Snagging is common practice for new and existing buildings in the housing sector in the UK. However the snag reporting process is yet to be fully developed in New Zealand. Whilst inspections for defects and repairs are mostly carried out for old and existing residential buildings, very little is being done to capture snags in new builds in New Zealand.This paper reports on research which is being undertaken in New Zealand to investigate the magnitude of the snagging problem and to identify means by which snag reporting can be introduced within the house building production process. The primary source of data will be the record of defects collected from well established developers and building inspectors and a semi-structured questionnaire administered to new homeowners. The results from the data analyses will be validated through a verification exercise involving subject matter experts. It is hoped that the result of the research investigations will be beneficial to homeowners, developers and the wider construction industry in New Zealand and thus serve to improve quality performance in residential housing construction.