We are recognised and trusted

We are the UK’s leading independent provider of warranty and insurance for new-build homes.

Our purpose is to raise standards in house building by championing high-quality homes and protecting homeowners.

We do this through training and quality services and by assessing, inspecting and directly insuring new homes registered with us.

Independent, non-profit distributing

We are a company limited by guarantee, with no shareholders. We are independent of government and the construction industry.

Any profits that we generate are reinvested in the business to support our core purpose: to build confidence in the construction quality of new homes.

We are run by our board of directors and governed by our council members.

Buildmark – an industry leading home warranty and insurance product

We first introduced a two-year building warranty in the 1940s, followed by the first 10-year warranty in 1965. This was the foundation for our current Buildmark policy which comprises deposit protection; a two-year builder warranty period backed by the NHBC resolution service; and a further eight years’ insurance cover against damage caused by defects in the structure of the property.

Buildmark is designed to give homeowners peace of mind over the largest purchase they will ever make. It currently protects around 1.5 million homes in the UK.

Setting the standards

To sell homes covered by Buildmark, our registered builders and developers must comply with the requirements set out in the NHBC Standards.

The NHBC Standards define the technical requirements and performance standards for the design and construction of new homes to be covered by Buildmark and provide guidance on how these can be achieved. Through the application of NHBC Standards homeowners should benefit from a new home build process that is compliant with the relevant building and fire-safety regulations and which incorporates leading practices in the construction industry.

We regularly review and update the NHBC Standards. A full electronic version, with additional explanatory notes, videos and 3D models is available on this website.

Support for construction excellence

We provide an inspection service to our registered customers. This takes the form of independent inspections, undertaken at key build stages, as identified in the NHBC Standards.

Last year, we conducted over a million inspections, with feedback provided to our registered customers for every new build home protected by our Buildmark warranty product. This is an integral part of the drive to improve construction quality for the benefit of homeowners, with these ‘key stage inspections’ being supplemented by intermediate inspections and other services:

Construction Quality Services is our range of additional services focussed on raising build quality including Construction Quality Reviews, Construction Quality Forums, Build Quality Inspections and Bespoke Workshops.

Many of our registered customers also choose to work with us for Building Control, which supports builders and developers in meeting Building Regulations on residential, mixed-use and commercial projects. We also provide additional services such as land quality endorsement, NHBC Accepts and training services.