Drainage within 3m

[Inverted]

Hi all,

Starting to pull my hair out with this, but I completely understand it could be considered minor in comparison to others.

We moved into our new Barratt property in September 2014.

In February we started noticing pooling water on the lawn within 3m of the property. Initially Barratt dismissed this as a result of poor weather (despite it having been dry for over a week)

Finally after many emails, and eventually 2 inspections, new drainage was agreed.
Drainage was laid down towards the damp waterlogged area on one side of the garden. The work quality was abysmal. New turf over the drain laid on top of old, so lawn is really uneven, and is now sinking down into the areas where the drain was laid.

The area immediately to the right of the drain still expels water under pressure when stood upon. To highlight the deficiencies, on the day the new turf was laid I peeled it back to take photographs of the poor preparation. According to Barratt, this has invalidated any contractor warranty on the remedial works!? I reiterate I only lifted the grass for 30 seconds to take the photos. I went to the NHBC and despite emailing Mr Clare, Barratt now want a resolution meeting.

Where do I stand? Do NHBC charge for these resolution services?

[New Home Expert]

I could find no mention of any charge to home buyers for using the NHBC Resoloution service.
There used to be a £50 deposit to guard against spurious claims brought by buyers and designed just to waste everyone's time. This was refundable if the complaint was considered justified.
You will need to read your NHBC policy documents.

In any event it was Barratt that have called for this and all charges/costs (if any) should be met by them.
You should be aware that Barratt have a very close relationship with the NHBC; exclusively using their warranty and in most cases, the NHBC also carry out Building Control inspections.
Barratt have also won more NHBC Quality Awards than any other house builder since 2008.
As  such I would be surprised if the outcome  will have been agreed between the NHBC inspector and Barratt's representative before they even ring your bell!

Should you not accept the NHBC inspectors resolution report, you could go to arbitration but would then be liable for the arbitrator's fees and other costs.

My advice would be to bombared Mark Clare with e mails and post regularly on Twitter adding @Barrattplc in each "tweet"
You could also join the Facebook Barratt buyers action group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/230629503676904/