The Tulloch Homes Homebuyers’ Pledge
This customer charter has been created by Tulloch Homes and sets out our commitment to deliver the services, procedures and information you need at each stage of your house purchase.
Our systems help to ensure that:
- You have the information and services you need to enjoy a well-informed and smooth transaction.
- You have access to an efficient after-sales service.
The pledge describes the standards of service you can expect and ensures that you are kept fully informed throughout the purchasing procedure and know exactly what’s happening. As well as providing you with a home information pack, we will arrange to meet you at various stages to discuss the purchase process.
The Homebuyers’ Pledge has been set out to help you make the process of choosing and buying your new home an exciting, rewarding and positive experience.
Pre-contract information
You will receive all the pre-contract information required, before you are asked to sign missives. All Tulloch Homes correspondence is written in plain English, without jargon, to help you reach an informed decision.
Pre-contract information usually covers:
- The main contract terms of sale, including price
- Details of the home, including land and communal areas, location, development, site layout, demarcation and boundary details
- A sketch layout plan marked with approximate room sizes
- Summary details of the construction type of the house
- Fixtures and fittings included in the property
- Any available choices and options
- The type of heating system and number of radiators or outlets.
- Kitchen and bathroom layouts
- Summary of external works and materials
- Details of elements that may not be finished before you buy the property, such as final surfacing to roads and footpaths, and landscaping
- Details of any annual costs or charges, where known.
Legal formalities and customers’ interests
You should choose and appoint your own solicitor to:- Represent your interests
- Deal with the legal aspects of buying the property, including the conclusion of missives, date of entry, handover and occupation
Who to contact with your questions
You will be given the contact details of our sales consultant for the site, who will help you during the buying process and explain the process of dealing with any questions you may have. Our staff are fully trained to understand their responsibilities to you, including the Tulloch Homes key legal responsibilities to you and the commitments made through the pledge.
Health and safety on our sites
You will be informed of the essential health and safety precautions that must be taken, either before you visit a development site, or if you are living on a development where construction work is ongoing.
A health and safety file for your development is held at our regional offices under the construction design and management regulations 2007 and this can be made available for your viewing if required.
We understand that you may wish to view your home during construction. However, building sites are dangerous and are defined in law as “workplaces”. At all time, we need to be vigilant and aware. There could well be a scenario that for health and safety reasons you cannot visit your home, but again, as part of our information flow, we will inform you of any changes.
Marketing and advertising
We will ensure that our marketing literature and advertisements are clear and truthful, and comply with relevant laws and advertising codes.
Terms and conditions of sale
The “Builders Missives”, which are the terms and conditions that we enter into with you, will be clear and fair, and comply with the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.
NHBC Buildmark cover
Your new home will benefit from the 10-year NHBC Buildmark cover, included in the purchase price of the property. An overview of the cover is given below, but you should always refer to the policy for full details.
Before the sale is legally completed (Scotland; ‘date of entry’) NHBC’s Buildmark cover provides protection in the unlikely event that the house builder becomes insolvent. In the first two years after completion it says that the house builder must repair defects.
Over the following eight years, NHBC’s Buildmark provides cover against the cost of repairing any significant damage to the load-bearing structure and certain parts of the home that first appeared during this period. This is subject to the minimum claim value, plus exclusions and limitations shown in the policy document. The policy does not cover wear and tear or lack of maintenance.
You will find full details in your own NHBC Buildmark document, which you will receive from us through your solicitor. Read it carefully and ask your solicitor to explain anything you don’t understand.
You can see a specimen NHBC Buildmark cover at our sales office. You can also visit NHBC’s website www.nhbc.co.uk.
Construction of your property
Once your property is reserved, we pledge to keep you regularly informed of construction progress. We provide an expected completion date for your property, which is updated as building work progresses:
- On reservation we will advise you of the anticipated quarter of completion
- Four weeks prior to the anticipated date of entry we will advise you of this date, subject to appropriate warranties being in place.
The final date of entry will be agreed with you to fall within the notice period already agreed in Builders Missives.
We will provide you with an information pack about your home at the time, or just before, we hand over your property. We also arrange to meet you at your new home to demonstrate how all the equipment and fittings operate. You will be given the keys when your solicitor has agreed the date of entry and finalised payment with Tulloch Homes.
Information pack – Health and Safety Pack
Your information pack will contain:
- Essential Health and Safety Information when you move into your new home while a development is under construction
- Product information, including instructions for the central heating boiler
- Guidance on any items that need servicing and maintenance
- An explanation of our after-sales procedures
- A copy of NHBC’s booklet “Guide to your new home”
- An explanation of NHBC’s Buildmark cover, which details our responsibilities
- Details of when NHBC’s Buildmark cover comes to an end
Demonstration visit
At the demonstration visit, our representative will show you how everything works and point out important items including the position of stop valves, the electrical consumer unit, gas-controlled valves, and the central-heating controls and hot-water systems. We will explain any points you are not clear about.
Handover of your new home
When the date of entry is reached and your solicitor has paid the money due to us, you will receive the keys. This legal formality must take place to protect you and your interests. To avoid delay and disappointment, please make sure that your solicitor and any mortgage lender are fully aware of your timetable and arrangements.
We will arrange with you for a member of our staff to be available for the Handover Ceremony and make sure that your home is clean and that there is safe and clear access. Our commitment to you continues after the sale is completed to ensure that if any initial difficulties arise they can be handled efficiently.
You will therefore be given details of who you should contact and the procedures you should follow if you require non-urgent service calls, or in dealing with an emergency. We will repair any defects in your home under the terms of NHBC’s Buildmark cover, but problems caused by wear and tear, decorating and routine maintenance are the homeowners’ responsibility.
Emergencies
- We define an emergency as a problem that is, or seems to be, an immediate danger to your property or your health, safety and security. This does not include:
- Anything caused by failing to follow operating instructions or take reasonable precautions
- Fair wear and tear
- Events such as storm damage that are outside the house builder’s control and are normally covered by household insurance.
- Our information pack gives details of our emergency contact, procedures and response times.
Complaints
Our information pack provides details of:
- Our complaints system
- A service that can help resolve complaints about warranties that are not resolved by our own complaint procedures
- Further complaint procedures if Tulloch Homes cannot deal with the complaint satisfactorily.
- If you are dissatisfied with any part of the service you have received from us under our charter, please contact our customer services manager in Inverness on 01463 229300.
Disputes
In the unlikely event of a dispute, Tulloch Homes Ltd. will co-operate with your appropriately qualified professional advisors to resolve any disputes.
You must write to us to:
- Say who you want to represent you
- Give details of his/her qualifications
We will provide the same level of co-operation as we would give you if you were acting alone. If we do not believe your representative is appropriately qualified, we will discuss the matter with you. For example, an architect may not always be qualified to deal with a structural engineering matter.
However, with the Homebuyers’ Pledge to help you along the way, you can look forward to a smooth transaction.
