Snagging?

Claremac

More useful posts, thanks all. Thanks for the insight Putty71 - sadly I'm nowhere near Norfolk or I'd have taken you up on your offer!

property.advert

Get in as soon as you can before completion. I bought a flat off plan in the 1990s in London and although it was late, they tried to rush through completion and there were some issues which I had my lawyer deal with as penalty clauses. This flat was for my occupation at the time.

Forget NHBC and all that as they are hardly worth the paper they are written on. You really need them to sort things out before they leave site as doing so afterwards is so much harder.

There will always be issues but some things are easily fixed and others are just jobs done wrong or care not taken and sometimes they need much longer. I ended up suing after mine but they backed down. Record all meetings and phone calls and back everything up with recorded delivery letters if emails are not being answered. You will find they have very little desire to help out once they have your money.

Homersimpson

I work in the constuction industry as an electrical consulting engineer, we usually do several snagging inspections on projects throughout construction to check that what you can't see when its covered up is ok. Then we do one final inspection at PC (Practical Completion).

For a house I would suggest just looking at at PC stage wouldn't be ideal as you (or your surveyor) can't see what has been done under the skin, an inspection at first fix complete stage would be good as you can see the workmanship in all its glory (or not!). Then carry out an inspection at PC.

Just my opinion and although I work in the construction industry, I wouldn't attempt to snag a house (other than my own electrical discipline) as there is so much to know about the structure, mechanical systems etc. Best employ someone who does this sort of thing for a living and knows where to look!

Best of luck!

putty71

Homersimpson wrote: »

I work in the constuction industry as an electrical consulting engineer, we usually do several snagging inspections on projects throughout construction to check that what you can't see when its covered up is ok. Then we do one final inspection at PC (Practical Completion).

For a house I would suggest just looking at at PC stage wouldn't be ideal as you (or your surveyor) can't see what has been done under the skin, an inspection at first fix complete stage would be good as you can see the workmanship in all its glory (or not!). Then carry out an inspection at PC.

Just my opinion and although I work in the construction industry, I wouldn't attempt to snag a house (other than my own electrical discipline) as there is so much to know about the structure, mechanical systems etc. Best employ someone who does this sort of thing for a living and knows where to look!

Best of luck!

It is worth remebering though with a house, it ideally should be registered with NHBC or Zurich for the 10 year guarantee. It is their inspectors who are responsible for checking the structure before each stage is covered up and the buyer should get the report at the end. As it's their insurance they have to be thorough and these days they are as their numbers have been reduced so they are all on their toes. If the buyer appointed an independant inspector for each stage at £250 a time, they would end up spending close on £5K

Jonbvn

putty71 wrote: »

It is worth remebering though with a house, it ideally should be registered with NHBC or Zurich for the 10 year guarantee.

However, anecdotal evidence confirms that NHBC is about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.;)

Homersimpson

Putty 71, at what point did I suggest in my post that you would need to carry out 20 inspections? (5k total - £250 each = 20 inspections). I suggested carrying out an inspection at first fix stage before the plasterboarding/plastering takes place when most items are still easily accessable to view and one at the end. This should allow an inspection to check that the correct joists have been used, wiring is installed propertly, pipework routed correctly etc.

If it were my house I would want an independant inspection carried out, we have worked for some of the large commercial and residental developers and some of the things they do at times are beyond belief!

Having come accross NHBC and Zurich inspectors they seem at times to pick up really small items and make a big fuss about them whilst missing great big problems!

Claremac

Thanks for the additional help here (never thought I'd be thanking Homer Simpson for anything!). The developer has gone with LABC as he reckons that NHBC are useless and hardly ever inspect whereas LABC are more thorough. I wouldn't know about that but the LABC inspector was there when I was on-site the other day which I suppose is a good sign. One thing which may help us is that once the first 2 houses are built the second 2 will be built and I guess that the developer will probably be keen to show what the new ones will look like so a good relationship between us and him will be important to us both.

putty71

Homersimpson wrote: »

Putty 71, at what point did I suggest in my post that you would need to carry out 20 inspections? (5k total - £250 each = 20 inspections). I suggested carrying out an inspection at first fix stage before the plasterboarding/plastering takes place when most items are still easily accessable to view and one at the end. This should allow an inspection to check that the correct joists have been used, wiring is installed propertly, pipework routed correctly etc.

If it were my house I would want an independant inspection carried out, we have worked for some of the large commercial and residental developers and some of the things they do at times are beyond belief!

Having come accross NHBC and Zurich inspectors they seem at times to pick up really small items and make a big fuss about them whilst missing great big problems!

Typical blooming consultant! Only joking.

I think what I said was misinterpreted. What I meant was that if you wanted to be fully satisfied then they would need to inspect at every stage, excavation, conc pour etc which in turn would cost a lot. I appreciate that you were only referring to one stage, but NHBC do cover a lot more stages as do Building Control. I don't know what comeback the purchaser would have if something went wrong with an independant inspector. I also know what you mean about NHBC, however most of my schemes were I deal with them are social housing so the premiums are more as is the quality required. I am only speaking from experience, gone are the days when you could make them a cuppa and they would sign the book without muddying their boots! Too many of them have been laid off so they are all keen to make an impression. Unfortunately there are too many developers out there who have the bad name and make it worse for others.

Homersimpson

"Typical blooming consultant! Only joking."

I can't disagree with you! I have sign above my desk that says:-

"Consultancy - If your not part of the solution theres good money to be made in prolonging the problem!"

daveyjp

Jonbvn wrote: »

However, anecdotal evidence confirms that NHBC is about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.;)

Correct. My sister has an 8 year old house. She has just found out the cavity wall has no insulation whatsoever, so it wouldn't have met building regs. NHBC inspect as it is built - whatever! Of course NHBC doesn't cover this as it's not life threatening.

Complaint to builder and building inspector (employed by the builder!) on the way.