what does it take to get nhbc certification?

[Daryl Bradley]

I'm just intrigued as to what it actually takes to get NHBC certification on a newbuild property nowadays? Is it just that there's 4 walls, a room, and some insulation?

Does this 'certification' in any form mean that your house meets building regs at the time of build?

I ask this as in the past year I've discovered that

1. soil pipe not capped properly in the loft
2. bathroom lighting doesn't meeting zone/ip rating regulations
3. somewhat dubious interpretation of gas cut off valve access capabilities
4. live wires handing on top of cupboards.

(I'll stop there for now.)

and that's just me being someone not skilled in the art of building, and just taking a common sense approach to thinks that didn't quite look right.

[Andrew Gabriel]

My solicitor claimed it's not worth the paper it's written on.

Instead of NHBC, my house had an insurance policy, which is aparently significantly better. It lasts for 10 years, and if sold in the last 5 years, it extends to 5 years from the date of sale (I got almost the max 15 years). It works by a surveyor regularly visiting and inspecting during the build, and then assuring that there's nothing wrong with the building, and taking out a policy to back up this assurance (in case he's wrong).

[Daryl Bradley]

not one to name names, but this was through a large nationwide builder too, name ending in ... ovis

[Hugo Nebula]

On Mon, 5 Feb 2007 08:08:30 -0000, a particular chimpanzee named "Daryl Bradley" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

In the UK, generally all building work has to comply with the Building Regulations. Work has to be notified to a Building Control Body, who carry out inspections as they see fit at various stages of the work to make sure that the builder is complying to the requirements of the Regulations.

In England and Wales, a Building Control Body can be a Local Authority or a private-sector Approved Inspector. In the house-building sector, the largest such AI is the NHBC. It's up to the person carrying out the work to decide who they use.

The Local Authority is independent of any particular developer, and doesn't rely solely on them coming back to the LA if they think the LA is being too harsh. I'll leave you to speculate as to whether an organisation that is run and financed by the volume housebuilders can be truly independent and impartial.

Has it had a Completion Certificate from the Building Control Body (not just a warranty)? If not, why not?

If the work was commenced prior to January 2005, then electrical work didn't come under Building Regulations at the time. Even if after then, if it had been certified by a Competent Electrician, the BCB may not have inspected that part of the work. Gas safety still doesn't come under the Building Regulations.