Looking after a new build home

The following items are not considered defects and are not covered under the extended warranty. It is your responsibility to address these issues:

• Problems caused by misuse or damage, even if accidental.
• Decorating and gardening tasks.
• Normal shrinkage or condensation due to the property drying out.
• Blocked toilets or drains caused by household objects such as wipes or nappies.[DL1] [KS2] 
• Gifted items, including built-in appliances and boilers, for which you must register the warranty directly with the manufacturer.
• General wear and tear or damage resulting from a failure to maintain the property.

 For any issues that arise after the defects period, please refer to your property warranty and lease agreement, then contact our Leasehold team for assistance.

If you notice a defect within your initial defects period, please contact the Alliance Homes Contact Team (ACT) on 03000 120 120 between 9am-5pm Monday to Friday or alternately email ACT@alliancehomes.org.uk. You’ll need to give ACT as much information as possible, including:

• Your name and address
• Your contact details
• A clear description of the defect or fault
• Photographic evidence of the defect or fault
• Where the defect or fault is and how long it has been present.

All defects must be reported directly to our contact team. The team will make a log of the issue and pass the defect to the developer. 

The developer actor will then contact you directly to arrange a suitable time to access your property to rectify the fault. If the builder needs to return at a later date with parts, they will make a temporary repair or make things safe on their first visit.

In some cases, some low impact defects may be categorised and left until the end of defects period to minimise the amount of disruption to you with multiple visits.

If you report a defect item, sometimes we may need to send details to the developer before knowing whether it is a defect or not. If the item you report is not a defect, this could be because the issue falls within NHBC acceptable tolerances. For further information please visit the NHBC website. 

Please ensure you report defects directly to Alliance Homes Contact Team, not to the building site team or any other member of the developer’s staff. It’s important we monitor and keep correct records of all defects that you report, and that only work we authorise is carried out to your property.

If you are experiencing a fault that could put your health at risk or cause detrimental damage to your property, please call the number above to access our 24 hour emergency repairs service. Our out of hours service will normally ‘make safe’ the issue temporarily, until a permanent fix can be arranged.

If you smell gas, you should call the National Grid Emergency Service Line on 0800 111 999. They will come and investigate the issue free of charge.

When you report a defect to us, we will give you a timescale of when you can expect to hear from the developer. The priority of the job will depend on the defect type. For example, a security issue would be treated more urgently over a dripping tap. 

Before the end of your defect period, an inspection will be carried out by Alliance Homes and the contractor. Alliance Homes will write to you to let you know the date and time the inspection will take place. It’s important that you ensure you are available to let Alliance Homes and the contractor in to carry out the inspection. This gives you the opportunity to raise any concerns you have and any ongoing issues you are having.

Any defects found at the time of inspection will be officially logged and the contractor will be given a specified timescale to rectify the defects. The contractor will liaise with you to arrange the visits. You may be required to sign a form to confirm the defect has been rectified.

If you do not attend the inspection, you are unlikely to get any of the defects addressed. This is your last opportunity to get any rectifications, so please ensure that you make time to attend.

In additional to your initial defects period, your property will also come with an NHBC or equivalent structural warranty. Your home will have been inspected in accordance with your building warranty guideline, and to meet building control requirements.

For rented customers, we hold a copy your structural warranty. Please contact ACT to report any repairs.

For shared owners, a copy of your structural warranty can be found in your Handover Pack left in your property. You will need to seek our permission to proceed with any claim.

Your structural warranty lasts for 10 or 12 years since first registration (depending on provider) and typically covers the following:

• Foundations
• Load bearing walls
• Non load bearing walls
• Wet applied wall plaster
• External render and external vertical tile hanging
• Load bearing parts of the roof
• Roof coverings
• Ceilings
• Load bearing parts of the floors
• Staircases and internal floor decking and screeds where these fail to support normal loads
• Retaining walls necessary for the structural stability of the property, its garage or other permanent outbuilding
• Below ground drainage.

There are certain conditions, limits and exclusions that apply, which you will find explained in the full policy document or by visiting your structural warranty providers’ website.

There is usually an excess or minimum a claim under a structural warranty.

For guidance on NHBC’s acceptable tolerances for some of the most common internal finishes, please visit the NHBC website. For most of homes it is the NHBC which will apply. The following are the websites for the rest. 

LABC Warranty

Premier Guarantee

Build-Zone