Soakaway - Builder driving me insane...

Furts

visidigi wrote: »

I'll name them and the location when I figure out next steps - but just now i need to see if I fight, and do I fight by myself, legally or through the NHBC, the final one is of course the builders preference.

The garage guttering connects to the surface pipe which feeds into the balancing pond located out the front of our property. So by that I believe it would be okay to have that drain our garden right?

I don't mind land drains being fitted to the garden, I just don't want a soakaway anywhere near the house or the garden.

NHBC are very, very difficult folks to deal with. Think both judge and jury, when the laws are kept in house and not available for outsiders to know if fair play is occurring.

My intuition is still as my first post. I do not believe NHBC can break their own Technical Standards and this you should challenge. My intuition is also that written in the Standards will be a clause saying homes must comply, and within your warranty likewise. Putting NHBC on the back foot saying they will be in breach of your warranty requirements is a way forward.

I am confident the clauses will be there - it is just NHBC make matters so obscure, and cloud everything so I will leave this to you. After a ll, only you know which version, of which warranty you have. So only you know the relevant clauses!

Since you are happy to accept a soakaway the way forward is to say it must be more than 5m and you will co-operate. If this means renewing drainage to a lower level then so be it. This is all quick, cheap work so there should be no reason it is refused. But even if it were to cost £10000 that is not your problem - matters need sorting at the developers expense.

visidigi

Furts wrote: »

NHBC are very, very difficult folks to deal with. Think both judge and jury, when the laws are kept in house and not available for outsiders to know if fair play is occurring.

My intuition is still as my first post. I do not believe NHBC can break their own Technical Standards and this you should challenge. My intuition is also that written in the Standards will be a clause saying homes must comply, and within your warranty likewise. Putting NHBC on the back foot saying they will be in breach of your warranty requirements is a way forward.

I am confident the clauses will be there - it is just NHBC make matters so obscure, and cloud everything so I will leave this to you. After a ll, only you know which version, of which warranty you have. So only you know the relevant clauses!

Since you are happy to accept a soakaway the way forward is to say it must be more than 5m and you will co-operate. If this means renewing drainage to a lower level then so be it. This is all quick, cheap work so there should be no reason it is refused. But even if it were to cost £10000 that is not your problem - matters need sorting at the developers expense.

Thanks - I will accept the soakaway,but the problem they have is there is nowhere within my boundaries which is 5m away from a foundation - so they cant do it within their own rules.

The house was signed for in Jan 2016, moved in Aug/Sept 2016

Furts

visidigi wrote: »

Thanks - I will accept the soakaway,but the problem they have is there is nowhere within my boundaries which is 5m away from a foundation - so they cant do it within their own rules.

The house was signed for in Jan 2016, moved in Aug/Sept 2016

None of us have seen your levels, nor any further details. Which means there is little more one can add. Resolution has to be considered as a future stage - you appear to be heading for a dispute with the builder.

Professional advice can also be sought. NHBC will not pay for this unless there is a prior agreement and here you have to make a decision. In theory you should have held a contingency for all your problems, because I am guessing you have saved the cost of a full buildings structural survey &/or snagging survey. With hindsight the survey(s) would have been prudent, but as is often said, hindsight is a wonderful thing. However you may be paying less than what you would have paid in Aug 2016.

If resolution is requested you have to consider your tactics. Professional help will be useful to you but disliked by NHBC.

tonyh66

I would be paying a civil engineering consultant specialising in drainage for an hour of his time. A professional opinion and some ideas on a solution would be worth it.