New builds and warranties

If the warranty is not NHBC, can you assume it copies Buildmark’s two-year and eight-year split?

No. NHBC is describing its own Buildmark policy. Other providers issue their own wording. A board on a site that says “10-year warranty” has not promised you NHBC’s sections. Ask for the policy schedule and read the periods, the exclusions and who to notify.

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?

A RICS survey is useful precisely because warranties differ and none of them is a condition report. The surveyor looks at the house. The policy, whoever wrote it, is a contract about some defects for some years. Your solicitor asks whether a warranty is in place, whether it can transfer, and whether the builder is still obliged to come back. Those questions are not answered by the NHBC page if NHBC is not the insurer.

Do not reject a non-NHBC warranty only because it is not NHBC, and do not accept it only because the marketing sounds familiar. Read it. If the survey has found a defect, notify the party the policy names. Costs of putting a defect right yourself, outside the policy, vary. Get a quote. Do not net it off the price until you know the warranty will not respond.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Which defects should be notified under a warranty rather than only listed in the survey?
What can you not say about cover, given you have not read the policy?
What should the solicitor obtain before we assume a 10-year scheme matches NHBC?

What are the typical next steps?

Ask for the actual policy, the provider and the start date.
If the provider is not NHBC, do not use NHBC’s section numbers in your claim letter.
Still keep the survey. The warranty does not describe the crack the surveyor saw.

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

Is a builder’s own guarantee the same as insurance?

Not unless an insurer is on the paper. A builder’s letter is only as good as the builder. Ask the solicitor what sits behind it.

Does a 10-year structural warranty cover snagging?

Read the definitions. Many structural policies are narrower than a snagging list. The title on the brochure is not the cover.