New Home Owners And Snagging Forum

Advice on buying a brand new home => NHBC Warranty => Topic started by: Scotsman109 on July 01, 2016, 03:50:04 pm

Title: NHBC are not very good at all!!!
Post by: Scotsman109 on July 01, 2016, 03:50:04 pm
I have worked in the house building industry for 29 years.
Site awards are often awarded for a clean and safe looking site.
The site will generally only look like this for a couple of days, the site manager knows the date of visit.
The award-winning sites have nothing to do with build quality, you will get an award for looking after the NHBC person. I know of some who are quite wealthy! But the job doesn't pay that well!

THERE IS NO QUALITY OR PRIDE IN NEW HOMES!
It starts with poor bricklaying! NOBODY CHECKS IT EVER!
They check face brickwork for dried muck on the bricks! BUT ONLY BECAUSE IT IS VISIBLE!
Every trade is on a price. So every problem they find the site manager says "Can you get over it"
If it's a problem they cannot get over, it's the trade or sub contractor that loses money, no the house builder!
 
The trades are treated badly with very little concern for health and well-being. If you don't like it we can get someone else attitude.

I WOULDN'T TRUST ANY NATIONAL BUILDER! ONCE THE NHBC GIVE THE HOUSE THE CML AND CONTACTS ARE SIGNED THEY DON'T CARE!
I promise I could find a 1000 snags in any new home!

Most of the new homes built should not receive a CML final certificate from the NHBC.
Title: Re: NHBC are not very good at all!!!
Post by: New Home Expert on July 02, 2016, 06:20:24 am
Blimey!  and I thought I had a low opinion of house builders and new homes!

Like you, I worked in construction management in housebuilding and on commercial construction projects for over 30 years.

Regarding the NHBC Pride in the Job Awards....
The NHBC do not hand these out to site managers that don't care or who build poor quality homes.
I agree, it helps if the site is tidy (which it should be anyway!) if their are NHBC flags everywhere and if the house builder uses the NHBC for Building Control and training services.   Site managers do not know in advance when the area inspector is coming to judge. The local inspector judges throughout the year on each visit.

It is true, there is a "recipe" for winning an NHBC Quality Award.  Taking the local inspector and his manager for a lunch every month is a good idea and builds relationships.This is how some poor site managers can win NHBC Awards (http://www.new-home-blog.co.uk/how-poor-site-managers-win-nhbc-quality-awards/), with very unhappy customers on their sites working for the likes of for example Taylor Wimpey.

Regarding brickwork, I would disagree that it is not checked. During my career, I always went on scaffolding to check that cavities were clean with a torch, that expansion joints and DPCs and cavity trays were in the right place and constructed correctly and that all joints were fully filled and the correct lintels were used in the correct locations. Anything wrong was taken down and re done at the trade's cost. It was after all them and not me that built it incorrectly or sub-standard. Any trade cannot be paid again for correcting defective or sub standard work.  In my experience, "rubble stackers" are some of the worst when it comes to building care, pride and quality.

Whilst I agree, that site management and especially directors at regional and board level, don't care one jot about quality and standards. But it must be said that it is the trades that build the houses, not the site management of the house builders. They just co ordinate it and pay for the land, work and materials.
However the poor quality that does exist is because site managers all over the country don't do anything about it and their supervising managers and directors care even less!
Title: Re: NHBC are not very good at all!!!
Post by: BristolBristol on April 26, 2019, 02:34:37 pm
NHBC aren't very helpful at all.  After the 10 year warranty period, they basically wash their hands of any responsibilty even though they are signing off buildings that should never have been signed off.
Title: Re: NHBC are not very good at all!!!
Post by: New Home Expert on April 29, 2019, 06:29:40 am
It's a 10-year warranty, not a forever warranty.
It is up to new homeowners to complain, make claims and report NHBC to the Financial Ombudsman Service if they fail them within the ten years.