Glossary

Defect

A defect is finished or part-finished work that does not meet the contract, the drawings, the specification or an accepted standard of workmanship. It is distinct from incomplete work, which has not been done yet, and from damage caused after handover.

CONSTRUCTION DEFECT GLOSSARY·UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
Where the word is used

The everyday word in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, and the word most contracts use. In the United States and Canada the same item is usually a deficiency or a punch item.

On site

A defect is found on an inspection or a walk, photographed, located to a room, and issued to the trade whose work it is. It then has to be rectified, verified by someone who did not do the work, and closed. The argument about a defect is rarely whether it exists; it is whose it is, who pays, and whether the fix was checked.

On the record

How IssuesId holds it

In IssuesId every tracked item is a record with a Type, and Defect is the default. The record carries the photo with its capture time, the location from the tree or a QR label, a classification from your own list, the trade it is issued to, a due date, and a lifecycle whose transitions are role-gated and timestamped. A trade cannot close its own work.

Asked alongside

Two questions people ask

What is a defect in construction?
Work that does not meet the contract, the drawings, the specification or an accepted standard of workmanship. A cracked tile, a door that does not latch, a membrane that leaks. It is not the same as incomplete work, which is work not yet done, and the distinction matters because the two are counted and paid for differently.
What is the difference between a defect and a snag?
Mostly geography and timing. Snag is the British and Irish word, and a snag list is usually the pre-handover list of small items. Defect is the contractual word everywhere and covers anything from a scratch to a structural fault, at any stage. On a register they are the same record.
Related terms
Snag and snag list →Punch list and punch item →Deficiency →Incomplete works →Rectification →

Definitions describe common usage and the usual shape of standard-form contracts. Your contract and your jurisdiction’s building law set the terms that apply to your job. The whole list is at the glossary.

IssuesId