Read the full new-build buyer's guide for the complete legal framework, contractual retention, and what to do if the developer refuses to act.
What a New Build snagging inspection is in Portugal
A New Build snagging inspection, formally a provisional reception (receção provisória), is an independent survey of a newly completed home, carried out at handover before you sign for the keys. In the United Kingdom this is a routine step; in Portugal it is still uncommon, even though the buyer carries the same risk. Since the Simplex Urbanístico reform (DL 10/2024) reduced mandatory municipal checks, no public body verifies the condition of your specific unit before you accept it. A new build snagging survey puts an OE-licensed engineer in the property to record what the developer's own quality control missed.
The output is a documented, photographic record of every defect, graded by severity. It is the difference between telling the developer the bathroom leaks and handing them a dated report that locates the defect, classifies it, and ties it to your warranty rights. For a new-build inspection in Portugal, that evidence is what turns a verbal complaint into an enforceable claim.
What we check at handover
The inspection follows a 36-point checklist across five domains: structure and finishes; moisture and insulation; electrical installation; plumbing; and an overall assessment covering regulatory compliance, fire safety and accessibility. Every item is photographed and graded for conformity, and any action needed is prioritised as immediate, short-term or medium-term.
Structure and finishes
Accessible foundations, beams, columns and slabs, plus interior and exterior walls, the facade, window frames and glazing, floors and ceilings. Hairline cracking, misalignment and uneven tiling are the most frequent findings and the easiest for a developer to correct while still on site.
Moisture and insulation
Signs of damp and condensation, terrace, balcony and roof waterproofing, wall and roof thermal insulation, thermal bridges, and natural and mechanical ventilation. Waterproofing failures are the highest-consequence items here, the ones that become first-winter leaks.
Electrical installation
The distribution board, earth connection, wiring, sockets, switches, and general and emergency lighting, checked against RTIEBT. A missing earth connection or unfinished earthing certificate is common and carries a safety, not cosmetic, weight.
Plumbing
Supply pressure and flow, water quality, taps and valves, interior drainage, sewage piping, traps, toilets and shower bases, function-tested wherever the water supply is connected.
Overall assessment
Overall impression and finish quality, regulatory compliance, fire-safety provisions and accessibility in the common areas. These are recorded as advisory items where a specialist or the developer must confirm.
| # | Defect | Severity | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hairline cracks in plaster walls or ceilings | Major | 76% of new builds |
| 2 | Misaligned doors, windows or frames | Major | Poor installation |
| 3 | Window sealant gaps and draughts | Minor | Thermal bridge risk |
| 4 | Balcony or terrace waterproofing failure | Critical | 58% of cases |
| 5 | Flat roof or gutter membrane defects | Critical | First-winter leaks |
| 6 | Skirting boards and architraves poorly fixed | Minor | 68% of units |
| 7 | Uneven floor tiles or laminate gaps | Major | Trip hazard |
| 8 | Paint overspray, touch-up marks or incomplete finish | Minor | Cosmetic but documented |
| 9 | Kitchen cabinet alignment and soft-close failures | Minor | Warranty claim |
| 10 | Bathroom grout gaps and silicone sealant defects | Major | Hidden leak risk |
| 11 | Leaking taps, slow drainage or trap defects | Major | Plumbing warranty |
| 12 | Non-compliant electrical outlets or missing earth | Critical | 44% of new builds |
| 13 | Incorrect circuit labelling on consumer unit | Major | RTIEBT compliance |
| 14 | Boiler or water heater installation defects | Critical | Safety risk |
| 15 | AC unit installation or condensate drainage faults | Major | Common in Algarve |
| 16 | Missing or blocked ventilation grilles | Major | Condensation risk |
| 17 | Basement or garage damp and condensation | Major | 39% of units |
| 18 | Communal area finish defects passed to buyer | Major | Developer responsibility |
| 19 | Missing operation manuals or warranty certificates | Minor | Handover documentation |
| 20 | Intercom, entry system or smart-home faults | Minor | Post-handover cost |
Based on InspectOS New Build inspections across Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve. Severity shown is the typical impact of each defect type.
Every defect above becomes a line in your complete snag list, cross-referenced to a photograph, so nothing depends on memory or goodwill once you have accepted the keys.
When to book: before the escritura or before key handover
The single most valuable window is the 24 to 48 hours before key handover. Book the inspection then and you can present the report to the developer while you still hold something they want: your signature. The formal handover, the receção da obra, is the moment your bargaining position is strongest and the moment most buyers give it away.
Where the deed and the keys are separate events, aim to inspect before the escritura. If the schedule does not allow it, an inspection in the first 48 hours after you take possession is still valid and still worth doing; the defects existed before you arrived, and the report dates them.
Do not sign the handover record clean
Avoid signing the auto de receção as received without reservation until the property has been inspected. Signing it clean can be read as accepting the unit in the state it is in.
Report in 48 hours, in English and Portuguese.
Book your New Build inspectionYour warranty rights on a new build in Portugal
Two legal regimes protect a new-build buyer, and they are often confused. Under the Código Civil (Art. 1225), the builder is liable for defects for 5 years from delivery. When you buy the finished home from a developer as a consumer, DL 84/2021 (in force since 1 January 2022) applies a longer guarantee: 10 years for structural defects and 5 years for everything else, both counted from delivery. The one-year denúncia deadline that caught out so many buyers under the old regime was abolished, and you have 3 years to act once you have reported a defect in writing.
None of these periods help you without evidence. A dated, engineer-signed report is what starts the conversation on your terms. The construction guarantee is only as strong as the documentation behind it, which is the entire reason to inspect before you accept the property.
The Ficha Técnica da Habitação check (DL 68/2004)
Every home built or altered since March 2004 must have a Ficha Técnica da Habitação (FTH), a technical datasheet of the property's characteristics as built. It is not optional paperwork: without it, the escritura cannot legally proceed, and the developer is obliged to produce it and hand you the original.
During the inspection, the engineer confronts what is physically in the property against what the FTH and the approved project declare. Where the built reality deviates from the documents, that is a recorded non-conformity, not a matter of opinion. It is a check no generic snagging list performs, and it is where undisclosed substitutions of materials and equipment surface.
What it costs, and whether it is worth it
A New Build snagging inspection with InspectOS costs from €980 for a home up to 200 m², with the report in 48 hours. Against the price of the home and the cost of correcting a hidden waterproofing or electrical defect a year after the warranty conversation has cooled, it is a small, fixed sum paid once.
If you are buying new to live in or to let, or buying from abroad, this is the one step that documents the property's true condition at the moment it becomes yours. Anyone planning to buy a home in Portugal on a new development should treat the inspection as part of the purchase, not an extra.