Warranty providing BC - bad idea?

[MelodyCool]

Currently researching warranties and one provides Building Control with it too. 
So the best BC-only price I have is £2k plus vat. I’m trying to see if I can avoid getting a warranty since reading here, they don’t seem worth the paper they’re written on!
Anyway the warranty including BC is £3800.

I’m trying to decide whether to go with this.

We also may need a warranty for the CIL exemption after we finish the build.

( although I’ve been speaking to the council about alternative evidence of being self-builders and they said they can go by Land Registry.)

I guess my main concern is whether the BCO tied to the warranty company will be as good as if we use a BCO we find ourselves?

[nod]

I paid 800 Local Authority 3 years ago 

 

A lot has been covered about warranties not being worth the paper they are written on

But if you do go ahead and buy one Make sure it’s one that is on all the lenders accepted lists 

[PeterW]

1 hour ago, MelodyCool said:

I guess my main concern is whether the BCO tied to the warranty company will be as good as if we use a BCO we find ourselves?

where are you based ..?? Company I use does both inspections and they are very thorough - pages of report with photos at every stage along with any remediation required. 
 

There are very few Accredited Inspection companies these days and you will have a fairly limited choice outside of Local Authority BCO (who only offer the LABC warranty) and if it’s anything non standard you are building then expect lots of questions. 

[MelodyCool]

But should I use a building control inspector that is not tied to the warranty provider?

I’m in Berkshire 

[Mr Punter]

You will need a warranty or Professional Consultant Certificate if you think you will sell or finance in the next 10 years.  The PCC route is fairly cheap and can be done retrospectively if needed.

 

[nod]

We would have been happy with an Architect certificate But a friend who is a manager at HSBC advised  us that tgey and others won’t accept an Architect certificate 

The ones that top the lists of all seem to be Buildzone and Protec 

The two most expensive 

A lot of money for less than 30 minutes of visits Indpected the roof from the ground Foundations from his car To muddy and he’d forgotten his Wellies 

Final inspection Didn’t have time to look round Gone in less than ten minutes 

 

We won’t pay for a warranty on our second build We will buy one retrospectively from the same company if we need one 

 

LA authority BC was the best £800 that we spent 

Unlimited visits Call before 10am for the same day visit 

 

[PeterW]

2 hours ago, MelodyCool said:

But should I use a building control inspector that is not tied to the warranty provider?

I’m in Berkshire 

Why ...? What is it you are concerned about ..?

 

Warranty inspections are an extra layer over and above ordinary BCO inspections so using the same inspector means you only get one inspection rather than having to have two. 

[MelodyCool]

I think I’m worried the BCO tied to the warranty won’t be as thorough - I think I’ll contact them to get more details.

Thanks for all the replies.

[danielle730]

I have had a quote from Build Zone for the warranty and building control. It came in at £6500 (which I thought was quite steep but might be OK for a 400m2 house and 100m2 annexe). They said it saves the hassle of having two sets of inspections.

 

I have contacted my local authority to get a quote from them too and they passed me onto Hertfordshire Building control. I am awaiting a quote from them. When I asked about structural warranty, they said to speak to LABC for a self build warranty. I have just downloaded their application form but can't see any information on here about this process? Has anyone else used LABC to get a warranty?

[Thorfun]

29 minutes ago, danielle730 said:

I have had a quote from Build Zone for the warranty and building control. It came in at £6500 (which I thought was quite steep but might be OK for a 400m2 house and 100m2 annexe). They said it saves the hassle of having two sets of inspections.

 

I have contacted my local authority to get a quote from them too and they passed me onto Hertfordshire Building control. I am awaiting a quote from them. When I asked about structural warranty, they said to speak to LABC for a self build warranty. I have just downloaded their application form but can't see any information on here about this process? Has anyone else used LABC to get a warranty?

I got quotes from various sources as well but, in the end, Protek were by far the cheapest.

[SimonD]

8 hours ago, danielle730 said:

Has anyone else used LABC to get a warranty?

 

I tried to use the LABC warranty but they wouldn't have me! ? As I understand it LABC warranty are underwritten by some other insurer and they will only cover builds that use products that are specifically approved under the LABC warranty scheme. Because a product has a LABC registered detail, or even BBA, doesn't mean it's covered under the warranty scheme. To get a quote you'll have to supply all materials used for the structure, including insulation system and they assess them as part of your application. This is okay for a bog standard build. I was turned down because I'm using woodfibre insulation even though the supplier had BBA certification.

 

They were also very bureaucratic and interviewed me at length about my self-build background etc.

 

I went with Protek. They were far easier to deal with and gave me a decent price for the whole thing.