Press help required please

Maple Lodge · 28th May 2008, 09:34

I am looking to publicise my story abouut the six years of hell i have had with Persimmon and the NHBC, which has resulted in a five day trial commnencing 15 December 2008.
Please contact me on db1soda@aol.com

many thanks

Colin Jack · 28th May 2008, 12:44

SIX YEARS???????

I am on a similar timescale with Gladedale / Bett Homes. I have stated so many times that I am more than willing to sort the dispute out in a civilised manner but they seem very reluctant to do so. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that they can't even meet the terms of their own contract, that they do not subscribe to the NHBC ethos and their own Consulting Structural Engineer has deemed some elements of my property as 'structurally unacceptable'. The NHBC have proven beyond any doubt just how useless they are and how much of a con their warranty actually is.

Please keep us posted on how you get on. Please also take comfort from the fact that you are by no means alone. When I picked up my car from a local car mechanic my ears were bleeding from hearing the problems he was having with his new George Wimpey home.
The UK house building industry is a disgrace.

People have no idea the rubbish they are buying when they buy a new build house. The NHBC guarantee is a guarantee of shoddy workmanship backed up by a shoddy insurance con which makes money for two parties only - house builders and the NHBC.

www.abadbett.com

Maple Lodge · 29th May 2008, 08:42

yes six years.
Defects incude retaining walls built with the wrong design and bricks,nail popping and plasterboard joins on all walls and ceilins, conservatory subsidence, sag in the master bedroom caused by the girder trusses not being bolted correctly, missing cavity trays, boiler undersize and garage not built as per sales particulars and is significantly undersize.

The NHBC has inspected in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and does not accept these are defects.

Maple Lodge · 29th May 2008, 09:08

This is a typical example of naili pops[img size=150] [img size=160]http://www.snagging.org/components/com_joomlaboard/uploaded/images/IMGP0147.JPG[/img]

Colin Jack · 29th May 2008, 11:27

Is your property in Scotland?

Maple Lodge · 29th May 2008, 12:15

Thanks for your interest Colin i have had a look on your website and was hoping you had an email address for me to send you some photographs that have been put onot PDF format

I am in Derbyshire.

Colin Jack · 29th May 2008, 14:03

Maple Lodge,

You have a personal message.

The website you looked at www.abadbett.com is just a banner site. The main website www.agladedalenightmare.com is over 50% complete and contains a significant amount of information about the problems with mine and others properties, correspondence with regulatory and legal bodies, an in depth look at how developers actively remove what few rights buyers have and much much more. The case study is Bett Homes / Gladedale but the information presented applies to many of the larger house-builders.

Back to your own situation. Are you relying only on investigations by the NHBC? Remember that the NHBC is the builder's insurer, but you are paying for that insurance. There are very few in the NHBC that I have met who have any real idea on what they are talking about. Better to employ a professional in a dispute situation.

Outside Scotland the NHBC can have a Building Control function but you will probably find that the local authorities take on building standards is vastly different from the NHBC's. How can the NHBC say that a property is constructed correctly when an independent structural engineer, surveyor or whatever clearly reports that it has not been constructed correctly. The answer is because the NHBC warranty only lasts 10 years so they don't care if it falls down after that. It is all about risk - if there is a possibility that something will go wrong in the first 10 years and they will look bad, then they will do something about it, if not they won't bother. Bit of a scam really.

www.abadbett.com

Maple Lodge · 29th May 2008, 14:22

Thanks Colin

Am thinking about website too.

The NHBC did the building control and the completion certificate. They have always accepted Persimmon's word, the evidence that has now been disclosed for example shows that the retaining walls have not been built with engineering bricks as required in the design and to NHBC technical requiremnts. NHBC accepted back in 2002 that same engineer had designed and inspected the walls and was satisfied with the constrction using FL ones.However he seems to have failed to have spotted the wrong bricks were use against his own drawing!
Persimmon now have a new surveyor and he thinks nothing is wrong wih the walls despite him having access to the drawings. As you can appreciate if that is his stance and NHBC confirm their resolution in 2002 is all the builder needs to do means going to court becomes the only way to finally resolve that issue.

Colin Jack · 29th May 2008, 15:29

Maple Lodge,

Within your house purchase price there is a sum of money (some say about 10%) that Persimmon give to the NHBC for the warranty. Because Persimmon use your money to pay the NHBC then the NHBC will always side with Persimmon, despite the fact that it is you who is actually paying for the warranty. This is the con. If the buyer was to choose the warranty provider and pay them directly then it would be a different story, but it is not which is why the NHBC will always side the builder.

A completion certificate is no guarantee of workmanship whatsoever. In Scotland the Scottish Executive published a document warning people of this away back in 1994.

If the retaining wall is of structural significance and was designed and inspected by an engineer there will be a certificate to prove this. Have you seen this certificate?

It is unlikely that the surveyor will be fully conversant with the structural design of a retaining wall.

It sounds as though you are being fobbed off to the nth degree. An independent Structural Engineer will be able to guide you in all you need to know. Even better if they have experience of being an expert witness.

www.abadbett.com

Maple Lodge · 30th May 2008, 08:43

One of the retaining walls is of structural significance, I have not seen any certificate as NHBC did the Building control and inspections. As I have already said the original engineer who designed it confirmed to the NHBC that he inspected it and was satisfied it was correct even though it is not three bricks wide all along and forgotten to use engineeering bricks the NHBC accepted this assurance back in June 2002. Even though the drawing has been disclosed to the NHBC they srill will not take any action. Persimmon's expert says nothing wrong with the wall, even though the original engineer came up with a method to reinforce it which Baggeridge Brick turned down as it was still missing dpc's!!