Legal question...

[phil147]

Hi,

Further to my recent roof leaks, I have discovered that the roof of our block of terraced houses has THREE LESS courses of roof tiles than other terraced houses in a different block built at the same time! Others have 16 courses, ours has only 13 courses. No wonder the wind-driven rain can penetrate the tiles with so much less room for tile headlap. Roofer said it is the felt which has been holding the water... until it is rotten.

Are there any legal means to get the original developer to re-roof the house? It is outside NHBC warranty already, but I think I should be able to claim against incompetent work.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks.

Phil

 

[sxturbo]

what is the exact age of the house?

 

[phil147]

Only 14 years old.

The two blocks of terraced houses are in the same development built by the same developer at the same time.

 

[sxturbo]

it's a difficult situation,

it would be best to speak to citizens advice.

i know a friend of my parents bought a brand new property and 12 years later had to have a complete new roof including all new rafters etc, because the builders didnt tighten the joists etc properly and over the 12 years the roof swayed and basicly it ended up completely buggered, he did try and take it further but was told there was nothing he could do.

 

[phil147]

Thanks sxturbo for your info.

Our block consists of three houses and all of us experienced roof leak. In addition, the missing courses of tiles are still very visible. So there is no debate about whether the leak is due to wear and tear, or bad workmanship. I am thinking of class action against the developer.

Even the tile manufacturer, Redland, said the minimum headlap for the tile at the minimum pitch of 17.5 deg is 4 inches. Our roof has a pitch of 15 deg and 2.5 inches headlap! It is obvious that they used the wrong gauge to lay the tiles.

I'm surprised NHBC inspector would pass the work in the first place.

 

[tony1851]

A builder can be liable for latent defects for up to 15 years, but 'latent' only refers to defects which could not be spotted by an ordinary, prudent person.

For example, if you had a survey done, the surveyor could be regarded as competent to spot and advise on the wide spacing, so doubtful you could do anything after this time.

 

[phil147]

Thanks Tony.

They were new build houses 14 years ago. I remembered the development of our block was 4 months late. The builder might have rushed the job.

My questions are: -
(1) Since it was a new build house, why would NHBC inspector pass the house as ok if the roof was not done properly? Shouldn't the NHBC have spotted it? Shouldn't NHBC be responsible?

(2) Should the surveyor of the mortgage company be responsible since, theoretically, he did a survey and should have spotted such issue?

(3) Shouldn't the builder be responsible for such a failure in building work AND project management incompetency? Presumably, their own quality inspector should have picked up this issue? I'm talking about St George's here http://www.stgeorgeplc.com/index.cfm?articleID=1 not really a small company.

 

[catlad]

I find it amazing that there is no recourse after such a short space of time, your only option may be to shame them.

 

[tony1851]

How long have you, or your neighbours, been aware of the rain pentration problem?
If you are aware that it's been happening for more than three years, any action against the builder would be time-barred.
After all this time, I would suspect that you have little chance of suing the builder. Perhaps your best bet might be to get together with the neighbours and apply pressure on the builder (eg speak to the local press/ councillor etc?) and see if they would re-do the roof as a matter of good-will and their company name?

 

[palaceray]

We used to do work for St George and the general quality of work on their sites was quite poor

 

[phil147]

Thanks for your comments.

@tony - The leak only appeared after the stormy weather in last Oct/Nov. I guess it was at that time the roof felt gave up - too much water.

I'll talk to CAB and RICS tomorrow and see what can I do.

Your suggestion of name and shame is probably useful as I'll definitely talk to St Georges as well.