Snagging payment / builders clean

[ShortLass]

My project is coming to an end (in two weeks, I reckon) and I have retained some of the builder's money due for snagging.

How long do I reasonably keep hold of this money before I decide I'm happy and pay up?

When the builders have gone, I am having the house painted (3 to 4 weeks), and the carpets fitted before I move in. I may not actually move in until the first week of September as I have two weeks off work then and it seems the best time to do it.

So it will be a while before I actually get to live with what the builders have done (which is loads!). I am happy with my builders and I have picked up on a few things as we go along, but I'm likely to have missed stuff. I don't want to hang onto their money unnecessarily, but I'm concerned I might not see some stuff until I'm living there.

Also, the plumber asked me if I was having a builder's clean at the end of the project, seeing as they've been doing stuff all over the house. I'd never heard of this before. I assume it should be included as part of the project? The windows are very dusty inside and out, apart from anything else. Anyone know anything about this?

Many thanks

What does your agreement with the builder say re retention and cleaning?

On retention, it would usually say pay £x on completion and then £x 90 (or whatever) days later. If it's not mentioned in the agreement then I would say that the builder is due his funds when they finish. When they finishes, you should inspect the work within a week or so, get them to sort snags and then pay-up. However long you take to move into it isn't really their concern.

If a post build clean isn't mentioned in your agreement then I doubt it'll happen to a level that would allow painting / carpets fitted to take place. I would either do it myself or pay someone for a deep clean. As a minimum though, builders would be expected to remove all rubbish relating to the works and give things a superficial wipe-over but to be honest, there'll be so much dust around, it'll linger on for a few weeks anyway without a deep clean.

Thanks! The contract just says 10% reserved for snagging. That's it. I will probably speak to the builder and see what he says. I know on the previous project that he said the client owed him thousands for a couple of months while he nagged the plumber to supply the manual for the boiler he installed.

I would expect them to clean up their rubbish and I was expecting them to clean the windows etc. It was just what the plumber said today that made me reconsider.

Ok, excellent! What worked well with mine was that I went around first and typed it all down and then walked around with the builder with the list and then gave it to him to work from. When he completed the list, I paid him within a day. I was however pretty picky with the list so things like windows not closing properly, gaps behind skirting and the wall where they had installed new walls and skirting and yes, manuals, guarantees and certificates for building control, Part P electrics, Gas boiler and HW Cylinder instals! You only really get one chance to snag...

On the cleaning, I think that I did mention it to my builder and he got the labourer to spend a day cleaning the house...to be honest, my 13 year old son could have done more in an hour that the labourer managed in a day...he did do a decent-enough job of power-washing the drive though for some reason!

I work for a construction firm. Our contracts generally say 5% retention held until Practical Completion (all snagging completed) then 2.5% held for 12 months.