New builds and warranties
The pack contains a warranty that covers foundations only. Which parts of the house does that document not insure?
On the wording you have been given, it does not insure the roof, the upper walls, the windows, the floors or the finishes. A foundations-only warranty is limited to foundations. The home survey does not widen that wording to the rest of the house, and a condition comment on the roof is not a claim under a policy that never mentioned the roof.
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?
Some plots are offered a narrow structural or foundations policy, sometimes beside a separate warranty and sometimes instead of the broad cover buyers expect from a slogan. The document in front of you says foundations only, so the parts above that line are outside it until a different document says otherwise. That includes roof coverings, chimneys, windows, internal floors, plaster and the ordinary finishes a snagging visit writes down. The survey can still describe those parts. Description is not insurance. A rating on a roof does not drag the roof into a foundations policy by importance.
Ask the solicitor to list every warranty document by name and by what it says it covers, and to say whether anything else is still to come before completion. Do not let a foundations certificate be described to the lender as a full new-home warranty. If a broader policy exists, it will have its own insurer and its own wording. Read that wording when you have it. Until then, the honest map is the narrow one: this certificate, as produced, stays at the foundations, and the rest of the house is simply not in it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which elements did you inspect that this certificate, as described, does not insure?
- Will you avoid stretching a foundations policy up to the roof?
- What should the solicitor still look for if a broader warranty was promised?
What are the typical next steps?
- List the warranty documents and what each one says it covers.
- Do not describe a foundations-only certificate as cover for the whole house.
- Keep roof and window comments in the survey, not inside that certificate.
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 foundations policy is long, does length add the roof?
No. A long period on foundations is still foundations. Duration does not add storeys.
Does a sound roof comment prove some other policy exists?
No. Condition is not a missing certificate. Only the pack can show a second policy.