NHBC Forum

[Tony]

I beleive it si standard proctice for the NHBC to stop the resolution servie if legal action is initiated. It is an expensive and time consuming route.

Tony

[togo.bevan]

If neither the builder nor the NHBC will do anything the only option left is legal recource.

This should not intitle them to breach their contract.

[Colin Jack]

This is the whole point. The NHBC system is purely designed to force you to accept sub-standard workmanship or go down the very long and costly process of legal action.

If you take legal action the NHBC walk away with 10% of your house purchase value or whatever premium you have paid (yes it is the purchaser who pays for the NHBC premiums, not the builder as many think) no matter what, for doing Sweet FA. Just think what you could do with that 10%. It is all a BIG CON. I sat and watched Imtiaz Farookhi on Watchdog (BBC 1 Scotland) last night openly lie about the NHBC Buildmark. His parting words were 'work will be done to the customer's satisfaction' UTTER LIES. Work will be done to the NHBC guidelines which are guidance only so it doesn't really matter (so John Croal - Bett Homes / Gladedale customer care manager tells me). But what would you expect from an insurance salesman living in an ivory tower on another planet.

It is no wonder that other insurance companies are jumping on the bandwagon - they have seen just how easy this new-build insurance racquet is.

CONTRACTS - These are only for use by them to grind you down. They don't really give a shit if they are in breach of contract. They are certainly not for you to use against them OHHH NO. It is just another facet of the new build / NHBC scam. Just listen to Imtiaz Farookhi - it is all lies.

If you think the NHBC are slow, imagine about a thousand times slower and you will be in the time frame of the legal system. But this is what it is all designed to do.

Five years on and I still don't have the Completion Certificate my contract with Bett Homes / Gladedale entitles me to. That might have something to do with the local auhority refusing to issue it because of sub-standard workmanship though.

It is all a scam!!!!!!

www.abadbett.com

[Tony]

Colin,

The fees are nowhere near 10%, see this from the competition commission. I don't have anything more recent than this:

http://www.competition-commission.or...xt/299a5.4.pdf

[Colin Jack]

Phew, thank god for that.

I stand corrected and am happy to admit it.

I still believe these insurance schemes are a bit of a scam though. Why else would so many other compaines be jumping on the band wagon? There must be money in it.

[Mark D]

The insurance provided by the warranty providers is no scam you just need to make sure you know what you are getting. The inspections that take place are variable as it is dependant on the knowledge of the inspector and how long he has to carry out the inspection. If the inspector has 10 calls to do in a day and you take the travelling time and office time out of the 8 hours he may have 15 minutes to do the inspection. In that time he has to carry out the inspection, explain if there is something wrong, print out the details and get on to his next job. So if the site manager does not keep him waiting for 5 minutes he may just be able to inspect.

The warranty provides what it says in the booklet. If it is not covered the warranty provider will not pay out even if it is wrong. So what you need to do is make sure you are getting what you think you are getting. Most people do not know all the things in the Zurich/NHBC/Premier standards as well as the Approved Documents to the Building Regulations and the various British Standards. Some people are experts in their own field but do not realise how one of their decisions may impact on other items of the construction.

One thing is for sure the design requirements have got better but the implementation of them is very much less than desirable.

MD

[Tony]

Most people do not know all the things in the Zurich/NHBC/Premier standards as well as the Approved Documents to the Building Regulations and the various British Standards

And they definitely won't be familiar with all the manufacturers installation standards. For example, I know of a case where the wrong screws were used to install fire doors in a three storey home making the fire doors non-compliant and in breach of building regulations as they were effectively no longer certified as meeting the British Standard. The door would probably be fine but it was tested with specific screws...

[Colin Jack]

Does a 15 minute inspection represent value for money?

Does a 15 minutes inspection fill you with any confidence?

Whenever I am inspecting any engineering works for the first it takes me much more than 15 minutes to familiarise myself with the layout of the works let alone carry out any sort of inspection.

The chances of spotting anything wrong in 15 minutes would be a miracle, unless of course the builder hasn’t had time to cover the defect up, which is very unlikely.

The scam I refer to is much much deeper than the summary provided by Mark D. No insurance company will set up any form of insurance scheme unless there is money to be made and there are a number of routes to get out of paying up. It is horrifying when you experience it first hand.

How many have actually read the legislation that deals with building in the UK????????????

[Eric Walmsley]

I reported some major problems to NHBC in December 2005. They agreed that the developer should make good. He did not - after umpteen calls and letters NHBC finally completed the work in October 2006. In March 2007 after using home inspectors for the final snagging, who were useless, (they may be ok with mainstream developers but with provincial developers they have no clout) I took over and involved NHBC. Now end July 2008 NHBC are still bending over backwards pandering to the deveoloper Bracken Hill Developments and their delaying tactics, being nice to the claims handler (not to me I must add). Over the past few years I have written to Imtiaz Faouki and his predecessor CEO which has made no difference my next letter is going direct to Norman Fowler at his home address. Can anybody advise me if there is any overseeing body an Ombudsman or something who can help and force NHBC to live up to their stated code of practice.

[Mark D]

Eric

Before you go to a body external of NHBC you need to follow the NHBC complaints procedure otherwise they will not entertain your complaint.

Home Inspectors are no good for snagging as they do not know the NHBC Standards they are only there for about 20 minutes when a 4 bed home can take about 5 hours to snag.

Looks like you would be out of date now for any new snags but you can use the clause at the base of the NHBC Resolution Report which says that any items identified as a result of carry out the remedial work the builder is obliged to rectify. What you actually need is advice from a claims advisor who can advise you how to progress the work. Of course this will cost some money but it will save a lot of frustration. The process may still not be quick but it will get done. I normally tell people to expect it to take a year from when they first advise the builder of the work that needs doing to when it is complete.

I could advise you of a good claims adviser who used to work for NHBC but I don’t think I am allowed to on this site.

Best of luck

Mark