NHBC Warranty & Low Water Pressure

lefteris

Hey all,

Do you know if the NHBC 10 year warranty would cover low water pressure issues (i.e. low water pressure at the toilet flushes or shower heads) with a new build house where there is on after care from the builder? 

marcia_

lefteris said:

Hey all,

Do you know if the NHBC 10 year warranty would cover low water pressure issues (i.e. low water pressure at the toilet flushes or shower heads) with a new build house where there is on after care from the builder? 

 No idea but we moved into a new building with extremely low water pressure. The builder told us they put a restriction on it to make an eco thing. 

 They also restricted the water temperature via a thing under the bath. 

i got a plumber in who removed the restrictor. Just a tiny plastic thing in the pipe that slows the water down. 

housebuyer143

I'm not certain this is something that is covered as it's really water board domain. The water board are required to provide you with at least 1 bar I believe (which is ridiculously low). 
If you are getting this, you can still call the water board and complain but they probably won't do much. They may come out though and check the pressure coming into your home, so at least you will know if the issue is inside the house or not. 

ThisIsWeird

Lefteris, how 'new' is new? 
There could be all sorts of causes, from a mains supply issue (Water Board, up to your meter) to an internal fault (builder issue is covered) to an intentionally-incorporated restrictor as Marcia experienced. Any idea?
Is this a problem with every tap, or are some ok? What about your garden tap - does that gush?
Could you check around your internal stopcock, and see if there's a PRV fitted to the pipe? (Pic?) Do your neighbours have a similar issue? If so, have they done/will they do anything about it?
And, just how bad it is? Have you measured the available flow? If you place a pan under a tap or showerhead and turn it on full for 6 seconds, how many litres do you get? 

lefteris

marcia_ said:

lefteris said:

Hey all,

Do you know if the NHBC 10 year warranty would cover low water pressure issues (i.e. low water pressure at the toilet flushes or shower heads) with a new build house where there is on after care from the builder? 

 No idea but we moved into a new building with extremely low water pressure. The builder told us they put a restriction on it to make an eco thing. 

 They also restricted the water temperature via a thing under the bath. 

i got a plumber in who removed the restrictor. Just a tiny plastic thing in the pipe that slows the water down. 

Thanks for that very helpful...yh always the eco thing is in play!!!

chanz4

nhbc covers not much as you think

ThorOdinson

marcia_ said:

lefteris said:

Hey all,

Do you know if the NHBC 10 year warranty would cover low water pressure issues (i.e. low water pressure at the toilet flushes or shower heads) with a new build house where there is on after care from the builder? 

 No idea but we moved into a new building with extremely low water pressure. The builder told us they put a restriction on it to make an eco thing. 

 They also restricted the water temperature via a thing under the bath. 

i got a plumber in who removed the restrictor. Just a tiny plastic thing in the pipe that slows the water down. 

In other words the builder faked the eco credentials and lied about what the water bills would be.

To the OP, if that is the case it's a bigger issue than just fixing the low pressure.

marcia_

ThorOdinson said:

marcia_ said:

lefteris said:

Hey all,

Do you know if the NHBC 10 year warranty would cover low water pressure issues (i.e. low water pressure at the toilet flushes or shower heads) with a new build house where there is on after care from the builder? 

 No idea but we moved into a new building with extremely low water pressure. The builder told us they put a restriction on it to make an eco thing. 

 They also restricted the water temperature via a thing under the bath. 

i got a plumber in who removed the restrictor. Just a tiny plastic thing in the pipe that slows the water down. 

In other words the builder faked the eco credentials and lied about what the water bills would be.

To the OP, if that is the case it's a bigger issue than just fixing the low pressure.

 Yes they went on and on about how the house was eco friendly with lower utilities bills and I questioned why there were no solar panels and they moved on. 

ThorOdinson

Right, and if the water pressure gets fixed your bill will go up to a level they said it would be below.

That's what I'm getting at.

marcia_

ThorOdinson said:

Right, and if the water pressure gets fixed your bill will go up to a level they said it would be below.

That's what I'm getting at.

 Not really. My bills stayed the same because I still used the same amount of water it just took quicker to run a bath etc with the restrictor removed. 

ComicGeek

There is only a statutory requirement for the water supply authority to provide a minimum water supply pressure of 0.8 bar at the entry point to your house. The government sets target water use under building regs that pretty much prevent developers from increasing this.

It's not a fault or anything that is broken, and definitely not a NHBC fault. It is a government decision to reduce water usage, given how vulnerable our water supplies are.

Hot water temperature to baths is limited to prevent scalding to vulnerable people.

But I guess people know better, and just remove all safety devices and environmental features themselves.