Bathroom Snag List Template (India): Room-by-Room Punch List for Pre-Handover Inspection

A site engineer with a clipboard and torch inspecting a newly finished Indian bathroom, marking tile joints and fittings before handover

A snag list — or punch list — is the single document that decides whether a bathroom is genuinely finished or just looks finished. It is the defect-capture sheet you walk the room with at pre-handover inspection, logging every gap, drip, wobble and misalignment so each one gets an owner and a date instead of being forgotten the moment the client moves in. This Studio Matrx template is built for Indian projects: hard-water fittings, CPVC plumbing, WC and health-faucet layouts, and the small finishing failures that show up again and again on site. Copy the tables straight into your own project file and adapt the rows.

A defect that is written down gets fixed; a defect that is only pointed at gets forgotten. The snag list exists to convert a vague "the door scrapes a bit" into a numbered line with a location, a responsible trade and a target date — and to keep it open until it is signed off.

How to use this document

The snag list is filled in at the pre-handover walkthrough, after the bathroom is fully finished — tiling, plumbing fixtures, electricals, glass, painting and cleaning all complete — but before the client accepts the room and releases the final payment. Whoever leads the inspection (site engineer, project architect, interior designer, or the homeowner with a checklist) walks the room methodically and records every defect as a numbered line in the snag register below.

Work the room in a fixed order so nothing is missed — floor, walls, ceiling, then each fixture (WC, basin, shower), then fittings, electricals, ventilation and the door. Use the room-by-room prompt checklist as your walking script: it is the list of things to actually look at, tap, open and run. Grade every snag by severity so the contractor fixes the safety and function failures first. Then hand the marked-up register to the contractor, agree target dates, and hold a re-inspection to close each line. Do not sign off the room until every Critical and Major snag reads "Closed".

Take a photo of each snag and note the photo reference against the S.No — a picture of the tile lippage or the dripping mixer removes all argument at re-inspection. Carry a torch (raking light across tiles exposes lippage and hollow grout), a spirit level, a marble or ball for the floor fall, and a roll of low-tack tape to physically flag each defect on the wall.

The snag register — the main deliverable

This is the sheet you fill in. The example rows below are realistic defects that recur on Indian bathroom handovers; delete them and enter your own, or keep them as prompts. Number every line so it can be tracked to closure.

S.No	Location	Element	Defect	Severity	Responsible	Target date	Status
1	Shower wall, near mixer	Wall tile grout	Grout gaps / hollow joints along 3 courses; water can track behind tile	Critical	Tiling contractor	14-Jul	Open
2	Floor, WC to door	Floor tiles	Lippage 2–3 mm at 4 joints; trip edge and dirt trap	Major	Tiling contractor	14-Jul	Open
3	Basin area	Basin mixer	Mixer drips from spout when closed; cartridge/washer suspect	Critical	Plumber	13-Jul	Open
4	WC	Wall-hung / floor WC	WC pan not level (rocks ~2 mm); base not set true	Major	Plumber	15-Jul	Open
5	WC	Flush cistern	Weak / incomplete flush; inlet valve or flush volume under-set	Major	Plumber	15-Jul	Open
6	Ceiling	Exhaust fan	Fan noisy and rattles on run; loose mounting / unbalanced	Minor	Electrician	16-Jul	Open
7	Entry	Bathroom door	Door bottom catches / scrapes the floor tile	Major	Carpenter	15-Jul	Open
8	Basin & WC junctions	Silicone sealant	Silicone bead missing at basin-to-counter and WC-to-floor	Major	Finishing	14-Jul	Open
9	Floor drain	Floor trap / gully	Slow drain; water ponds ~40 mm around trap, fall inadequate	Major	Plumber	16-Jul	Open
10	Wall, near shower	Towel rail / ring	Towel rail wobbles; fixing not into a fixed anchor	Minor	Finishing	16-Jul	Open
11	Shower glass	Glass partition	Panel not plumb; visible gap at floor lets water escape	Major	Glass vendor	17-Jul	Open
12	Ceiling / walls	Paint & finish	Splash marks and roller lap marks on wall above dado	Minor	Painter	17-Jul	Open

Keep the register live: as each defect is fixed and re-inspected, change Status from Open to Closed and date it. A line only closes at the re-inspection, not on the contractor's word.

Room-by-room prompt checklist

This is your walking script — the things to actually look at, tap, run and open in each zone. Tick each prompt; every failed prompt becomes a numbered line in the register above. It is deliberately concrete and India-specific.

Zone	What to check (the prompts)
Floor	Fall runs to the trap (pour a mug of water — it must chase the drain, not pond); no lippage at joints; grout full and even; no hollow tiles (tap-test); anti-skid finish as specified; skirting sealed
Walls	Tiles plumb and flush; grout lines straight, full, uniform colour; no cracked or chipped tiles; cut tiles neat at corners; dado height as drawing; niche waterproofed and drained
Ceiling	False ceiling level, no sag; no damp patch or stain; access panel opens; joints filled; fan/light cut-outs clean
WC	Pan level and does not rock; firmly anchored; strong full flush; refills and stops (no running); health faucet holds pressure, no drip; seat fits; base sealed
Basin	Counter/basin level; mixer runs hot and cold, no drip when closed; pop-up/waste drains fully and holds; bottle trap connected, no leak; sealed to counter/wall
Shower	Mixer/diverter works both outlets; overhead and hand shower flow even, no clogged jets; glass plumb, no floor gap; door swings/slides clean; channel drains
Fittings	Towel rails, rings, hooks, robe hooks firm (into anchors, not just tile); paper holder set; mirror level and fixed; shelves hold load
Electrical	Switches/sockets work and are IP-rated for zone; geyser runs and its isolator/indicator works; RCD/ELCB trips on test; light throw even; no exposed wiring
Ventilation	Exhaust fan runs quiet, pulls air (tissue test), damper closes; window opens and seals; no condensation trap
Door	Clears the floor and threshold; latch and lock work; hinges quiet; no swelling; undercut for air; louvre/vent as specified

Severity — grade every snag

Severity decides the fix order and what blocks handover. Grade every line so the contractor tackles safety and function before cosmetics.

Severity	Definition	Examples	Effect on handover
Critical	Safety hazard, active water leak, or a defect that will cause damage or failure if not fixed now	Dripping concealed connection, live wiring exposed, RCD not tripping, grout gaps letting water behind tile, WC leaking at floor	Blocks handover — must be closed before sign-off
Major	Function or finish is clearly wrong; not an immediate hazard but not acceptable to hand over	Tile lippage, WC rocks, weak flush, door scrapes floor, silicone missing, poor floor fall / ponding	Blocks handover — closed before final payment
Minor	Cosmetic or small nuisance that should be corrected but does not stop use	Noisy fan, slightly wobbly towel rail, paint lap marks, minor grout colour patchiness	Fix in snagging round; may allow conditional handover

Common mistakes

Inspecting a dirty or unfinished room. Snag only after the final clean — dust hides lippage, chipped edges and paint marks. Snagging a half-done room wastes the walk.
Vague entries. "Tiles bad" is unactionable. Write the location, the element and the measurable defect — "floor tiles, WC to door, 2–3 mm lippage at 4 joints".
No severity grading. Without it, the contractor fixes the easy cosmetic snags and leaves the leak. Grade first, fix Critical and Major first.
Closing on trust. A line closes at re-inspection against the photo and the level — never because the contractor says it is done.
Skipping the water tests. Ponding, weak flush and slow drains only show when you actually pour water and flush. Run every fixture.
No photos. Undocumented snags get disputed. One photo per line, referenced to the S.No, ends the argument.

This template is a starting point, not a contract. Verify every line against your actual project drawings, the works contract and the finishes schedule, and against local codes and a licensed professional. Rates, tolerances and acceptance criteria are indicative and depend on city, spec and the agreed standard of finish.

Related resources & guides

Bathroom Design Checklist (India) — the upstream design decisions this snag list is checking against.
Bathroom Quality Inspection Checklist (India) — the deeper stage-by-stage quality checks behind the snag walk.
Bathroom Handover Checklist (India) — the full handover pack this snag list feeds into.
Bathroom Cleaning Guide (India) — the final-clean standard the room must reach before you snag it.