NHBC or Architects certificate - are these the same?

brackenlamb

If you have the architech cert, and you start getting major cracks or something worse etc after 2 years what can you do ?
would you be covered ?

Moondonkey

I too am struggling to buy a property built in 2005 and can't get hold of an architects certificate. The architect who constructed it wrote in a letter stating that he issued one at the time but no longer holds the paperwork. Even the it's been over 6 years, my lender is insisting they need to see a certificate. Can anyone help?

denstone

It is now possible to upgrade an architects certificate to a full warranty. The warranty would be for the remainder of the ten year period... so if the house is,say, two years old then the warranty would be for the remaining eight years. Here at architectscertificate.co.uk we have been providing certification to banks and building societies for the last 25 years. Our system of warranty upgrade is unique in the market place. The warranty provided is recognised by the majority of lenders.

Gwhiz

Small builders can be NHBC registered and there is also the LABC warranty available via the council so I am not sure why any builder would simply offer an Architects certificate.

Unless I am missing something.

jcrpage

I am about to buy a new build and have been told that the property comes with a 10 year architects warranty. That seems to be a bit different to what I have read above and I will ask the estate agent further questions tomorrow. A quick bit of googling reveals there seems to be a middle option:

"Occasionally, the Architects Certificate will not fulfil the requirements of the lender or perhaps the ‘Help-to-Buy’ scheme, when this situation arises we can offer our unique CertificatePlus+ system. This is the ‘Belt & Braces’ approach to complete peace of mind and is our premium service to the client and bank. Our regional monitoring surveyor will still carry out their professional monitoring service on your project and head office will provide its desk-top based audit service of all of the technical information to provide a CML approved Professional Consultants Certificate, but in addition you will receive a full 10 year latent defects warranty – a new home warranty."

This is from architectscertificate.co.uk or something like that so will not be specific to the particular developer I am dealing with. However, I wondered if anyone could advise what this means for the property as the relationship still seems to be between the developer and the architect. What happens if the developer goes bust/disappears?

Pending what I find out tomorrow, this has put my mind at ease somewhat about not having the full NHBC style cover as this seems to provide the same level of service. Am I missing anything?

common_sense_6763

what a load of,,,
nhbc, extremely limited warranty, big developers have the worst defect record in the industry, built quick, few inspections, workers paid in a way that promotes quantity over quality,
architects cert,
lots more inspection by qualified people plus often in conjunction with labc,
in short
you want a warranty on a rabbit hutch that you may most likely not be able to claim on and if you can, have the same quality of people that caused the problem come try to fix it go nhbc with, barratt, david Wilson wilcon etc

you want a decent house built properly and properly inspected by qualified architrect, building inspectors and built by someone who puts his own name to the work most likely alleviating any need to make a claim, go with pcc with labc and a proper builder

common_sense_6763

you are missing the why nhbc preferred by help to buy scheme
govt scheme and govt licenced scheme

common_sense_6763

labc warranty is the same as architects certificate or pcc with warranty

common_sense_6763

if architects cert is insurance or warranty backed this is better than nhbc toilet paper, if not talk to vendor or cert issuer and see about warranty upgrade, bmw build bmw they don't often go wrong, kia build kia and when they go wrong kia fix it and then it goes wrong again, if you want loads of repairs covered by warranty buy a kia (nhbc big developer) if you want it right from the start buy bmw (good builder, pcc, labc, warranty)