Recent Posts

1

General discussion / Re: Developer NDA and Warranty

« Last Post by New Home Expert on June 22, 2022, 12:34:45 pm »

It is not possible to "over think" any housebuilder offer or NDA implications.

Your NDA should only really apply to the fact that the EV charger was missing - not anything and everything from that moment on.  My suspicions are, that there may be other omissions and/or defects they know about but you do not.

The NHBC are not "peace of mind" either for years 3-10.

2

General discussion / Developer NDA and Warranty

« Last Post by evNDA on June 15, 2022, 09:54:05 am »

Hi there, just after opinions and some reassurance:

I've lived in my new build for 2.5 years now.
I  recently discovered that my house is missing an EV charger from the specification.
I  needed to have one installed ASAP (company car), 3rd party supplier fitted one and the developer has agreed it was missing  and will reimburse me the cost.
But! They will only reimburse me if I agree to sign an NDA, which also states that any money paid will be the final settlement of ANY matters of the purchase and subsequent occupation of the address.

I understand that my 2-year developer warranty is up, and now relying on NHBC for any issues, but I wondered if there was any reason to not take the NDA?

Apologies if I've over thought it!
Kind regards

3

Snagging and defects / Re: Double DPC?

« Last Post by New Home Expert on June 06, 2022, 09:26:06 am »

A DPC or Damp Proof membrane under the concrete floor.
Then another DPC is placed under the sole plate that your timber frame is fixed too.
Standard practice.

What did your snagger say about the replaced bricks above the air bricks?
Looks like they either forgot the dpc tray above the airbrick ducting OR they had to clear a lot of mortar from it.

There are lots of possible defects with timber frame. I hop your snagger knows what to look for.

4

Snagging and defects / Double DPC?

« Last Post by foxford2021 on May 29, 2022, 06:28:16 pm »

I hope someone can explain exactly what a Double DPC is?

We are in a new build timber framed property, After lots of issues we had a snagger in to inspect our property and one point listed was the air bricks (see photo)

Our developer's response was it's ok as we have a double DPC?
The snaggers said if this is the case then it should be fine but they found no evidence to support (or deny) it.

I would like to understand exactly what a Double DPC is in relation to a timber-framed building (if it's relevant?)

5

Snagging and defects / Re: Boundary on small electric substation - wall crumbling

« Last Post by Glitterbug on May 28, 2022, 04:00:05 pm »

Thank you so much for this. We had a bit of a revelation this week after some bad wind and rain, a few large rocks have fallen down into my planters so I can't let the wee one play near there. We have also discovered the whole wall is infested with  masonry bees, we've been getting bothered by them anytime we sit out. Husband used a scope camera and there is some crevices about 20cm deep into the wall absolutely infested with them. The other thing he noticed was possible asbestos as this was an old factory for years joined to the substation.

The thing that has bothered us is we feel the developer should have done something with this before we moved in. They apparently acid washed the wall as it was and build some side areas up to be more even.

My other worry now is EMF as we were told that wall was solid and would block EMF. It is literally 2.5metres from our house.

Thanks again for your help.

6

Snagging and defects / Re: Boundary on small electric substation - wall crumbling

« Last Post by New Home Expert on May 28, 2022, 01:16:13 pm »

Responsibility for this lies with the substation owners Scottish Power.
There is nothing to stop you building a wall or erecting a fence in front of this wall.
I doubt the substation wall would fall down and any new structure would protect this wall.

Write to Scottish Power and send photos and suggest options you are happy with.
Not as if they don't have lots of excess money at the moment is it?

7

House Builders / Re: Barwood homes

« Last Post by New Home Expert on May 28, 2022, 01:10:05 pm »

There comes a time when the cheapest and quickest solution is replace with new.
Don't bank on BLP being any help with  this though!

8

General discussion / Re: Fencing

« Last Post by New Home Expert on May 28, 2022, 01:07:46 pm »

You are living my dream! A total height of 9 feet (on your side) boundary.

This is a selling feature. Obviously the house the other side is higher than yours and their garden  level.
If the fence was lower they could look over the top.

Think yourself lucky and accept it.

9

Snagging and defects / Re: Developer Refusing to Fix Snags

« Last Post by New Home Expert on May 28, 2022, 01:05:05 pm »

If the housebuilder refuses to fix these then yes you will need to get estimates and take them to Small Claims Court for the cost.

It all seems quite small beer. The internet socket should be easy to fix if they send someone that knows what they are doing.

Scratched floor, take up and replace days work plus materials.
Knocking pipework, small hole, wrap pipe in insulation at knocking point and make good and decorate.

Regarding his attitude, I suggest you get a solicitor to send the housebuilder's his solicitor a full list and give them 28 calendar days to fully rectify.
Stating if they refuse of fail, then you will appoint "A Another" to carry out all the required works at their cost plus 10% management and inconvenience fee plus your legal and court fees and all other expenses. plus 5% interest on the total until it is paid.  You could point out that it is a public court and you would also ensure local and if a major builder national press are present.


Time to get tough!


The house builder will end up spending more on legal fees than it would cost them to do the work.

Warning to others this home has a Checkmate warranty....beware!

10

Snagging and defects / Boundary on small electric substation - wall crumbling

« Last Post by Glitterbug on May 21, 2022, 04:28:28 pm »

I'm new to this forum.
I am in Scotland and my warranty is via Q assure.
I am still within my repair and defect period with the developer and they are coming for a visit this week to discuss snags.

Please see attached image. We have a tiny substation to the side of our back garden and the wall forms our garden boundary to the left. This substation is still in use via Scottish Power. As you can see it is a bit of a mess.

The developer had told us they "patched up and reinforced which will make it more even".
When we got here we realised that was a lie. See on the picture where the blue arrow is shows where they added new brick work that matches our development brickwork.

What I'm not happy about is that the wall seems to be crumbling in many areas and this debris that looks like powdered clay is falling off into the grass. The grass isn't growing along that boundary and is full of mounting debris. Every time it rains the wall is crumbling further. I called them and was told I know cosmetically it doesn't look great but nothing we can do.

I'm wanting to challenge them on this and have it repaired but really struggling finding info on external walls that aren't the house? Looking for some form of regulations or legislation for this that relate to the safety and structure.

Can someone point me in the right direction?