Short answer: how to prepare
Accepting a renovation means comparing what was built with what was agreed, not forming a general impression. Bring the quote, current drawings and the list of approved changes. Walk the flat room by room, testing everything that opens, switches on or carries water. Log each observation with location, description and photo, and agree who closes each item and by when.
Set aside proper time. A 100 m² flat cannot be accepted in twenty minutes: doors, windows and taps alone take longer. Come in daylight and stay until evening so you also see the artificial lighting.
What to bring
Documents: the quote, drawings, approved changes, photos of approved samples. Simple tools: a tape measure, your phone torch, masking tape for marking, a phone charger to test sockets. A torch held flat against a wall and pointed along it reveals unevenness in the plaster that head-on light hides.
Have the contractor’s site lead with you. That way the question “is this intentional or unfinished?” is settled on the spot, not by message a week later.
Walk-through order
In each room, top to bottom: ceiling, walls, junctions between materials, floor, skirting. Then everything that moves: open and close every door, check gaps and closers; open windows in every mode; kitchen and wardrobe drawers and doors. Then everything that switches on: every switch, dimmer, socket, extractor, air conditioning, heating.
In bathrooms, run every tap at full flow, let the water drain and look under the basin for drips. Check that shower water runs to the drain, not towards the door.
The 250 m² child psychology centre in the Eixample has 24 concealed doors. On a job like that each one is checked on its own: flush with the wall, gap, closing. A door that sits slightly proud is more noticeable than an ordinary door with an architrave.
How to log observations
For each item: where (room and wall), what is wrong, a photo. And its type: unfinished, needs adjustment, or a question that needs an answer. The three are closed in different ways, and mixing them in one unlabelled list leads to disputes.
One shared, versioned list. Several conversations with different people and different instructions produce three different ideas of what needs doing. Each item gets an owner and a deadline, and closure is confirmed by photo or a return visit.
A simple format that works: a table with columns for number, room, issue, photo, type, who fixes it, deadline, closed. Keep it in a shared document that both you and the contractor can see, so everyone works from the same version.
Documents and manuals
Ask for a walk-through of the installed equipment: air conditioning, ventilation, home automation if any, water heater. Collect the manufacturers’ manuals and warranty documents. Request a materials list with references: tile model, parquet batch, paint codes. Three years from now, when a wall needs touching up or a tile replacing, that list will save weeks.
Keep leftover materials — a few tiles, a pack of parquet, a tin of paint — in the flat. And confirm which documents the contract says are handed over at the end, such as electrical installation certificates where the scope requires them.
Technical checks that need specific expertise are done by the responsible professionals. Your visual review does not replace them.
Closing open items and moving in
Part of the final payment under the contract is usually tied to closing the snagging list. It is normal practice and it helps get the small things finished. Once everything is closed, that is recorded in writing.
Agree where to report anything that shows up later. In the first months new plaster finishes drying and hairline cracks can appear at junctions, and doors sometimes need adjusting after the season changes. That is the normal life of a new renovation, and it helps to know in advance who to contact.
Next step
With us, one person runs the project from start to handover, so on the final walk-through you are talking to someone who knows every decision made in the flat, in Spanish or Russian. If you are still planning your renovation, get in touch: we reply within an hour.