Builders Negligence - Can we claim?
afiedler
Posts: 2 Newbie
So we have bought a new house a year ago on a brand new estate.
A small part of the end of our driveway we do not own as the water pipes run underneath, but the boundary is clearly marked on our deeds.
We received a letter last December that the housing company had not abided to the local highway adoption on our side of the road, and all the houses on that side would need the end of the driveway redoing.
All the asked is that we take our cars off of the driveway so they could dig it up. As we do not own that part of the driveway we could not stop them from doing this work.
However the letter they posted was sent on the Friday with the works starting on the Monday, and the customer service line they gave us all was closed over the weekend. So no one on the estate had any idea what type of works they would be doing, and had no chance to ask any questions about it.
During the works they mentioned that to abide by the local highway adoption they would also need to dig up a large portion of our driveway, which we own, and level it out so it is a certain height about the council road.
They have no asked us for permission to do this to our driveway, and have started digging it up. Is there a certain process that builders have to go through once contracts have been exchanged? Surely they need to have asked permission to dig up our land?
Now because of their negligence in doing the driveways wrong, the works that they are going to have to carry out on our driveway, will cause the NHBC 10 year guarantee to be void - if they would have done the driveways correctly in the first place, like they did on the other side of the road, then our NHBC 10 year guarantee would still be intact.
If anything happens to the driveway in the future, for example it floods, and that flooding causes damage to the house, then the house will not be covered under the NHBC warranty.
Is this reason for us to claim for builders negligence?
We bought the house in good faith that they had done the works correctly, and now because of their own negligence we are losing our NHBC 10 year guarantee on our driveway.
Any help in this matter would be much appreciated.
A small part of the end of our driveway we do not own as the water pipes run underneath, but the boundary is clearly marked on our deeds.
We received a letter last December that the housing company had not abided to the local highway adoption on our side of the road, and all the houses on that side would need the end of the driveway redoing.
All the asked is that we take our cars off of the driveway so they could dig it up. As we do not own that part of the driveway we could not stop them from doing this work.
However the letter they posted was sent on the Friday with the works starting on the Monday, and the customer service line they gave us all was closed over the weekend. So no one on the estate had any idea what type of works they would be doing, and had no chance to ask any questions about it.
During the works they mentioned that to abide by the local highway adoption they would also need to dig up a large portion of our driveway, which we own, and level it out so it is a certain height about the council road.
They have no asked us for permission to do this to our driveway, and have started digging it up. Is there a certain process that builders have to go through once contracts have been exchanged? Surely they need to have asked permission to dig up our land?
Now because of their negligence in doing the driveways wrong, the works that they are going to have to carry out on our driveway, will cause the NHBC 10 year guarantee to be void - if they would have done the driveways correctly in the first place, like they did on the other side of the road, then our NHBC 10 year guarantee would still be intact.
If anything happens to the driveway in the future, for example it floods, and that flooding causes damage to the house, then the house will not be covered under the NHBC warranty.
Is this reason for us to claim for builders negligence?
We bought the house in good faith that they had done the works correctly, and now because of their own negligence we are losing our NHBC 10 year guarantee on our driveway.
Any help in this matter would be much appreciated.
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Comments
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So we have bought a new house a year ago on a brand new estate.
A small part of the end of our driveway we do not own as the water pipes run underneath, but the boundary is clearly marked on our deeds.
We received a letter last December that the housing company had not abided to the local highway adoption on our side of the road, and all the houses on that side would need the end of the driveway redoing.
All the asked is that we take our cars off of the driveway so they could dig it up. As we do not own that part of the driveway we could not stop them from doing this work.
However the letter they posted was sent on the Friday with the works starting on the Monday, and the customer service line they gave us all was closed over the weekend. So no one on the estate had any idea what type of works they would be doing, and had no chance to ask any questions about it.
During the works they mentioned that to abide by the local highway adoption they would also need to dig up a large portion of our driveway, which we own, and level it out so it is a certain height about the council road.
They have no asked us for permission to do this to our driveway, and have started digging it up. Is there a certain process that builders have to go through once contracts have been exchanged? Surely they need to have asked permission to dig up our land?
Now because of their negligence in doing the driveways wrong, the works that they are going to have to carry out on our driveway, will cause the NHBC 10 year guarantee to be void - if they would have done the driveways correctly in the first place, like they did on the other side of the road, then our NHBC 10 year guarantee would still be intact.
If anything happens to the driveway in the future, for example it floods, and that flooding causes damage to the house, then the house will not be covered under the NHBC warranty.
Is this reason for us to claim for builders negligence?
We bought the house in good faith that they had done the works correctly, and now because of their own negligence we are losing our NHBC 10 year guarantee on our driveway.
Any help in this matter would be much appreciated.
Why?
Given it’s a structural warranty and it only talks about access to your home.0 -
Hi, sorry could you explain why the guarantee will be void?0
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On the NHBC website it states that any alterations to a laying patio or significantly altering the ground level around your home, will cause the warranty to be void.
As they are digging up our driveway to alter the level so it matches the roadway, they are voiding our warranty.0 -
On the NHBC website it states that any alterations to a laying patio or significantly altering the ground level around your home, will cause the warranty to be void.
As they are digging up our driveway to alter the level so it matches the roadway, they are voiding our warranty.
No, they are correcting the defect.0 -
NHBC wont be void as long as the plans you got from your solicitor state what the road is being corrected to. If the plans you got differ from what they are going to do then call NHBC and check with them.
NHBC don't look at every house built...0
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