Hi all. Firstly thank you Phil for setting up this website & forum.
I am a site carpenter with 35 years experience, 10 of those years have been spent building timber houses in Spain. When I returned to the UK three years ago I was shocked by the fall in building standards and worker indifference to care and quality.
I believe many of the problems we are seeing come as a direct result of worker employment systems now used in the UK, eg labour sourced from employment agencies. However this is only part of the problem, I have seen labourers with no trade experience managing building sites, simply because they have an SMSTS qualification that can be purchased for as little as £500. SMSTS is really just a health & safety qualification not a building qualification. Essentially these so called managers are just scapegoats incase of a health & safety issue.
The quality of materials used in many mass produced new builds also seems to be very low. MDF door frames and skirting boards, steel web joists, sockets and switches all seem to be chosen for cost reasons not quality or durability reasons.
I am sure that many of the houses built today will create problems for owners and the rest of society for decades to come.
On legal stuff I am a bit useless, however on structural & quality problems I am more than willing to share my knowledge and experience if anyone needs it.