10 year building warranty

Sapphire12

We are building our own house and for our mortgage we have to have a 10 year building warranty. Could anyone recommend any companies? We have been given a long list from the mortgage company of suitable companies but didn't know where to start. We had a new house last time built by a big well known building company and they used NHBC it wasn't worth the paper it was written on! Any recommendations appreciated thanks.

Doozergirl

It's a money saving exercise. Go through the list and obtain quotes.

The quality of your build needs to be overseen by someone who knows what they are doing. Building without structural defects is far more important than a structural defects warranty.

Your house should be better built than anything thrown up by a developer. The warranty is an exercise for the mortgage company only.

When we eventually get round to doing something with our planning permission, my criteria for the warranty will be a company that is widely accepted by mortgage companies, followed by price.

Furts

A delicate area - the fact that you are self building yet asking about warranty cover I find concerning.

The ideal warranty would start before you were building, it would also cover all sorts of risks, from protection from theft, to accidental damage, to all sorts. NHBC used to do self build cover as did others where the technical standards were issued, the builders received a lecture and dressing down, staged inspections were agreed and so on. It appears you have not followed this route.

Whilst you condemn NHBC what do you really expect? These warranties are an irrelevance to you and are not designed to protect your interests. They exist to give protection and peace of mind to the lenders. This is why you are required to seek one - basically you and your self build is too risky without one.

The bottom line is if you are indeed part way through your self build, then this is folly. The action would be to seek the cheapest policy. A big name like NHBC would be preferable - they are likely to still be around in 10 years time should a claim be made.

Furts

Doozergirl wrote: »

It's a money saving exercise. Go through the list and obtain quotes.

The quality of your build needs to be overseen by someone who knows what they are doing. Building without structural defects is far more important than a structural defects warranty.

100% agree here if only more people would take on board this ethos.

"Your house should be better built than anything thrown up by a developer."
Not so - this is up to the individual. There are those whose intention is to build cheap, and there are those whose intention is to use alternative methods from rammed earth, to straw bales, to shipping containers, to whatever.

Self build can be better than that built by a developer but only if the self builder adopts a quality , or "better" mindset and controls. Many breeze into self build and are putty in the hands of trades, and ripe to be taken advantage of.

Sapphire12

thank you for your concern Furts but we haven't started building yet. We have only just gain permission and have a house to demolish first. Just wondering what people's views were as we have never had a good experience with NHBC always finding excuses for not covering. That's why I asked for recommendations but clearly as long as my mortgage company allows it I'll go for the cheapest. We hope never to need it as we have a good team together for the build. Thank you for the replies.

Furts

Sapphire12 wrote: »

thank you for your concern Furts but we haven't started building yet. We have only just gain permission and have a house to demolish first. Just wondering what people's views were as we have never had a good experience with NHBC always finding excuses for not covering. That's why I asked for recommendations but clearly as long as my mortgage company allows it I'll go for the cheapest. We hope never to need it as we have a good team together for the build. Thank you for the replies.

"Good teams" are human and make mistakes. Good teams also need supervising and inspecting. Good teams will cut corners just like less good teams.

Many self builders are not versed on the construction industry and are easy victims to have the wool pulled over eyes. Think carefully about your inspection regime.

These points are made for a reality check. You would be wise getting a respected warranty on board with site inspections. Who you choose is up to you. But inspections cost money, so seeking the cheapest may mean less, or no, inspections. Go forward with caution!

phil24_7

He speaks the truth.

I had a very complex extension built for me and the team that did it were excellent. They would think logically about problems, speak to me before making decision and seek the advice of experts/specialist on this they or I did not know. My regular inspections rarely threw up any snags but...they weren't great at laying flat/level concrete floors though, neither in my cellar or in my garage! Whether it was something larger or more complex than they were used to, I don't know, but it cost me to rectify it after the fact. This was partly allowed for in an under quoted initial price, partly by goodwill with a speedy start to shore up my house after a rogue builder (previously a trusted friend) and partly with a slightly reduced final figure. I still ended up with a beautiful piece of engineering at a price lower than it should have cost me though!

If you know what you are looking for, inspect regularly yourself (at least daily) if you don't then make sure someone who knows their stuff does this for you.

jayprent

We're using Buildzone as they also provided our site insurance and it was around £8k cheaper than labc! We didn't think about the build warranty so was much more expensive getting it post completion. Note: if you contact them before you start, they also do the building inspection. We didn't realise and paid the council to do it costing us more. As we're living in the house and we physically built it ourselves it's just an expensive piece of paper necessary if we want to resell within 10 years.

Furts

jayprent wrote: »

We're using Buildzone as they also provided our site insurance and it was around £8k cheaper than labc! We didn't think about the build warranty so was much more expensive getting it post completion. Note: if you contact them before you start, they also do the building inspection. We didn't realise and paid the council to do it costing us more.

This may be the case, but I am not certain. It depends if Buildzone take on the role of Approved Inspector in addition to the role of Warranty Provider. It is a grey area because Buildzone are a finance organisation, and not a construction body. In effect, they are an insurance broker possibly without technical staff qualified in construction.

LABC will have the staff and expertise, so will NHBC. With Buildzone I am uncertain - you will have researched this and the reasons for the cheaper quote so I would welcome feedback here.