NHBC warranty and snagging: who fixes what, and until when

Warranty and snagging at a glance

What does an NHBC warranty cover in years 1 to 10?

NHBC calls its warranty Buildmark. It has three stages.

Before you complete (from exchange of contracts): if the builder becomes insolvent and cannot finish the home or pay back your deposit, NHBC either repays the deposit you lost or pays the reasonable extra cost of finishing the home. The repayment is capped at the limit in your policy.

The first two years after completion (the builder warranty period): the builder, not NHBC, must put right defects you report, where the work breaks NHBC’s standards. Report them to the builder as soon as you reasonably can, and always within the two years. Keep a record.

Years 3 to 10 (insurance): NHBC covers damage caused by defects in specific parts of the home, listed in your policy, as long as the claim is over the minimum claim value in your policy document.

Your policy booklet sets out the exclusions and limits. Read it when you get it.

Source: NHBC, Buildmark cover.

What if the builder won’t fix it in the first two years?

Go through the builder’s own complaints process first and ask for a final written answer. NHBC says the builder should send one within 30 days of a formal complaint. If you are unhappy with that answer, or none arrives within 30 days, you can ask NHBC for its resolution service. NHBC may tell you it is not right for your case.

If your developer is registered with the New Homes Quality Board, you can also use the New Homes Ombudsman Service (below). The two routes are separate: one is your warranty, the other is the developer’s promise to follow the New Homes Quality Code.

Keep a dated list of every snag, every report and every reply. Both routes ask for it.

Snag or defect: is it covered, and who do I tell?

A snag is a finishing fault: a scuffed wall, a door that sticks, a gap in the sealant. A defect is work that breaks the building standards. In the first two years the difference matters less, because the developer’s after-sales service deals with both. Under the New Homes Quality Code it must run for at least two years after completion and should settle most issues within 30 days, with monthly updates if it needs longer.

After year 2 it matters a lot. The insurance pays only for damage caused by defects in the parts of the home your policy lists. So report every snag to the developer within the first two years.

Can I, or a snagging surveyor, inspect the home before I complete?

Yes, if your developer is registered with the New Homes Quality Board. The Code gives you the chance to inspect the home yourself or to appoint a suitably qualified inspector. The rules depend on when you reserved.

• Reserved on or after 2 March 2026 (Code version 2): the inspection takes place after the developer serves notice to complete and before completion, or earlier if you both agree. You must use the NHQB’s standard Pre-Completion Inspection Checklist. If the inspection finds work that breaks the warranty standards, the developer should put it right before completion, or within 30 days if that is not possible.
• Reserved before 2 March 2026 (version 1): the inspection is within the five days after notice to complete is served.

Under both versions, the notice to complete is usually expected to give you at least 14 calendar days, unless you and the developer agree otherwise.

An inspector you appoint must belong to a relevant professional body and hold insurance. You pay them. The checklist cannot be used to delay completion.

We do not do surveys or snagging inspections, and we don’t recommend a particular firm.

How do I take a complaint to the New Homes Ombudsman?

First check the developer was on the New Homes Quality Board’s register on the day you reserved. Only homes reserved from a registered developer, on or after its registration date, are covered. The register is on the NHQB website.

Then follow the Code’s steps:

1. Complain to the developer through its complaints procedure. The clock starts on the first business day after the developer receives it.
2. Within 30 days the developer must send a Complaint Assessment and Response Letter.
3. If the complaint is still open at 56 days, it sends an Eight-Week Letter with what is outstanding and how to go to the Ombudsman.
4. From day 56 you can refer it to the New Homes Ombudsman Service.

You have two years from your reservation date or your completion date, whichever is later, to complain and go to the Ombudsman. A complaint that arose in those two years can still be referred after day 56, even if that falls just after the two years. Do it as soon as you can.

What does the New Homes Quality Code promise before I exchange?

For a home reserved from a registered developer:

• A cooling-off period of at least 14 days after you reserve. Cancel in that time, for any reason, and you get the whole reservation fee back.
• The reservation agreement must name the warranty provider and give a summary of the cover.
• The exchange date must be reasonable and not less than six weeks after the reservation date, unless you ask for an earlier one.
• Completion can only happen on a “complete new home”: one with evidence that new home warranty insurance is in place, finished rooms, and safe entry and exit routes.
• At completion the developer must give you the warranty cover note or certificate, with any exclusions, limits and excesses.

How we plan around the developer’s dates: new build conveyancing solicitors.

Will my lender accept a warranty that isn’t NHBC?

Usually, if the provider is on its list. NHBC is one provider, and lenders also accept others, such as LABC Warranty, Premier Guarantee and Checkmate. For a small development some lenders accept a Professional Consultant’s Certificate, signed by an architect or surveyor who watched the build. Nationwide says it is “unlikely that any mortgage provider will lend on a property without a warranty”. NatWest and Nationwide refuse certificates written after the build by someone who did not supervise it.

Lenders change their criteria, so this table is dated. On your purchase we check the new home warranty your lender needs. Waterstone Legal is an independent firm. This page is not written or endorsed by any lender.

Is there any protection after the warranty ends?

Yes, in law, but it is narrower and harder to use. Under the Defective Premises Act 1972, anyone who does work on a new home (the builder, and others such as architects) must do it properly, so the home is fit to live in when finished. In England and Wales a claim must be brought within 15 years of when the home was finished. For a claim that arose before 28 June 2022, the limit is 30 years.

This is a court claim against whoever did the work, not an insurance claim, so it needs legal advice on its own. The warranty is usually the quicker route while it lasts.

What do we check on the warranty before you exchange?

On a new-build purchase we check the planning permission, building regulations sign-off and the new home warranty your lender needs. Your new home warranty and the developer’s own after-sales terms say how long the developer has to fix defects, and we point these out in our report to you. You get a named contact for your purchase.

A new-build home is priced on our new-build fee scale: the figures are in the cost table on our new build conveyancing page and on our fees page. You get a written, itemised quote before you instruct us.

Government charges are separate from our fees: Stamp Duty Land Tax (England) or Land Transaction Tax (Wales), and the HM Land Registry fee, which is usually higher on a new build: a new house is usually split off the developer’s land and a new flat is granted on a new lease, and neither gets the lower online fee for an existing home.

Is anything different for a new build in Wales?

The warranty works the same way, and so does the New Homes Quality Code, which the NHQB also publishes in Welsh. The Defective Premises Act time limits apply in Wales too. What changes is the tax: in Wales you pay Land Transaction Tax to the Welsh Revenue Authority, not Stamp Duty, and there is no first-time buyer relief. Use our Land Transaction Tax calculator.

We act on purchases in Wales.

This guide is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

What happens next

• New build conveyancing: deadlines, checks and costs
• Estate management charges on a new-build estate
• What our conveyancing costs: the calculator
• More guides, explained