New builds and warranties
The warranty in the pack is not NHBC. Why must you not copy Buildmark's two-year and eight-year split onto that other policy?
Because that split belongs to NHBC Buildmark and not to every new-home policy in a pack. Buildmark is a 10-year warranty and insurance product: the builder is on the hook at the start, with NHBC standing behind that obligation, and later years insure damage from defects in specific parts only. Pasting those periods onto a different insurer invents chapters you have not read. Another provider is not Buildmark.
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?
The temptation is the phrase ten-year warranty, which several companies use. NHBC's own description is more precise than the slogan. For Buildmark, the first two years are the builder's liability, guaranteed by NHBC, and the following eight years are insurance limited to damage from defects in specific parts, not a second pass at every snag. A different firm's certificate may have a shorter builder period, a different list of parts, different exclusions, or a different person to notify. Copying the NHBC pattern onto that certificate will make you write to the wrong office at the wrong time about the wrong list.
Read the schedule in the pack from the first page, including who the insurer is and what this plot is called. Ask the solicitor to confirm it is the policy for the address you are buying, not a specimen. The home survey does not translate one warranty into another and does not fill gaps with NHBC wording. If you want to know whether a crack is covered, the sentence that answers you is in the policy you were actually offered. Do not borrow the sentence from Buildmark because it was easier to remember.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Will you name the insurer from the schedule rather than assume NHBC?
- Are Buildmark's periods off limits when the pack names someone else?
- Which defects in your report should be checked against this policy, not against NHBC's?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the schedule that is actually in the pack.
- Do not copy the two-year and eight-year split across.
- Ask the solicitor to confirm the policy matches this address.
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 both policies say ten years, are the middle years identical?
No. The slogan is not the wording. Another provider is not Buildmark even if both mention ten years.
Can the surveyor re-label the policy as Buildmark to help the lender?
No. Re-labelling would be false. The survey reports condition. It does not rename the insurer.