NHBC Warranty Scheme
Our new homes are built in accordance with NHBC Standards and carry a full warranty on completion as described below:
A) Cover before completion
Should the Builder not start the home due to insolvency or fraud - NHBC will repay the amount paid to the Builder under the Contract which cannot be recovered.
Should the Builder not complete the home due to insolvency or fraud - NHBC will repay the amount paid to the Builder under the Contract which cannot be recovered or the extra cost above the Original Purchase Price for work necessary to complete the home.
B) Defects reported to the Builder within two years of the date of Legal Completion
We will put right within a reasonable time and at our expense, defects (or damage caused by defects) reported to us (preferably in writing) within two years of the date of the legal completion of the sale of the property to you (this is also known as the Initial Guarantee Period). Please note that the term ‘defects’ relate only to breaches of the NHBC’s Requirements, and does not include any of the following contingencies:
i) Wear and tear
ii) Deterioration caused by neglect or failure to carry out normal or specific maintenance
iii) Normal dampness, condensation and shrinkage
iv) Anything excluded from cover by an endorsement by NHBC on the Ten Year Notice
v) Any defect or damage resulting from compliance by ourselves with instructions given by or on behalf of the first purchaser in respect of design, materials or workmanship
vi) Any cost or expense greater than that necessary to effect a workmanlike repair of the relevant defect or damage
vii) Anything caused by alterations or extensions to your home after the date of the NHBC Ten Year Notice
viii) If you are not the first purchaser, anything which you knew about when you acquired the home and which resulted in a reduction of the purchase price you paid or was taken into account by another arrangement
Where disputes arise between Mead Estates Ltd. and yourselves, the NHBC may be called to act as a conciliation service - see the NHBC Buildmark leaflet for further details.
If we fail to meet our obligations under this section, NHBC provide cover as follows:
- they will pay for any arbitration award or court judgement which you obtain against the Builder relating to obligations under this section which the Builder fails to honour.
- they will pay for the cost of any work contained in a Resolution Service report which is accepted by the home owner but the Builder does not complete within the specified time.
- if the Builder is insolvent, NHBC will pay the cost of any work which the Builder would otherwise have been liable for under this section.
In addition to the terms of the NHBC warranty scheme, individual components of our new properties may be separately covered by manufacturer’s warranties. Refer to the information supplied with your new home for other additional guarantees provided by manufacturers.
C) Defects reported to the Builder after the Initial Guarantee Period has expired, but within ten years of the date of legal completion
After the initial two year period has expired, the terms of the NHBC cover only applies to items as defined below. Items that you consider should be covered may be reported to ourselves as described above, and we may correct such defects again at our own expense. However, we reserve the right to ask NHBC to inspect any such defects, and we will be bound by their findings if they decide that the defects should be corrected under the warranty scheme.
Items covered in Years 3-10 includes:
i) NHBC will pay the full cost, when it is more than Ł1000, for putting right any actual physical damage caused by a Defect to any of the following parts of your home:
foundations
load-bearing walls
non load-bearing partition walls
wet-applied wall plaster
external render and external vertical tile hanging
load-bearing parts of the roof
tile and slate coverings to pitched roofs
ceilings
load-bearing parts of the floors
staircases and internal floor decking and screeds where these fail to support normal loads
retaining walls necessary for the structural stability of the property, garage or other permanent outbuilding
failure of seals to double or triple glazed units to external windows or doors
below ground drainage for which you are responsible
ii) NHBC will pay the cost of putting right any Defect in a flue or chimney which causes present or imminent danger to the physical health and safety of anyone normally living in the home.
iii) NHBC will pay any reasonable costs you incur by prior agreement with NHBC for removal, storage and alternative accommodation if it is necessary for you or anyone normally living in the home to move out so that work can be done.
Items not covered in Years 3-10 includes:
i) any of the contingencies already listed in section B above.
ii) damage which is purely cosmetic such as minor cracking, spalling or mortar erosion which does not affect the structural stability or weather-tightness of the home.
iii) damage which is caused by normal shrinkage, thermal movement or movement between different types of materials.
iv) damage caused by storm force weather conditions as defined by the Meteorological Office.
D) Additional cover in years 3-10 if NHBC provided Building Control for the property
Where NHBC provided Building Control services to the Builder during construction instead of the Local Authority (this will be indicated on the Buildmark Document), the following additional cover is available:
Repairs required where there is a present and imminent danger to the physical health and safety of the occupants of the home because the home does comply with the requirements of the Building Regulations that applied to the work at the time of construction in relations to the following:
structure
fire safety
site preparation and resistance to moisture
hygiene
drainage and waste disposal
heat-producing appliances
protection from falling, collision and impact
glazing - safety in relation to impact, opening and cleaning
E) Additional cover for contaminated land in years 3-10 if NHBC provided Building Control for the property
Where NHBC provided Building Control services as described in (D), if it is discovered that substances exist in, on or under your land that could give rise to a Statutory Notice being served on you by the Local Authority, NHBC will:
pay the cost of treating or isolating or removing those substances from your land in a controlled manner in accordance with the requirements of the Statutory Notice