The Law Society Building Agreement for New Homes

Every Irish new-home buyer signs it; almost none read it. The building agreement — the construction half of the standard two-contract structure — is where your rights about completion, quality, snagging and defects are actually written. The marketing brochure makes the promises; this document defines which ones are enforceable.

The Two-Contract Structure

The standard purchase pairs a contract for sale (the land) with a building agreement (the construction), signed and completed together. The practical consequence: complaints about the house — delay, quality, snags, defects — are answered by the building agreement’s terms, and a buyer’s solicitor reads both documents as one transaction. The construction covenant at the agreement’s heart — completion in a good and workmanlike manner, per plans, specification and regulatory requirements — is the foundation of every later claim: new build house problems.

The Clauses That Decide Things

• Completion mechanics and long-stops: notice-driven completion, defined closing windows, and the outside dates that protect against indefinite drift — the clauses that matter most when the market or the mortgage clock moves;
• The specification: what was actually promised — the reference point for every “this isn’t what we were sold” conversation;
• Snagging: the inspection-and-remedy procedure, and the leverage of the unpaid balance: snag list rights;
• Defects provisions: the builder’s post-completion obligations, running alongside the structural warranty;
• Stage and balance payments: when money moves — and therefore where your leverage lives at each stage.

Reading It at the Right Time

The agreement earns its review before signing: unusual departures flagged, long-stop and specification clarity confirmed, the snagging procedure understood while your solicitor can still raise queries. Mid-transaction, the same knowledge runs the delay and snagging stages as strategy rather than surprise. Post-closing, it defines the surviving rights — pursued with the limitation clocks in view. Three moments, one document: contracts review.