Dancing with the devil

It was just a small piece in Contact, the CIOB members' newsletter, but it nearly made me choke on my cornflakes. "CIOB/NHBC partnering agreement," ran the headline, and the article described how the CIOB had entered into a "strategic alliance" with the National House Building Council to raise standards among construction company staff.

I am all for raising standards within housebuilding. Judging by the numbers of dissatisfied new homeowners who contact me, the industry desperately needs better standards. But as far as a formal alliance is concerned, I'm not so sure. I wonder if the CIOB executive is aware of what a poor public image the NHBC has and that the CIOB might be exposing itself to criticism by association.

If you are wondering why I should be so concerned, it is because, in my role as a journalist, I have recently had several contacts with the NHBC, and I have found the organisation to be one of the most difficult, obstructive and aggressive I have ever encountered. The NHBC press officer and head of corporate communications treat enquiries with stonewalling tactics that would not be out of place at the Enron hearings.

I asked about the role of the housebuilders in the running of the NHBC. Their influence is insignificant, came the reply, since only 25% of the the governing council are housebuilders. However, insiders say that NHBC policy is dominated by housebuilders and that part of the annual profits are shared out among them. When I asked for confirmation of this and details of the amounts involved, the NHBC said, "We will write to you next week." Four weeks have passed, and still no reply.

The NHBC treats enquiries with stonewalling tactics that wouldn’t be out of place at the Enron hearings

Many people think of the NHBC as some kind of independent regulatory body - an impression that the NHBC is happy to go along with. But other than its separate building control role, the NHBC is simply an insurance company. Its Buildmark cover is neither a warranty nor a guarantee, although the NHBC seems happy for homebuyers to believe that it is.

Now, it is quite possible that the NHBC is a wonderful organisation, which pays out for large numbers of repairs and rebuilds for dissatisfied homeowners. I have no way of knowing, because the NHBC won't tell me about any of them.

On the other hand, many homeowners have claimed under the terms of the Buildmark insurance cover, and they report that the NHBC will do anything rather than settle. Ask the NHBC to comment on these cases, and it says it can only do so with the consent of the claimants; it then writes to the claimants, warning them that talking to the press may lead to problems with any future sale. The NHBC letter implies that a court may view publicity as a failure to mitigate losses, a suggestion that has no basis in fact.