Does anyone want to join me waiting for new build to be built and complete

laurajane6486

Hi all,
Is everyone having an independent snagging survey done? I was intending to because from what I've read online it seemed like a good move. But I've rang a few surveying companies who have kindly advised me against instead of just booking it and taking my money.
They seem to be saying that the NHBC will do their own report which the builders have to act upon and that unless I have a specific issue that the builders aren't rectifying I shouldn't need any survey done?
I obviously don't want to waste money having a snagging survey done unless it's necessary and worthwhile but I also don't want to regret not having one done further down the line.
What does everyone think?
Laura

dgtazzman

I didn't have one done and am regretting it. Not so much the list, as I put together an extensive list myself I am happy with, but the lack of action from the builder. A month after moving in I'm still waiting for my driveway and my bathrooms to be finished. If I had an independent snagging survey, I feel I might have had more ammo to use to pressure the builder into action.

My ensuite still has no shower (they ordered the wrong size twice and didn't come to measure the correct dimension till the second one was also the wrong size). Tiling has been left half done in the bathrooms (missing grouting, sloppy finish, etc.) and the general finish is sloppy/unfinished. I still owe them 2400 quid for extra tiling in the bathrooms, but I've told them I'm withholding the money till the work has been completed to my satisfaction, not that they seem to be paying this much attention.

One of my windows has also been fitted incorrectly, meaning it doesn't close right. They have promised me repeatedly to send somebody to fix it asap, but so far, that's all they've done.

They promised me all items of my snagging list would be dealt with within 28 days, but at their current pace, it's going to be more like 28 months.

I'm afraid this might end up with me getting the premier warranty (or whatever it's called) involved or even taking legal action, in which case, a snagging survey would have been ideal...

On another note, they also decided not to put any room thermostats in their houses anymore (which saves them 200 quid per house, at most), so I had to go and invest several hundred Pounds into a wireless system. I was told verbally during the build the standard fit was 2 heating zones with a thermostat, so I wasn't best pleased.

Jon_B_2

Who the hell is that builder not installing thermostats?!

They sound pretty shoddy tbh with the snagging.

I must say, 1 year in to owning a Bovis home that it has been a largely positive experience and even when we have issues now - the customer services team act promptly to resolve.

dgtazzman

It's a small local developer. The build quality in general is good, only the subcontractor that did the tiling in the bathrooms seems to have been a total git. They've just gotten a new site manager on site and he's not impressing anybody, wouldn't surprise me if his time here will be very short-lived. He's fully focused on getting the last houses of the development finished and is neglecting most of the snagging as a result. His superiors have already told him multiple times to get the snagging done, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears...

The argument for the thermostats was 'but all the rads have thermostatic valves, so you don't really need room thermostats'. In all fairness, they did offer to wire one in after I mentioned it, but I didn't fancy them messing around pulling wires with all the walls already finished, so I got a wireless smart thermostat instead. It's something I would have done anyway, but it's the principle...

swishy87

ap1985 wrote: »

I am happy to finally join this thread. My OH and I reserved our house on 1 September. It is due to be completed End of February (hopefully there are no delays). I am so excited but February seems so long away! So now it's just a waiting game. Went to see the house last week and it's starting to come along...it is very exciting seeing it grow!

Look forward to going in to choose our options now....hopefully that will be sometimes soon.

Swishy87 - not long to go now....The wait must have been worth it

TBH we haven't had to wait long! We reserved July. But it has gone fast and I'm sure it will for you!

We have our home tour booked for 24th and I've flagged some issues to them already with the stone sills. I don't hold out any hope for them doing anything about it though.

ap1985

swishy87 wrote: »

TBH we haven't had to wait long! We reserved July. But it has gone fast and I'm sure it will for you!

We have our home tour booked for 24th and I've flagged some issues to them already with the stone sills. I don't hold out any hope for them doing anything about it though.

Thank you, hope time does fly by

Keep bugging them about any issues and stay on top of them so they get fixed!

swishy87

ap1985 wrote: »

Thank you, hope time does fly by

Keep bugging them about any issues and stay on top of them so they get fixed!

They've said no problem, we will sort on Thursday. So we shall see! Fingers crossed.

Just think as the extra time as time to save. We didn't expect to move so we were grateful for a month delay!

We've had our notice of completion today so all going ahead on the 28th!

Graciepie88

Still waiting for our notice to complete. I emailed this morning and the girl came back with a very vague 'it will be in November sometime'

We are on 20 working days notice as this is what we agreed in our contract on exchange. She seems to think we are just on the standard 10 days.

Frustrating because when we visited two weeks ago the house was pretty much done. I know they need to make sure access is also safe, but according to her the houses in our street which are opposite us should be completing this week!

Kind of losing excitement with all this waiting and not looking forward to potentially moving in December.

lee111s

First fix is done and plasterboarding has started at the end of last week. Still hoping for the sign off to be done on 11th November

Murray87

I feel your frustration Graciepie88! Wish we knew that including an extended notice period would have been an option for the contracts.

I don't understand why it has to be like that? Surely they can forecast cash flow and sales like any other business - Don't know why house builders should be any different!

We popped in to our sales office on Saturday and was told we would likely get our 10 days notice to compete sometime between 5th and 16th December, but that the last possible completion will be 23rd December! So we've taken a chance and told our landlord that we will be moving on the 16th in the hope that gives us a few days overlap.

Absolute nightmare!

Hope everything goes ok for you!