Snag list software for UK project managers and surveyors

Why most snag tools fail

• Spreadsheets aren't snag lists. Excel can't hold photos, can't be updated from site, can't chase trades.
• Dedicated apps die on adoption. Powerful tools get abandoned when subbies refuse another login.
• No defensible audit trail. Without dates, photos and sign-offs at every step, retentions get held and disputes drag.

How BRCKS does it

Your site team sends snag photos to BRCKS on WhatsApp. Each one becomes a tracked snag — assigned to a trade, closed with a proof-of-fix photo, and exportable as a clean PDF handover pack.

Example

"Maple Court — 14 snags found on QS walk today." BRCKS logs them all, shows live counts (open, assigned, fixed awaiting sign-off, closed), and prepares the export.

The snag lifecycle in BRCKS

1. Raised — a photo and a sentence from WhatsApp becomes a numbered snag against the right plot and room.
2. Assigned — routed to the responsible trade, who is notified in WhatsApp with no login required.
3. Fixed — the trade replies with a proof-of-fix photo, which attaches to the same record.
4. Signed off — the PM or QS closes it, and the date, photos and approver are locked into the audit trail.
5. Exported — a clean PDF or spreadsheet per plot for handover, retention release or NHBC evidence.

Built for the people who run snag lists

Project managers get live counts per plot and trade so the close-out programme is a fact rather than an estimate. Surveyors and QSs get a defensible dated record that supports retention release. Site managers get to stop maintaining a spreadsheet in the van. And subcontractors are free on BRCKS, so widening the list to every trade on the job costs you nothing.

Reporting and handover packs

Filter by plot, room, trade, status or date, then export. Because the same project holds the site diary and variations, a snag that turns out to be a scope change carries its history from the first message to the approved invoice. Compare tools on the best snagging app UK page.

What a snag record has to prove

A snag list is only worth keeping if it stands up when somebody disputes it. On a UK job that usually means one of three moments: a client withholding retention, a warranty provider such as NHBC or LABC asking for evidence, or a subcontractor insisting the defect was not theirs. In each case the argument is about dates and attribution, not about whether anybody noticed the crack.

Every BRCKS snag therefore carries the same five things automatically: when it was raised and by whom, where it is (plot, unit, room), a photograph taken at the time rather than reconstructed later, who it was assigned to, and when it was signed off and by which person. Because the snag starts life as a WhatsApp message, none of that is typed twice — the metadata is a by-product of the site team doing what they already do.

Running snags across plots and phases

Residential and fit-out close-out is rarely one list. It is forty plots at different stages, a phased handover programme and a QS who needs to know which units are clear this Friday. BRCKS lets you add plots and rooms in bulk, name a plot in a WhatsApp message so the snag files itself there, and then read the position by plot, by trade or by status.

That matters for sequencing. If eleven of your open snags are electrical and spread across four plots, sending the electrician to site once is cheaper than four separate return visits. The live counts — open, assigned, fixed awaiting sign-off, closed — turn the close-out programme into something you can plan against instead of a spreadsheet that is three days out of date.

Getting trades to close snags without an app

This is where snag list software normally fails. A defect is only closed when the person who has to fix it responds, and subcontractors will not maintain an account in a system they visit twice a year. BRCKS notifies the responsible trade in WhatsApp, they reply with a photo when it is done, and that reply attaches to the snag as proof of fix. No download, no password reset, no training.

The commercial side matters too: subcontractors, trades and clients are free on BRCKS forever. Nothing stops you putting every trade on the job into the loop, which is the difference between a snag list that reflects the site and one that reflects whoever remembered to update it.

Who typically buys it

Project managers running several live jobs use it to replace the evening reconciliation. Quantity surveyors and building surveyors use it for the dated evidence that supports retention release and defends against inflated claims. Site managers use it to stop carrying a spreadsheet around a half-finished building. Property and maintenance managers use it for reactive defects across a portfolio rather than a single build.

It is not the right choice if your snags need pinning to coordinates on an architectural drawing — a drawing-led tool suits that better, and we say so on the comparison page.

What it costs to run

£40 per paid seat per month billed annually (£50 monthly) for your core office team, with subcontractors, trades and clients free. A typical five-person contractor runs two or three paid seats. There is a 14-day free trial and no per-project fee, so adding the next job costs nothing. Full detail on pricing.

Start with one live job

Point your site team at the BRCKS WhatsApp number on a single project and walk it as normal. Within a fortnight you will have a snag list nobody typed up. Read more about the BRCKS snagging app, see the site diary app, watch the demo, check pricing or start a free trial.