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Hi Just wondering if repairs done by British Gas to my combi boiler come with a guarantee? Had it serviced under contract and some parts replaced 4 weeks ago but gradually the old problem of no hot water downstairs has returned. We were told at the time it was probably a diverter valve problem which the engineer replaced. Central heating upstairs and downstairs is fine but sink and shower hot water has recently become very slow to heat and often goes cold after a minute or two. The system pressure is down to below the safe minimum level today so we had to turn it off. I haven't noticed any leaks anywhere. A British Gas engineer is booked to come tomorrow and as there's an excess to pay on repairs with our service cover I'm wondering if it's likely that they will waive it because of the previous repairs not having been successful? All thoughts welcome. Thanks David

Hi all - I am about to embark on a build of a new house, to replace my existing, but hit a bump - another bump In a nutshell - I had architect to design, get quotes and (planned to use her for) quote evaluation, contractor selection & sign-up (one main contractor to do full shell and landscape), build control application, and to consult thereafter to support me and builder as we progress. Unfortunately, the architect was taken ill (very ill), so I evaluated the quotes and selected the builder - he comes recommended, and is affable. So getting to my questions (i) Id like to sign a contract, and although he is agreeable, he'd "doesn't think they are worth the paper" - is it the absolute only thing to do? (ii) what sort of contract do we sign - are there templates. Builder was given building control level drawings for quote, his response is marked estimate, and there are some things that may be subject to change/decision (e.g. the lanscaping levels). In a nutshell, I'd like to regularise the relationship as much as possible, without rewriting everything - Im thinking of making sure the less obvious stuff is clear, like what happens if the site is vandalised, payment terms, warranties, etc. Any pointers or contract suggestions, please. Relevant, I guess - I feel my architect is imprtont to my design, and Im really hoping to get her back, so not eager to appoint another - Id rather patch on through, if I can TIA, James PS, I am excited to finally be nearing build stage, in case the above came across as dry & glum!

Hi all I am about to embark on a new-build two-bed project in Bristol. It is 84 sqm and conventional construction. I have had a quote from ICW from the structural defect warranty of £3.3k for £200k of cover. Does that sound typical? Many thanks.

Hi there Any help with the enclosed would be massively appreciated. I'm currently in the process of purchasing a new build property that has a Buildzone warranty with a value of £150,000. The purchase price of the house is in excess of £500,000 and the rebuild cost according to the BCIS webiste is £363,000. We are at exchange of contracts stage and our solicitor has flagged that our mortgage company has stated that the certifcated value is not enough. With this in mind they won't proceed with the mortgage offer. We've used a mortage broker who has stated that the market is severly limited due to the value on the certifcate so much so that he can't guarantee that we can even get a mortgage with the current certificate value in place. My question is this; can the builder raise the cost on the certificate (and obviously incur costs) or is this a value that is set by Buildzone? Buildzone won't talk to me as the builder is obviously the warranty holder. If the value can be raised what would the expected premium be (appreciate these can vary)? Many thanks for reading and I hope I've made sense. Thanks

At the NEC Homebuilding and Renovating show this weekend we made initial contact with several warranty providers to get details ready to send our details off for a quote once planning permission is in. AEDIS were very nice and we settled down to give them some details. We got to the question of main contractor and of course - that is us. They were very apologetic but wouldn't be able to give us a quotation without a main contractor as we may not be competent. This is surely what the warranty is supposed to check, especially if they are building control aswell. If we were completely hands off on our build and hire a shonky builder, we would be relying on building control and the warranty inspectors to highlight the failings of our builders. Just goes to prove that they expect payment for a paper excercise rather than a true check that what you are doing is safe. We went back to some of the other companies that we had spoken with and they were all ok with it, provided that the checks were completed appropriately by both building control and the warranty provider (or the same person if the warranty is providing the building control as well) they would be happy.

Two weeks ago today our stonemason started and poor guy it rained heavily from the very first day! In fact, so bad on the first day that I fully expected him to give it a miss, but there he was when I got home from work, grafting away on his own. Being a SIPs build, the roof is already in place, so of course all the rain falling on the surface area of the roof flows straight off - directly onto where he is building the stonework below. So this weekend, I managed to get the fascia board and soffit on, on the East side where he has been most busy. I plan to get the West side done this week, though it will be slower as I'm on my own and can only fit it in after work, plus the ever decreasing daylight hours limit outside work time of course. We are over the moon with how the stonework is looking! On a less progressive note, we are again having issues with our BCO. The same firm is providing our warranty, so two lots of inspections sort of rolled into one from them. when we got the trenches and foundations inspected, I was relieved to find the inspector was a practical guy, who where circumstances meant a slight change of plan took a pragmatic approach, and gave good advice. Come the next stage I rang him and left messages so them emailed him that we were ready but heard nothing back. After 2 weeks of this I contacted the firm - to be told he'd left! Shame no one had the gumption to think it might be wise to tell existing clients or at least check his company email account! Never mind, we got a new inspector. Nice guy, seemed a little nervous, but I increasingly suspect he is new to the job . When I'm asked by a BCO if Kingspan SIPs are an approved building material I do begin to wonder about his experience/knowledge. When I'm asked if the torn up, puddle ridden site mud, about 500mm at best below the DPC and with lumps and bumps plus a pile of topsoil 1.5 metres high in one part of the site is our final ground level, I really begin to wonder. Then I'm, told I must contact Kingspan and ask them what the shrinkage will be - I explain that OSB has (as the name suggests) oriented strands, meaning this is less of an issue, and forwarded him Kingspans technical documents.... but he still wanted ME to ask. In the end I emailed him and suggested that as a BCO, he was more likely to get a detailed answer from Kingspan (and even supplied him their phone number and email) which he did - it's miniscule, and even then he couldn't tell me the relevance to my build of his query! In one part the fabric they put on the SIPS has about a 6" tear. So as it's all stapled on anyway, the guys simply stapled along the tear, holding it closed. Fine? Oh no, on seeing that he insists I contact the erectors and ask if that's the approved method of repair. Now I'm not going to ring anyone up asking what I know to be stupid questions for someone else - you want to ask stupid stuff, you ring them mate. So I just said look, I'll glue it if you'd prefer. Next, where there were , <2mm variations along the soleplate, the SIPs folks used plastic packers - my BCO spots this and asks why is it not grouted, and are the packers sufficient and should it be grouted? Wants me to contact them and ask - two things here, 1. good luck trying to grout in places with sub 1mm gaps and 2. If they think it shouldn't be plastic packers then they wouldn't have put them there would they - and they're not about to say to me, oh yes, we deliberately put the wrong thing in! So I'm just not doing it. It's like I'm educating him - but that's not what I paid the firm for. He's also nit picked at the most silly things I've been polite, and have had a little sympathy for the guy, but the final straw was he'd told me the next bit he wanted to see was when our wall was at ground floor window height - no problem, so I texted him that he could do this early this week, and as a courtesy updated him on progress made inside (1st fix socket circuit complete and 50% of lighting, 1st fix plumbing water supply in, and all the stud walls now have 1 side plasterboard on). The reply I got is that I must not put any plasterboard up as he must do a "pre plaster inspection" and also inspect the electrics. Now unless he is that rare fish, a BCO who is also part P qualified, he is not qualified to inspect electrical installations. So I queried back asking about why my certifying qualified electricians issuing of a Part P certificate will not be enough - no reply. So I've emailed the senior BCO of the company explaining that I'm not happy - a week later and no reply!

As we are ALMOST up to the foundation stage and are waiting for the building regs to be finished ...I suppose its time to think of a warranty I HAVE done some reading , seen various costs, heard some good and some horror stories LOL We are building a 3 bed timber framed Potton house footprint of 12m x 12m (it does have a large single level sunroom ..which makes it SOUND bigger! Bearing in mind it is Timber, and a Potton (who seem to always mention the SAME warranty company) Should i look elsewhere? Are prices fairly assimilated across the industry? Are some better than others for service As always your advice is appreciated PS . If you have had any adverse time with a company, and you would rather NOT post it, you can always PM me. As I know sometimes its hsrd to talk about openly ..especially if its ongoing

Hi All Does anyone have any expedience of this particular model ASHP? Its sold by Earth Save Products (ESP) but I assume it will simply be a re-badged unit from someone. Price and performance seems to stack up but I'm a bit wary of paying good money for a product which would only be warranted by a small company. At least with Samsung, Mitsubishi et all you've got some reassurance of warranty cover. http://www.earthsaveproducts.com/product/varimax-4-12-inverter/ https://www.greenworks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Varimax-Brochure-V4.pdf

Just a quick heads up to those who need a warranty and are going via a broker - check the broker asks the right questions...! As background we purchased the Self Build Zone site insurance and warranty via a broker last year. All seemed fine - we are extending and converting a large double garage - until we tried to get the Building Control elements sorted. The BC company and the warranty company didn't seem to have the same scope as the conversion element was missing despite me being explicit about it and us having insured the existing building so it could be seen that there was something already there .... I've just spent nearly 2 weeks getting this resolved which included me having to write a report and take photos of the existing building, along with the significant risk that we may face a hike in both warranty premium and inspection costs. This was down to the broker not following the insurers process and not asking the right questions - even looking back on the statement of facts it's pretty clear it was "correct" but when you talk to the insurer direct you find there is a lot behind the quotes that needs to be considered. Some conversion and unusual build elements have to be technically checked by the insurers and this is only triggered if the brokers ask the right questions it seems. What has come out of it is that Self Build Zone (which is Sennocke Insurance behind it) do have some very good people and do understand warranties and insurance ..! They have resolved the issues - not without some challenges and a couple of additional terms - but the way it's been done has been professional throughout. I know they always say you find out how good people are when there is a problem - this is one of those cases ..! [As a note I have asked Sennocke for their direct contact details for anyone who is interested - and no, I'm getting nothing out of this other than not losing any more hair and one or two less sleepless nights ...]