The crux of this complaint is this:
- At the time we purchased the house, the house had already been built (and therefore the error was already present). We were not allowed to view the rear of the house during this process - it was still a building site, and we were lucky to be allowed to see the front, sides and the inside!
- During the sales process, Bloor suggest that they showed us the working designs (including the "working rear elevation drawing" showing the windows without the detailing. At that time they suggest we reviewed these and signed them off.
- During the sales process, Bloor were explicit in not allowing us to take copies of any drawings, nor take our own photos of drawings. It is now clear why we didn't get any copies - it's a way for Bloor to reduce the possibility of anomalies being highlighted after homeowners move in. No drawings = no evidence.
The fact that the "working drawings" are not consistent with any other house of the same type on the development highlights the bizarre Bloor argument that the rear window detailing was never supposed to be installed on our house. There is no rhyme or reason for this, other than the suggestion that the developer deliberately changed the working drawings when they realised the mistake the brickies had made. It's a cheaper fix to remove one window header than to add in 6 new ones, and that's only if the homeowner notices!
I've checked back through my documentation. I've found the 'Reservation Checklist'. On that checklist, it shows we signed for & were given floor plans & elevation plans. I have the plans in front of me now. I do recall, I can't remember why, we weren't given 'Legal Layout plans & Landscaping plans', but I took pictures.
We were allowed on site during its build to view the rear, my wife wanted to see the size of rear garden and how we were overlooked by neighbours. We had to wear appropriate PPE, accompanied by sales & site agent, on an arrange day.
On our development, the brickwork is reconstructive stone. Most not all of the houses front windows, have stone headers & sills. This is reflected in my elevation plans. None of the houses have such on the rear windows.
As said before, my neighbour got some real changes done to his boundaries, after they had moved in.
@billinghamn I would keep pushing, and keep going higher up if you don't get satisfaction.