Snag-list response standard
When a customer raises a snag on joinery, you respond within 5 working days and clear it within 20 working days, or sooner where reasonable. Slower than that and your 10% withhold sits unreleased.
When a customer raises a snag on joinery you've fabricated, you have a clear response standard. This article describes it.
The standard
- Acknowledge within 5 working days of the snag being raised through the platform.
- Provide a plan within 10 working days — what you'll do, by when, and whether it's a workshop fix, an on-site fix, or a part replacement.
- Clear within 20 working days of the original snag where reasonable. Some snags (e.g. a part being remade in the workshop) take longer; in those cases you confirm a clear date and stick to it.
The 10% withhold sits unreleased until the snag-list is cleared — so the timeline is also a commercial standard.
What counts as a snag
- Visible defects in finish (chipped paint, marked surfaces, joins not flush).
- Hardware not working as designed (drawer runners sticking, hinges misaligned).
- Items not matching shop drawings or specification.
- Damage that occurred at any point before the customer took possession (workshop, transit, install).
What's not a snag: design preferences the customer wants to change, or damage caused after the customer took possession (which would be a repair, not a snag).
How the snag-list is managed
Snags are logged through the platform. Each snag has a status — raised, acknowledged, plan agreed, in progress, cleared. The customer marks a snag cleared when they accept the resolution. You can dispute a snag if you believe it's outside scope; your build advisor mediates.
When the response standard is missed
- Slower-than-standard response triggers a build advisor check-in. We'll ask why and confirm a recovery date.
- Repeated misses count against your performance record on the joinery side and can affect your continued status as a Joinery Partner.
- Severe or unresolved snags can trigger a network backstop step where Beams arranges resolution at our cost and recovers from you under the Joinery Partner Agreement.
What this means for you
Snagging is the part of joinery work that defines the customer's experience of the entire project. Slow snagging is the most common cause of customer escalation we see in joinery. A 5-day acknowledge / 10-day plan / 20-day clear standard is achievable for almost every snag with normal workshop capacity. Build it into your run-rate.
Related articles
- Joinery Partner milestones (50/40/10)
- How a joinery project runs alongside a build