apartment, cladding, appalling damp, nhbc

spencer999

me missis bought an apartment NEARLY ten years ago. Six floors, hers is on the second. It's almost covered in cladding, which stops just above her window, leaving brickwork exposed. The cladding has been trapping water which has drip-drip-dripped, and turned the bricks black with damp/mould, and the damp/mould growth has invaded the room and needs to be constantly bleached away. I know the NHBC cover is almost worthless but on the website it does say it mainly covers weather proofing work

Am I wasting my time thinking of going after them?

The property maintenance company looking after the building is useless, as you can imagine.

AdrianC

You can't go after NHBC. You own a lease on one flat in the building.
The freeholder would be the ones going after NHBC.

You go after the freeholder - who, in turn, employ the management/maintenance companies.

BorisThomson

AdrianC wrote: »

You can't go after NHBC. You own a lease on one flat in the building.
The freeholder would be the ones going after NHBC.

You go after the freeholder - who, in turn, employ the management/maintenance companies.

I disagree (and so does my NHBC documentation!). NHBC policies are granted to individual leaseholders, and are nothing to do with the management company.

Unfortunately OP I would agree that they are useless, but you should still register a claim with them and if you are covered, keep pursuing them until they do something. If you end up having to go through the management company they'll pass the cost back to you, along with their own hefty margin.

AdrianC

Yes, they are - for elements of the individual flat. This is not part of the individual flat, but part of the structure of the building.

Norman_Castle

damp/mould growth has invaded the room and needs to be constantly bleached away.

By regularly bleaching you are adding moisture to the walls. Use something that prevents regrowth.

eddddy

spencer999 wrote: »

The cladding has been trapping water which has drip-drip-dripped, and turned the bricks black with damp/mould, and the damp/mould growth has invaded the room and needs to be constantly bleached away.

Are you sure that damp penetrating through the walls?

A frequent cause of damp in flats (and therefore mould) is drying washing in the flat without sufficient ventilation. Does she dry washing in the flat?

ProDave

I doubt external drips on the wall are the cause of internal damp unless there i something seriously wrong with the wall construction. Much more likely to be poor insulation, poor ventilation, poor heating, or poor lifestyle (creating too much internal moisture)