Sign the work off when it is right, not when the invoice arrives
We measure a contractor's work against the specification you paid for. Every item photographed, located and cited, in time to be corrected while the final payment is still yours to hold.
Why the timing matters
Once the invoice is settled, every remaining defect is a favour rather than an obligation. These are the items we most often find on completed work in Dubai, and what they cost to put right after the contractor has left.
Indicative ranges from work we have seen quoted in Dubai. Corrected before completion, most of these items cost you nothing at all.
What we check
412 checkpoints on a full renovation.168 checkpoints on a single-room fit-out.The same survey we run at handover, with the schedule of works, the drawings and the agreed finishes added to the record.
01
Specification & drawings
Every material, finish and fitting against the schedule you signed and paid for.The finishes in the room against the schedule, including substitutions made on site.
02
Structure & alterations
New openings, lintels, blockwork, and the making good around anything removed.Any wall or opening altered, and the making good around it.
03
Floors, tiling & thresholds
Lippage, hollow beds, grout and silicone lines, junctions between old and new floors.Setting out, cuts at the edges, lippage, grout and silicone lines.
04
Joinery & fitted units
Every run: alignment, closing gaps, soft-close, scribes, and the faces nobody looks at.Alignment, closing gaps, drawer runs, and scribes to wall and ceiling.
05
Paint, plaster & decoration
Flatness under raking light, coverage, cutting-in, edges to trim, glass and ironmongery.Coverage, cutting-in, and the edges where the new work meets the old.
06
Kitchens, bathrooms & sanitaryware
Installation, sealing, isolation, extract, and every appliance tested to specification.Installation, sealing, isolation and extract, with appliances run through a cycle.
07
Electrical, lighting & certification
Every new circuit tested, board relabelled, RCD trips confirmed, certificates issued.New circuits tested, board schedule updated, certificate issued for the alteration.
08
Plumbing, drainage & pressure
Flow and pressure at every outlet, falls, trap seals, isolation valves, concealed runs.Flow and pressure, falls, trap seals and isolation to the fittings installed.
09
HVAC, extract & thermal survey
Relocated grilles, airflow, condensate falls, extract rates, thermal imaging of new wet areas.Airflow and extract in the room, and thermal imaging over new wet areas and chases.
Two points to inspect
Most defects that cost real money are buried before completion. We inspect at the stage that catches them, and again at the end. For work handed over by a developer rather than a contractor, see snagging inspection; for a property you are buying, pre-purchase inspection.
Stage inspection
Before it is boarded and closed
Completion inspection
Before the final payment clears
Tolerances & standards
A contractor will tell you the floor is fine. We record how far out it is, against the tolerance it fails and the clause that sets it. That is what turns a disputed snag into a measurement nobody argues with.
Each entry is graded critical, major or minor, and written so the trade responsible can work from it directly.
How it works
The specification, the drawings if you hold them, and the date the contractor expects to finish.
On site with the schedule of works. Four to six hours for a single room, a day for a full renovation.
Delivered on site, graded, numbered, and written for the trade that has to fix it.
You hold the final payment against the list. We re-inspect and confirm in writing what has been put right.
What you get
Every defect located, photographed, measured and graded, with the standard or the specification clause it fails cited. Written so each item can be assigned, corrected and signed off without a further conversation.
Waterproof membrane not returned up the wall behind the tray
Required actionStrip tiling to the enclosure, relay the membrane to full upstand, reinstate. Contractor to correct before completion.
Carcasses set out of level along the run
Required actionRe-level and re-scribe the run, adjust doors and drawer fronts to consistent gaps.
FAQ
Both, if the programme allows it. A stage inspection before ceilings, walls and floors are closed is the only chance to see waterproofing, falls and concealed services. The completion inspection covers everything visible and gives you the list to hold the final payment against. If you can only instruct one, make it the completion inspection.
For you. We are not appointed by the contractor, we take no fee from them, and we have no interest in the remedial work. Our only output is the report.
Most disputes end when the measurement is produced. Each entry carries the reading, the tolerance it fails and the standard or specification clause that sets it, so the conversation is about a number rather than an opinion. Where a contractor still disagrees we will speak to them directly.
Yes. We return once the contractor says the list is closed, check each item, and confirm in writing what has been put right and what has not. Re-inspections are included on our Complete service.
Yes. Without a specification we inspect against the Dubai Building Code and UAE Civil Defence requirements where they apply, and against British standards and normal good practice for finishes (NHBC tolerances, BS 5606, BS 5385), which is the benchmark most contracts fall back on anyway. Send us whatever you do hold: quotations, drawings, material schedules, WhatsApp messages agreeing a finish.
Yes, and most renovations are. We work around what is there, and we state plainly in the report anything we could not reach.
The survey is the same discipline; the counterparty is not. A new build is measured against the developer's obligations under warranty. A renovation is measured against the contract you signed with your contractor, and the leverage is the money you have not yet paid.
Before we leave the site, which matters when a final payment is due. Tell us the date and we will say honestly whether we can meet it.
★★★★★ 4.9 average · 318 Google reviews
★★★★★
“They found 212 defects. Emaar fixed 209 before I flew out. The other three are diarised.”
R. Patel · Two-bed, Dubai Hills · Google review
★★★★★
“The developer called the crack settlement. The report gave a width against a limit, and they repaired it.”
J. Whitmore · Villa, Tilal Al Ghaf · Google review
★★★★★
“Four re-inspections in the end. They never once mentioned an extra charge.”
A. Deshpande · Apartment, Sobha Hartland · Google review
Tell us the property and the date. A fixed fee comes back the same working day.