New builds and warranties
What should a buyer keep from handover that a later survey cannot recreate?
Keep the warranty schedule, the plot address, any building-control completion certificate, and the builder’s snagging record. A surveyor who visits years later can see the building as it is. They cannot recreate a schedule that was never kept, and they cannot say what the builder was told in year one. NHBC says the policy documents are the full cover. Ask the provider for a copy if yours is missing.
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?
People arrive at year six with a crack and a memory of a brochure. The policy number and the plot are what a warranty provider will ask for. The completion certificate is what shows building control signed the work off, which is not the same as the warranty. The snagging record shows what was already accepted as finished. A new survey describes the crack. It does not invent the missing file.
Store them with the solicitor’s completion papers, not in a kitchen drawer that leaves with the tenants. If you are buying from the first owner, ask for those documents before exchange. If they do not exist, the survey still cannot replace them.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which defects are visible now, regardless of the missing papers?
- What can you not say because the warranty schedule is absent?
- Which papers should we ask the seller for before completion?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the seller for the warranty schedule, the completion certificate and the original snagging list.
- If the warranty provider can reissue the schedule, ask them. Do not ask the surveyor to draft one.
- File what you receive against the plot address on the contract.
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 a brochure replace the warranty schedule?
No. A brochure is marketing. The schedule is the policy document NHBC tells you to read.
Can a Level 3 prove the builder was notified in year one?
No. Notification is a letter or a portal entry. The survey is not a history of those messages.