New builds and warranties
Is an email to the builder’s customer-care desk a warranty claim?
No. A customer-care email is a message to the builder, not, by itself, a claim on NHBC Buildmark or on any other warranty. In the first two years NHBC says the builder is responsible and NHBC guarantees that responsibility. A friendly reply does not replace the policy or rewrite the survey.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Builders ask buyers to log snags on a portal or by email. That trail can be useful evidence of what you reported and when. It is still the builder’s own process. Buildmark, as NHBC describes it, is a 10-year warranty and insurance. After the first two years the insurance covers damage caused by defects in specific parts of the home, not every snag. Sending a photograph to customer care does not decide which of those regimes applies, and it does not start a claim you have not actually made.
Keep the survey, the snag list and the emails together, but do not call them the warranty. If you need the warranty provider, follow the policy you were given rather than assuming the inbox is that route. Other brands are not Buildmark. Do not invent a deadline the policy does not state. A surveyor’s rating, or a snag, remains what it was until someone competent repairs it and, where it matters, it is looked at again.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Are you describing a defect, or logging it with customer care for the buyer?
- Do you know whether a warranty claim has been opened? If not, say so.
- Which items are finishes, and which might be defects in specific parts?
What are the typical next steps?
- Log snags with the builder if that is the agreed route, and keep copies.
- Read the warranty before you call an email a claim.
- Do not close a survey item because customer care said it was cosmetic, unless you agree.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does NHBC see every customer-care email?
Do not assume that. The email goes where you sent it. The policy describes NHBC’s role, which is not the same as the builder’s inbox.
If customer care misses the two-year point, does the survey extend it?
No. The survey does not set warranty periods. Read the policy for dates, and do not invent a start date.