Housebuilders and Small Developers - Which Structural Warranty is Best for Them?

Posted by Build-Zone on 19th February 2021 -

Housebuilders and developers have quite a bit of choice selecting their provider of new home warranty cover on the homes they are building, extending, or converting. Developers are keen to remain independent and seek innovative ways to set themselves apart from the competition around them. So, what should they be looking for when deciding on the best structural warranty for their new build developments?

There's no denying, the past few years have been difficult for the inherent Defects market. We have witnessed many insurers lose their backers over the last couple of years and more recently, capacity is proving difficult to secure, often being restricted to £25m per scheme.

Last year, as leading 10 & 12-year Structural Warranty provider Build-Zone, secured capacity from a second ‘A’ rated insurer, following the recent announcement of their deal with XL Catlin, part of the AXA XL Group, making them one of the remaining structural warranty companies who can offer cover to £250m and beyond.

 

Build-Zone has one of the most robust structural warranty solutions for Developers and Contractors, giving them the peace of mind that they are working with a financially strong outfit that is in this for the long term.

 

We are seeing a common trend in the market at the moment where many of those providers that are left are restricting their capacity to £25m per structure, is leaving clients vastly under-insured. What sort of protection is a £25m limit giving to a scheme that is greater than that in Contract Value?

Unless you read the small print, it is not always easy to identify this issue and on numerous occasions, we have seen clients purchase policies that simply are not fit for purpose. Everything we do at Build-Zone is on a Full Value basis, meaning that if your scheme has a Build Cost of £100m, you will receive £100m worth of insurance cover and protection for you, your Funders and your Buyers or Tenants.”

In addition to being able to offer large amounts of capacity, we’re also the only Warranty provider that can offer flexibility around the Defects Period the policy carries – the standard 24 months, like the NHBC (National House-Builders Council) reducing to 12 months to match most Contractor Maintenance Periods, or removing the Defects Period entirely, meaning cover commences at Practical Completion.

At Build-Zone, all of our products are available on either a 10 or 12 year policy period and we are seeing more clients choosing to pay the extra premium for an additional two years of coverage so that if units do take longer to sell, the buyer will still benefit from a policy that has over 10 years to run.

If you are a Developer, Contractor, Construction Professional, or Broker and would like to discuss in more detail how Build-Zone can assist you, please get in touch.

Features of the New Home Structural Warranty :

• No membership or registration fees

• Recognised by lenders and complies with the UK Finance initiative

• We can consider covering part-completed or completed projects

• Fast quotation turnaround

• Quick response from professional, nationwide technical auditing/survey service

• Flexible payment method

• 10 year and 12 year structural warranty cover

• Full risk transfer in years 3-10 of cover

• Cover available for mixed-use developments

• Cover as standard for alternative accommodation, additional costs, removal of debris, and professional fees

• The warranty is underwritten by an ‘A’ rated global insurer & each case is subject to full technical review by Build-Zone Survey Services Limited with the aim of minimising any defects right from the design stage.