We inspect new apartments, townhouses and villas in Ras Al Khaimah before and after handover. Every defect is photographed, located, graded and lodged with the developer, and we go back to check the repairs. Our own team does the work from our office in Al Nakheel.
Most of the units we inspect are in the communities handing over now: Al Marjan Island, Al Hamra Village, Mina Al Arab and RAK Central.
Why snagging matters in Ras Al Khaimah
A new unit is handed over by the developer’s handover team, usually on a fixed appointment. You walk the unit, sign a handover form and collect the keys. What you sign at that point is your record of the condition the unit was in.
Anything listed before you sign is the developer’s to fix, and it is easy to prove. Anything found later has to be reported under the defect liability period, argued over, and fixed around your furniture or your tenants.
The coast adds its own problems. Salt air and summer heat are hard on sealants, balcony doors and outdoor metalwork, and a waterproofing fault usually shows up as a stain long after the painters have left. A careful inspection at the start is the cheapest point to deal with all of it.
Three points to inspect
Before handover. The main inspection. It happens once the developer has issued a handover notice and before you sign. The list goes to the handover team, the repairs are done, and we check them before you accept the unit.
After handover. If you have already taken the keys, it is not too late. Defects found after handover are reported to the developer under the defect liability period in your sale and purchase agreement. We inspect the unit in the same way and lodge the list under that period.
Before the liability period ends. A second full inspection late in the period. Air conditioning that struggles in August, a crack that opens as the building settles, a damp patch under a window after the first heavy rain: these only show after a season of use. Once the period ends, the cost of fixing them is normally yours. Your sale and purchase agreement sets the length of the period. Twelve months from handover is common for finishes and installations. Structural defects that threaten the safety of the building fall under a separate ten-year liability in the UAE Civil Transactions Law.
What we check, room by room
We work to a written checklist, the same one on every unit.
Entrance and hallways. Front door alignment, closer, lock, spy hole and fire rating label. Floor tiles for hollow spots, lippage and cracked grout. Skirting, wall finish and paint.
Living and dining. Walls and ceilings for cracks, patching and paint runs. Every socket tested under load, every switch and light fitting. Television, data and telephone points. Air conditioning grilles, thermostat and the condensate drain.
Kitchen. Cabinet doors and drawers for alignment and soft-close. Worktop joints, sealant and chips. Sink, mixer and waste for leaks. Every appliance the specification promises, switched on. Extractor ducting. Tiling behind the hob.
Bedrooms. Wardrobe doors, shelves and rails. Window opening, locking and seals. Curtain pelmet and ceiling finish. Sockets, switches and air conditioning in each room.
Bathrooms. Water pressure and temperature at every outlet. Drainage speed, falls to the drain and standing water. Sealant around baths, trays and basins. Toilet fixing and flush. Extract fans. Tile alignment and grout.
Balconies and terraces. Door tracks, seals and locks. Glass balustrade fixings. Drainage outlets and falls. Floor tiles. Signs of water getting under the door threshold.
Building services. Each air conditioning unit run and the supply air checked. The water heater. The distribution board labelled and every circuit tripped and reset. Smoke detectors.
We use a thermal camera and a moisture meter to find leaks behind finishes and gaps in insulation that a visual check would miss.
Villas and townhouses
A villa or townhouse has everything an apartment has, plus everything outside. We add the roof and its waterproofing, parapets and drainage outlets. External render and paint. Boundary walls, gates and the driveway. Garden irrigation, external lighting and outdoor sockets.
Where there is a pool we check the tiling, the coping, the pump and filter room, the lighting and the safety cover or fencing. Maid’s rooms, laundry rooms and garages are inspected the same way as the main rooms.
A villa takes longer, and the report is longer. That is reflected in the quote.
What the report contains
The report is written for the developer as much as for you. Each defect is one line, with:
- a photograph, with a second close-up where the defect is small
- the room and the exact position, for example “bedroom 2, window wall, left of the frame”
- a plain description of the fault
- a severity grade: safety, function, or finish
- a blank column for the developer’s reference number, which we fill in once the list is lodged
The grades matter. A loose balustrade or a live cable is a safety item and goes to the top. A sticking drawer is a finish item. Developers work through long lists faster when the order is clear, and you can see at a glance what has to be fixed before you sign. We send the report as a PDF and as a spreadsheet, so it can be tracked item by item.
How the developer process works
Each developer in Ras Al Khaimah runs handover through its own customer or handover team, and each has its own forms and portal. The steps are broadly the same.
- The list is submitted. With your written authority we send the snag list to the handover team in the format they ask for. Most teams log each item and give it a reference number, and we record those against our report.
- The developer fixes the items. The developer’s contractor works through the list. The developer sets the timetable, and it varies with the size of the list and the stage of the building.
- We re-inspect. When the developer says the work is done we go back and check every item. Fixed items are closed. Anything not fixed, or fixed badly, is re-listed with a new photograph.
- Sign-off. Once the safety and function items are closed, we tell you the unit is in a state you can sign for. Remaining finish items can be carried as a signed list under the defect liability period, so the developer is still bound to complete them.
We do not argue with the developer on site, and we do not fix anything ourselves. The value of the list is that it is independent and accurate.
Buying off plan from abroad
Many of the buyers taking handover in Ras Al Khaimah live somewhere else. The process below is built for them.
You sign a short authority letter so the developer will let us attend for you. We inspect, record the walk on video and send the report. Then we go through it with you on a call before anything is lodged, so the list reflects what you care about. We attend the re-inspection, and if you want, we collect the keys, meter readings and manuals for you at handover. If you are still at the buying stage, read our guide to buying off plan in Ras Al Khaimah.
One visit for handover, snagging and furnishing
Handover is the point where several jobs land at once: the inspection, the keys, the utilities and the question of what goes into the unit next. We can do the snagging and a furnishing survey in the same visit, measuring each room and photographing the walls and windows while we are there.
That survey is the starting point for our furniture packages, and the furniture goes in once the snags are closed, so an installer is never working around a painter. If the unit will be let to holidaymakers, the same visit starts the set-up for holiday home management. If it will be let by the year, it feeds the move-in inventory under property management.
Fees
We quote per unit, by size and type. A studio, a three bedroom townhouse and a five bedroom villa with a pool are different jobs, so they are not priced the same way.
Send us the community, the building or project, the unit type, the bedroom count and the handover date. The quote comes back in writing, with VAT shown, before we book the inspection.
Call or WhatsApp +971 58 569 4663, or email [email protected].