The checks the NHBC don't carry out

The checks that a NHBC (or other warranty provider) carry out are important, but often Sales consultants will use this as a reason to prevent you booking with us. The truth is that their time in the property at the last stage is very short, and only account for a small proportion of checks we carry out. In a 5 bedroom house we find their final inspection lasts approximately 15 minutes, in comparison to our typical time of 4-5 hours. We know this because we are often there during their inspection process.

This week on a snagging inspection we were in a house immediately after a NHBC inspector, and it took us less than 30 minutes to find a number of issues out of tolerance and a major leak (shown below). Luckily we were able to engage the trades on site to investigate the cause (due to a 4" from the waste pipe not being sealed in). It is an example why the checks we carry out are very different to those carried out by the Site Manager and NHBC, and why it is important to instruct us to carry out a snagging survey before you move in.