New builds and warranties
The show home has a hedge on the boundary and your plot has a close-board fence in a different place. What boundary of the plot did the survey of the show home not inspect?
The survey of the show home did not inspect the boundary of your plot. The show home has a hedge, and your plot has a close-board fence in a different place. Those are different lines and different treatments. Looking at the show home's hedge describes the show home. It does not describe where your fence stands or what it is made of. The inspection of the show house stopped at the show house.
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 a type of house. Their planting is not your legal boundary and not your fence. A close-board fence in a different place can follow the plot, a mistake, or a later site decision. The surveyor who walked the show home did not walk your boundary and cannot say which. NHBC describes Buildmark as a 10-year warranty and insurance product. The survey does not open a claim, and it does not turn a show-garden hedge into the plan of your plot.
Ask the solicitor to compare your plot plan with the fence on the ground, and keep the show home out of that comparison. If the fence is in the wrong place, that is a site and title question, not a sentence borrowed from the show-home visit. Do not assume the hedge you liked is what you bought. The survey of the show home never inspected this boundary.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which boundary did the show-home visit actually look at?
- Why does that hedge not describe the close-board fence on the plot?
- Did you inspect the plot boundary at all during the show-home survey?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not use the show-home hedge as your plot boundary.
- Ask the solicitor to compare the plot plan with the fence that is there.
- Keep Buildmark talk separate from where the fence stands.
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 fence is the same height as the hedge, is it the same boundary?
No. Matching height is a look, not a position. The show-home survey did not inspect your plot boundary. A close-board fence in a different place is a different line from the hedge. Height does not move it onto the show garden. The plan and the ground are what the solicitor should compare.
Can Buildmark decide where the plot boundary is?
No. NHBC describes Buildmark as a 10-year warranty and insurance product. The survey does not open a claim, and neither the product nor the show-home visit decides the legal line of your plot. Boundary position is the plan and the solicitor. A hedge in the show garden is not that decision.