mark items as closed without a buyer ever confirming. This visit checks the original list item by item and records anything the remedial work has itself broken.
- Item-by-item verification against the original report
- Notes collateral damage from the remedial visit
- In our experience 20–30% of "completed" items are not
What is included in every fee
- Travel within the covered area — Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Swindon, Newport and Cardiff
- The full photographic report, delivered within 48 hours of the visit
- A follow-up call to walk you through anything unclear
- One round of email support if the developer disputes an item
What is not
We are not structural engineers, and we do not carry out intrusive investigation — nothing is lifted, drilled or opened up. Where something needs a specialist we say so and, if you ask, name two we have no financial relationship with.
We take no work from developers. No commission, no referral fees, no discounted rates for volume housebuilders. It is the only reason our report carries weight in a dispute.