Builders' Warranty

middlecat

Hello,

I am in the process of buying a house and have got quotes from a few builders.

I asked a FMB builder if his work will be covered by warranty and he mentioned that by law, there will be a warranty for materials and workmanship for 7 years, as long as the company is still in business.

There is no need to get an additional FMB Master Bond Warranty. FMB Master Bond Warranty is only helpful if the builder goes out of business and you need someone else to step in to honour the warranty.

I couldn't find anymore information about this 7-year warranty on Google.

Has anyone heard of it before?

hanandhen

hi
my oh is a builder and i asked him about this and said its a load of rubbish, firstly what work are they quoting for?

middlecat

It's external rerendering, fixing the flashing to the roof, overhauling rainwater fittings... not a major building project.

hanandhen

hi

for the rerendering make sure they scrap away the lose rendering before they rerender and make sure its smooth and line free when its done, have they quoted for k render as you dont need to paint this they just render the colour you want bit more expensive but lasts alot longer,
as for the flashing and gutters you will know on the first heavy downpour as to wether they have done there job properly and if not go back to them and get them to put it right, make sure you have a written quote and invoice for payment

Doozergirl

I've got no idea what he's talking about!

The warranty is provided by the FMB if you choose to pay for it. If you don't, you don't get one, unless he writes one out personally for you.

middlecat

hanandhen - thanks for your advice. I will check out K rend.

Doozergirl - I will go back to the builder and better understand what he is talking about. When he first mentioned it, I thought it was an industry standard and a Google search will tell me all that I need to know.

sonastin

I think he's talking about the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 - although the limitation period is 6 years not 7.

Under section 4, goods supplied (i.e. the materials) have to be of a satisfactory quality. Section 13 requires the services (i.e. workmanship) to be carried out with reasonable skill and care.

If he has failed to meet those requirements, you can sue him for breach of contract as the Act makes those terms of your contract with him unless you've actually written that you want a different standard to apply.

But the onus is on you to prove that any faults are down to the materials not being of satisfactory quality or him not having used reasonable skill and care and not simply down to bad luck, misuse on your part or wear and tear in the intervening years.

Its standard in the construction industry but not at the jobbing builder / domestic client level!

G_M

Your rights:

1) Statute (law): Sale of Goods Act as described above
2) any warranty/guarantee the supplier may or may not give you. As said, useless if he goes out of business
3) FMB warranty. A paid-for warranty you can decide to take out. Will pay out even if (especially if) the builder goes out of business

However for these small jobs I'd not bother. As said you'll know if the gutters/flashings are OK the first time it rains heavily. If they leak/drip etc call him up and say "Oi! that job you did last month, you need to come back.....)
The rendering will take longer to show up issues ie if water gets behind it after some months it will start to 'blow' (come away from the wall). But you'd know within a years I'd guess. Same if it started to crack.