New builds and warranties
The show-home kitchen is not the specification on your plot reservation. What of the show home did the survey of your plot not inspect?
The survey of your plot did not inspect the show-home kitchen as the kitchen you are buying. The show home is a different dwelling, and its kitchen is not the specification on your reservation. What the survey saw, it saw on your plot. It has not treated the show kitchen's units, appliances or layout as inspected parts of your home. It has not decided the reservation is wrong, and it has not decided the show home overrides it. NHBC describes Buildmark as a 10-year warranty and insurance product. This survey does not open a claim about either kitchen.
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?
Show homes are dressed to sell. Units, worktops and appliances can differ from the specification written for a numbered plot, and a walk round the show home can leave you thinking that kitchen is the one in the sale. A survey of your plot looks at the building you are buying and at what is actually fitted there. It does not certify the show home, and it does not reconcile a display kitchen with a reservation schedule. The two rooms can both exist.
Give the reservation and the specification to the solicitor and ask them to compare that paper with your plot, not with the show home. NHBC describes Buildmark as a 10-year warranty and insurance product, and the survey does not open a claim under it. A mismatch between kitchens is a contract question. Do not ask the survey to inspect a show home it was not instructed on, and do not describe the show kitchen as surveyed because you walked it yourself.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did the inspection stay on your plot rather than on the show-home kitchen?
- Which kitchen did you refuse to treat as already checked against the reservation?
- Have you left the comparison of the specification to the solicitor?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the show-home kitchen out of the survey of your plot.
- Ask the solicitor to compare the reservation with what is on your plot.
- Do not expect the survey to open a warranty claim about the kitchen.
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 your plot has no kitchen fitted yet, has the show home been accepted as the sample?
The survey has not accepted it. An unfitted plot is what it is, and the show-home kitchen is still a different room. The inspection of your plot did not adopt that room as yours. The reservation is the paper to compare. Buildmark, as NHBC describes it, is a warranty and insurance product. This report has not opened a claim.
Does a similar worktop colour mean the specification was inspected?
No. A similar colour is not the specification, and the survey of your plot did not inspect the show-home kitchen as your kitchen. Colour does not check appliances, layout or the reservation wording. The solicitor compares the documents. The survey has not done that comparison.