Key Takeaways
- ✓ 1,900 of our 2,108 live listings are new build: snagging is a mainstream skill on this coast, not a niche one.
- ✓ 1,537 listings advertise air conditioning, but 128 say "air conditioning pre-installation", which means ducting and power only. No units.
- ✓ 1,491 listings include a communal pool and 1,142 a lift. Both need their own certificates before first occupation.
- ✓ 359 listings carry an energy rating of G. On an unfinished build that usually means the certificate has not been issued yet, so ask for it.
- ✓ Do the walk-through before the final payment. Your bargaining power vanishes the moment the developer is paid in full.
When do you inspect a new build? Before you pay for it. That is the whole trick, and it is the part buyers most often get backwards: they complete, move in, then start writing a list. By then the developer has your money and your list is a request rather than a condition.
This applies to almost everyone buying on this coast: 1,900 of the 2,108 properties on our live book are new build, against 208 resale. Snagging is not something a few unlucky buyers have to do. It is the standard last step.
The documents to have in hand first
Before you walk the property, ask for these. If they are not ready, the property is not ready.
- Licencia de primera ocupación: the first-occupation licence from the town hall. Without it the property cannot legally be lived in and utilities can be refused.
- Certificado final de obra: the architect's and technical architect's sign-off that the building matches the approved project.
- Boletínes for electricity, water and, where fitted, gas: the installation certificates that let you open supply contracts in your own name.
- Energy performance certificate. Note that 359 listings on our book show a G rating; on an unfinished build that is usually a placeholder rather than a verdict on the building, but you want the real certificate before completion.
- Lift certificate and maintenance contract if the block has one. 1,142 of our listings do.
- The specification sheet attached to your contract, so you can check what you are looking at against what you bought.
The spec words that hide the most
Listing language on new build is a genre of its own. These are the phrases we see most across our book, and what each one actually commits the developer to.
| Listing phrase | How often it appears | What to check on site |
|---|---|---|
| Air conditioning | 1,537 listings | That physical units are fitted in every room claimed, and that they run |
| Air conditioning pre-installation | 128 listings | Ducting and power point only: the units are your cost, not theirs |
| Communal pool | 1,491 listings | Pool finished, filled, filtration working and covered by the occupation licence |
| Built-in wardrobes | 1,237 listings | Interiors fitted out with shelving and rails, not empty shells with doors |
| Lift | 1,142 listings | Certificate issued, lift commissioned, maintenance contract in place |
| Solarium | 576 listings | Drainage falls away correctly, parapet height compliant, waterproofing intact |
| Underfloor heating | 222 listings | System commissioned and thermostats working, not just pipework laid |
| No community fees | 251 listings | What that means for maintaining shared roads, lighting and drainage |
The air-conditioning line is the one that catches most people. 1,537 listings say "air conditioning" and 128 say "pre-installation", and the two phrases sit two words apart in a brochure. Pre-installation means you get a hole in the wall and a cable. Fitting out a three-bedroom home afterwards is a real number, and it should be in your budget before you sign, not discovered in July.
The walk-through, room by room
Go on a bright day, take a phone with a full battery, and photograph everything you flag with something in shot for scale. Bring a plug-in socket tester and a small spirit level if you can.
Floors and walls. Sight along the tiles for lipping. Tap hollow-sounding tiles. Check grout lines are consistent and that cut tiles at the edges are not chipped. Look at wall corners for plaster shrinkage cracks.
Doors and windows. Open and close every one, fully. Check they do not catch, that locks turn without force, and that double glazing has no misting between panes. Test every shutter. 184 of our listings advertise electric shutters, and a motor that whines or stalls now will fail in year two.
Water. Run every tap hot and cold, fill and drain every sink and bath, flush every toilet twice. Look under every trap for damp. Check the shower falls towards the drain and does not pool.
Electrics. Test every socket and every switch. Count sockets against the plan: missing ones are common and cheap to fix before handover, expensive after. Check the consumer unit is labelled.
Terrace, garden and solarium. Pour a bucket of water and watch where it goes. Standing water on a terrace is the single most common serious defect we see. Check railings are firm and gates latch.
Communal areas. The pool, gym, gardens and parking are part of what you bought. 226 listings on our book advertise a communal gym and 133 underground parking. Check both are finished and accessible, not "phase two".
€249,000Two-bed apartment, Pilar de la Horadada
Pilar De La Horadada · Zona Pueblo
€254,900Three-bed bungalow, San Miguel
San Miguel De Salinas · Pueblo
€232,000Two-bed penthouse, El Raso
Guardamar Del Segura · EL RASO
€284,900Two-bed penthouse, Benijófar
Benijofar · Pueblo 4
How to present the list
One document, numbered, with a photograph against each item and a location description ("master bedroom, wall behind door"). Send it to the developer and to your lawyer, dated, before the completion date. A numbered list gets worked through. A conversation gets forgotten.
Ask for a re-inspection once the items are fixed, and do not sign the handover acceptance until you have done it. If the developer will not delay completion, your lawyer can usually agree a retention, an amount held back until the list is cleared.
Your guarantees after handover
Spanish construction law gives new-build buyers a tiered guarantee from the developer and the building team: one year for finishes and cosmetic defects, three years for defects affecting habitability such as installations and water ingress, and ten years for structural defects. Keep every document, photograph and email: a claim two years in is only as good as your paperwork.
That does not make snagging optional. Claiming under a guarantee is slow and adversarial. Getting the tiles right before you pay is neither.
Before you buy
Browse new-build homes on the Costa Blanca, or look at Guardamar del Segura and Pilar de la Horadada, two of the busiest new-build towns on our book. For the wider process, read our property inspection checklist and how new-build payment schedules work.
We walk the property with our buyers and we write the list with them. Tell us which scheme you are looking at below and we will tell you what we would check first.