Who issues the certificate?

The contract administrator, architect, engineer or employer's agent, after their own walk. Your list is the evidence they lean on.

How long is the defects period?

Commonly 6 or 12 months in the UK and Australia; one year on most US contracts. Items found during it go on the same list with new numbers.

What is practical completion, and where does the snag list fit?

It is the point at which the works are complete enough to be used, with only minor defects outstanding, and those defects are the snag list (UK, Australia) or punch list (US, Canada, where the milestone is called substantial completion). The certificate starts the defects liability period, releases part of the retention and passes the risk to the client, so the list attached to it is the document everyone argues from later.

Updated 2026-09-19Punch List AI 1.2 · iPhone and iPad

A project header with its counters: open, critical, overdue, resolved

Step by step

Walk the project with a checklist in the last week; the list attached to the certificate must be complete.
Number and photograph every item; agree the list with the contractor before the certificate.
Close items with after photos during the defects period; the closeout report shows Before and After.
Keep the wording of your market: snag, punch item, defect or deficiency, the app follows it.

What is practical completion, and where does the snag list fit?

Step by step

Related questions

Try it on your next walk

What is practical completion, and where does the snag list fit?

Step by step

Related questions

Try it on your next walk

Go deeper

Closure evidence

Punch list vs snag list: the vocabulary by country