David Wilson new build home - garage issues

SimpleLifeGirl

I’m looking for advice regarding ongoing water ingress in my detached garage (new build, moved in March 2023).

I first flagged damp/water ingress to the developer in 2024. They carried out what appeared to be surface-level remedial work. Their own paperwork referenced a “potential leak”, but no proper investigation was undertaken.

As the issue persisted, I raised a claim with NHBC last year. The outcome was found in the developer’s favour.

The problem has not resolved. The wall still shows water ingress after heavy rain, and mould is now visible on the garage ceiling.

Given the history:

• Should I be escalating back to NHBC with the new mould evidence?
• Does this now strengthen the case as a build defect?
• Is there anything specific I should document or commission (e.g. independent survey) before re-approaching them?

Any guidance from anyone who’s been through similar would be really appreciated.

eddddy

The outcome was found in the developer’s favour.

Can you be more specific?

What did the developer say that NHBC later agreed with?

For example, did the developer say…

• There was no evidence of a leak, or
• They agreed there was damp, but said it was not caused by a building defect, or
• They agreed there was a leak, but said they had fixed the leak / building defect

Or something else?

One approach would be to instruct a building surveyor who would read the developer's / NHBC's report and look at the garage, and write their own report - which you could pass to NHBC.

But the surveyor would probably charge you a few hundred pounds for doing that.

koalakoala

i have always found NHBC to be disappointingly unhelpful

fullyrendered

You need to check the terms of the NHBC cover - is the nature of the defect/repair required outside of the scope of the ongoing policy?

Also you have the issue of the 'excess' - work under the 'minimum claim value' is not covered.

eddddy

fullyrendered said

You need to check the terms of the NHBC cover - is the nature of the defect/repair required outside of the scope of the ongoing policy?

Also you have the issue of the 'excess' - work under the 'minimum claim value' is not covered.

The OP suggests that the house was completed in March 2023, and they reported the defect to the developer in 2024 - so within the first 2 years.

So it should be the developer's responsibility to fix the defect, not NHBC's - and there is generally no 'minimum claim value' for defects reported in the first 2 years.

(But if the current leak/damp problem is different from the leak/damp problem reported in 2024 - then as you suggest, the terms of the NHBC insurance would apply to the new problem.)

GrubbyGirl_2

Just to give you an example of how I resolved an issue with NHBC as they refused to solve my problem initially.

My house was 8 years old in 2016 and had a large chimney stack on the outside of the house (more design than function) I ended up with a roof leak where the roof met the chimney. Got NHBC to look and they said it was a flashing issue and therefore repair would be less than their minimum amount (it was about £1,000 at that time) so they would not cover it. I got 2 roofing companies in to quote for repair and both said it was a more significant issue than flashing as the flashing was below the drip tray and was a fundamental error and the chimney needed to be taken down to the roof level and new drip tray and flashing put in and the chimney rebuilt. Not sure if I was being conned by the roofers I got a surveyor in who confirmed exactly what they said. I got back in touch with NHBC and asked them to come and relook which they refused to do.

I ended up getting my solicitor to send them a copy of the survey and he threatened them with a legal claim if they didn't sort out the issue. They then came and relooked and agreed the work needed to be done. It ended up being a much more significant job because when they started to dismantle the chimney they were shocked to find it had been incorrectly and badly built (long story) so the whole chimney had to be taken down to the ground and rebuilt. The total cost ended up at £19k.

silvercar

have you had quotes for getting it fixed?

dinosaur66

it is common for detached garages to have these faults albeit i would be livid if it happened on a 2 year old garage that i owned

i am guessing the reason it was turned down besides being cheapskates and poor workmanship is a detached garage is regarded as a non habitable single brick skimmed outbuilding and not expected to be watertight and is designed to park a car

despite 99% of us using them for storage

i waterproofed a 60 year old detached garage 2 years ago

as long as you have a relative who has basic diy skills and will give up his free time took me 4 days on my own and £900 approx for the materials - your roof being 2 years old should be fine and once outside and inside walls and garage floor and ceiling are all tanked and all waterproofed and insulated the mould and water ingression will stop / albeit hopefully your garage is not on a downslope to your road

i would guess checkatrade would charge 2 to 3k approx but it really is a job anyone can do there is little skill involved and just basic tools most men have in the toolshed