Handover Inspection Dubai · New Property Snag List

What is a handover inspection?

A handover inspection is the documented walk-through done when a property is delivered by the developer to the buyer. It identifies every defect, every snag, every incomplete finish that should be on the record before you take occupancy.

Defects liability period. This is a contractual warranty written into the sale and purchase agreement, most commonly twelve months from handover, covering non-structural items: MEP, HVAC, leaks, doors, windows, fittings, finishes, cracks and alignment. No UAE law fixes it at twelve months and no law obliges a developer to grant one. Check your own SPA.

Decennial liability. This is a statutory ten-year protection that cannot be waived. It covers total or partial collapse and defects threatening the building's stability or safety. Under the UAE Civil Code the contractor and supervising engineer are jointly liable for ten years from delivery. Article 40 of Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 holds the developer liable for ten years from the completion certificate for structural defects in jointly owned property. For facts and acts on or after 1 June 2026 the federal provisions are renumbered under Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, with the former Articles 880 to 883 applying before that date.

A cracked tile is the defects liability period. A cracked structural column is decennial liability.

When you need it.

01

You're taking handover of an off-plan apartment.

You've waited 2 years for delivery. The unit looks finished but you spot wall cracks, missing kitchen handles, AC noise. Without a documented snag list, the developer disputes everything later.

02

You're a buyer taking possession from a developer.

Your defects liability period starts on the handover date. Anything not documented in the handover inspection becomes your maintenance cost from day one. Don't lose 6 months of free fixes.

03

You're a landlord receiving a new build to lease out.

You'll list this unit for rent within weeks. Tenant complaints about builder defects will land on you, not the developer. Document everything at handover so it stays on the developer's tab.

Where Snagify actually fits.

This is not a service we sell. Snagify has no handover inspection type, no developer signature role, and no repair tracker. You can still use it to produce a photographic, dated, room-by-room record and attach that file to the snag list you send the developer yourself.

Where it genuinely belongs is the tenancy that follows: a documented check-in, then a check-out, signed by landlord and tenant.

If you need a professional handover or snagging inspection. Specialist firms send a technician to test systems and appliances on site. That is a different service from a documentation app.

Step by step.

01

Read the SPA before handover day

The defects liability period, if you have one, lives in the sale and purchase agreement. Note the start date, the duration, and how defects must be notified. Nothing on this page replaces that document.

02

Inspect before you take the keys as accepted

Timing is the whole point. Defects noted after you have signed acceptance are easier for a developer to treat as yours. Walk the unit while it is still empty, with the lights on and water and power live if you can.

03

Look at finishes, then systems

Walls, floors, ceilings, doors, windows, grout, paint, and alignment first. Then taps, drainage, AC, sockets, appliances, and any smart-home kit. Photograph every issue in context and close-up.

04

Put it in writing and send it

A list with photos, unit number, handover date, and a request for a written acknowledgement. Email it to the developer's customer-care channel named in your SPA, and keep the thread.

05

If the developer refuses to engage

You still have the dated record. Chase in writing, escalate through the channel in the SPA, then to the competent authority for the type of defect. A photographic file is not a substitute for a specialist snagging report, but it is better than a memory.

06

Then document the rental, if you let the unit

Once a tenant moves in, the relevant document is a check-in signed by landlord and tenant, not a developer snag list. That is the flow Snagify is built for.

What you get at the end.

Final deliverable

Snagify does not produce a handover snag list, a developer signature, or a repair tracker. What you can export is a dated, room-by-room photographic record to attach to your own correspondence. For a rental, the deliverable that matters is a check-in and check-out signed by both parties.

Frequently asked.

A thorough first walk of a new 1BR apartment often takes 60 to 90 minutes; a villa longer. Better to take the time than to discover defects after the contractual window, if you have one, has started running.

Send the list anyway, dated, with photos, and keep proof of delivery. A refusal to engage is itself a fact you can record in writing. Snagify cannot collect a developer signature: the product only supports landlord and tenant roles.

Either party can walk the unit. Most developers run their own handover and ask the buyer to sign. You can still walk it independently first and keep your own dated photos. The two records together are stronger than a signature on a form you barely read.

Handover inspection is the formal moment of property delivery from developer to buyer. Snagging is the broader practice of identifying defects, which can also happen later. They are not the same document as a tenancy check-in.

No. Snagify does not send an inspector and has no handover or snagging inspection type. If you are documenting a rental instead, check-in is free on the individual plan and credit packs start at 99 AED.

Handover inspection in Dubai.