I have been working for some clients and we have been getting somewhere with the builders, the main thing that brought the directors to the table is proof of non-compliance of building regulations, this puts them in the firing line.
One of the biggest issues in new buildings is very poor thermal performance, the first thing that is picked up is missing insulation and this can be easily 'fixed' by putting in a bit more which costs nothing significant and will, in most cases, keep the owners happy.
What is very rarely picked up is the fact that the walls are dry lined, plasterboard stuck to the walls with blobs of plaster, this has to be sealed along the top, down the corners and around all the electrical outlets. This is almost never done and, as it is hidden within the walls, cannot be seen.
Thermal imaging will pick this up and you can see the individual dots and dabs proving conclusively that the walls have not been sealed. Unsealed dry lining is one of the biggest sources of heat loss in new buildings, the void behind the plasterboard acts like a chimney and allows heat to flow upwards through conduction and convection into the roof void and away. It has also raised serious concerns with the Fire Authorities because it can enable a fire to spread much more rapidly through a building because it can supply a fire with a good source of air.
I have so many people asked me why their new home is so cold and their energy bills are much higher than they were in the older homes they moved out of and drylining is one of the main reasons for this.
Proving that materials have not been installed to NHBC, manufacturer's and even the builder's own specification leaves the house builder with nowhere to hide when it comes to excuses, I have even questioned the NHBC as to why they have signed-off such work and they couldn't give me an answer.
The builders of a house I have been working on have agreed with the NHBC's findings that all the walls are going to have to be stripped back to first fix, the top floor room in roof area is going to be removed and stripped back to the roof structure and the whole house basically refitted from first fix with independent verification at varying stages that the work is to standard.
The surveys I carry out are around £300 plus travel expenses, other companies charge considerably more and don't go into the same detail that I do. You then need to hand the report to a director, not the customer care manager and place it in their hand don't send it!