I had to call the NHBC claims team. Despite having received my letter advising them of the issues disputed by Fairview, they had not acted on the letter until I called. After that I received a guide explaining the procedures . Of course despite already knowing that Fairview have declined to rectify the faults disputed, the NHBC has to go through a formal procedure involving writing to  and then receiving a formal reply from , Fairview . That has apparently been sent already , so today I will chase up  the date for an inspection. On a negative note, the guide from the NHBC actually advises that , if they reach a conclusion and I am not happy with that, at any stage, they can actually walk away from dealing with the matter! Hopefully with all the furore that they attracted with recent TV appearances on Watchdog, this will not come to pass.

We have faulty spot lights again. The spots were replaced by SMAC lighting , the original contractors , as they were a fire risk. However when replaced, a key silicone seal, that makes the light Part “c” compliant for fire and smoke reasons, was left out of mots of the lights. Fairview know this because a fellow householder has brought it to their attention. However as yet , they have not had a recall  on the lights , as they previously did . I assume they feel that our safety is not of paramount importance? I have referred the matter but as yet , their electrical specialist , Mr J Glavey, has not called…..another phone call today….

We are still waiting for our new front door…Benlowe the suppliers , have sent two doors that were not up to scratch.The last one was of such poor quality and had pieces that did not match. Turns out that they had done a patch repair on the first that was sent back….

Next update after further events .

The following week, the report came through. This vindicated  most of the items we had mentioned, the stairs are indeed non conforming and will need rectifying, the bath does indeed need to be installed level, the tiles should not be cracking and perhaps Fairview need to consider putting  in the correct joints in the screed. The drive would have to be re inspected by the manufacturer and the NHBC would give their verdict after that report. Overall though I felt that the procedure had gone well but now I wait to see Fairview’s response . They have already applied for an extension to the time they are allowed to complete the repairs but today we have the stair manufacturer coming to measure up, so that’s looking promising.

The house is once again full of workmen, particularly good workmen mind you. Dean Murphy , plumber extraordinaire, was upset that I had not mentioned him in the blog, so there you go Dean. You and Darrel ( aka Donut), the side kick apprentice, are doing marvellous job. Poor Dean has spent an inordinate amount of time repairing the cock ups that the original plumbers visited upon us.

Mr Burbidge is here again to try to sort out  a variety of ongoing issues  involving incorrectly fitted timber to the windows and holes in walls where the pipes for the radiators enter rooms, along with a gale force wind…