New builds and warranties
The new driveway falls back towards the garage door and the surveyor watched water sit there. What drainage of that drive was not redesigned in the report?
The drainage of that driveway was not redesigned in the report. The surveyor watched the new drive fall back towards the garage door and saw water sit there. A fall the wrong way sends rain at the door rather than away to a drain or to the road. The report records that. It does not set new levels, add a channel, or relocate a gully. NHBC describes Buildmark as a 10-year warranty and insurance product. Watching water pond is not opening a claim, and it is not a drainage design for the drive.
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?
Garage doors are not meant to be the low point of a drive. If the paving slopes back, water collects at the threshold, can track under the door, and sits against the frame. The surveyor saw that happen. What they did not do is design the remedy: a fall reversed towards a collection point, a channel, or a change to the levels at the apron. Those are works. The note is the fall and the standing water. No drain was tested, and no new layout was drawn.
Raise the fall with the developer as a levels defect at the garage door, not as a sketch the survey has already approved. Ask the solicitor which warranty applies. NHBC describes Buildmark as a 10-year warranty and insurance product, and the survey has not opened a claim. If someone later proposes a channel or a new fall, that proposal is theirs. It is not a design hidden in the report. The observation stays water at the door because the drive falls back.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where does the drive fall back, and where did water sit?
- Have you left any redesign of that drainage out of the report?
- Was a drain tested, or only the fall and the ponding watched?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the note as a fall towards the garage door, not a new design.
- Tell the developer water sits at that door.
- Ask which warranty applies before anyone calls the note a claim.
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
If the garage floor inside was dry, has the drive drained?
No. A dry floor on the day does not reverse the fall. The surveyor watched water sit at the door because the drive falls back. Inside dryness can change with the next rain. The report has not redesigned the drainage, and it has not opened a warranty claim. The fall is still towards the door.
Should you cut a channel across the drive because of this note?
Not on the survey's instruction. The report did not redesign the drainage and did not tell you to cut a channel. It recorded the fall and the water at the garage door. Any channel, new fall or gully is a later proposal from someone who designs that work. The survey has not opened a warranty claim by describing the ponding.