# New Build



## WozzaTT (Jan 15, 2006)

Moving into a new-build and have a couple of (probably gormless) questions:-

As regards the utilities i.e. water/gas/electricity will there be paperwork in the house confirming who the suppliers are, or do I just phone up whoever I choose and get them to start supplying?

Also, I'll want to put an additional 'phone extension socket in somewhere - do I just get BT in to do this, even if I won't necessarily use them for line rental? Or will any telephone engineer do it and I can then choose who I want for line rental?

Everything was in place to move on Friday until I got a call today saying the NHBC certificate (needed for completion) won't be available until next Tuesday - frigging marvellous. I may post in the Flame Room re poxy, incompetent conveyancing solicitors. :evil:

TIA.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

WozzaTT said:


> Moving into a new-build and have a couple of (probably gormless) questions:-
> 
> As regards the utilities i.e. water/gas/electricity will there be paperwork in the house confirming who the suppliers are, or do I just phone up whoever I choose and get them to start supplying?
> 
> ...


Utilities will already be connected. As part of the handover, make sure you read the meters, as the builder will have been using water, gas and electric...

Extension socket can be done by anyone, not just BT - although they did at least used to be competitive - or rather the engineer was happy to do it for a bung  Not sure if they still do.

Good luck... don't forget to have a damn good look and report any problems, no matter how trivial.


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## jbell (May 15, 2006)

Unless you are going to use the phone extension for a computer/SKY don't bother, just get a pair/set of cordless and you can site a base station anywhere in the house


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## WozzaTT (Jan 15, 2006)

Cheers both.

Yeh - the extension is for the PC so will need to sort one.


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## jbell (May 15, 2006)

WozzaTT said:


> Cheers both.
> 
> Yeh - the extension is for the PC so will need to sort one.


Wireless router and card, or get the builder to install the phone point for you.


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## Ikon66 (Sep 12, 2003)

jbell said:


> WozzaTT said:
> 
> 
> > Cheers both.
> ...


don't get the builder to do it, costs a fortune, unless they are prepared to do it for free


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Ikon66 said:


> jbell said:
> 
> 
> > WozzaTT said:
> ...


Our builder charges Â£53 each for BT or TV sockets and Â£56 for double power. Not too bad.

Has to be done at first fix, though, which is this week


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## digimeisTTer (Apr 27, 2004)

jampott said:


> Our builder charges Â£53 each for BT or TV sockets and Â£56 for double power. Not too bad.
> 
> Has to be done at first fix, though, which is this week


  

Especially first fix!!!


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

digimeisTTer said:


> jampott said:
> 
> 
> > Our builder charges Â£53 each for BT or TV sockets and Â£56 for double power. Not too bad.
> ...


What?


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## Lisa. (May 7, 2002)

panic panic panic!

I've never lived in a new house before let alone bought one.

I sold my own house though, frigging useless Estate Agents.

I sold my house and the contents!


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## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

I'm due to move this Friday into a new build hopefully, to say it's been stressfull is an understatement :evil:

I'm supprised they haven't installed sockets for you i have 5 already connected just need BT to turn on the line.

As Tim says read all meters and do a thorough check, you can then sign up to any supplier you want.

My builders have had to use couriers to deliver various paperwork all day as firstly my original lender forgot to put a stamp on my offer so it's taken 5 days to get to me , I even had to give the postie Â£1.60 postage leaving me 2 days to send it back and get a cheque sent out to me by Friday :roll: oh and then there's the postal strike :evil:

Not holding my breath TBH and if it doesn't go through i think i'd of had enough and will walk away


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## digimeisTTer (Apr 27, 2004)

jampott said:


> digimeisTTer said:
> 
> 
> > jampott said:
> ...


http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=16062&ts=76189

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=A431892&ts=76333&id=78566

First fix telephone sockets Â£10

Double leccy socket Â£22

I get retro fit BT sockets at Â£25 a pop


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Oh, I know Â£53 and Â£56 are expensive, but its better to get it done at the build stage. Its not extortionate in the grand scheme of things.

Better that than some half-wit trying to install them into recently painted walls after I move in!


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## digimeisTTer (Apr 27, 2004)

jampott said:


> Oh, I know Â£53 and Â£56 are expensive, but its *better to get it done at the build stage*. Its not extortionate in the grand scheme of things.


Couldn't agree more which is why i was so shocked at the price!

That is extortionate :? It all adds up.


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## WozzaTT (Jan 15, 2006)

Cheers for the link to Screwfix - at the very least I'll just get myself an extension lead to run through to what will be my office for now.

House has 'phone points in living-room, kitchen and master bedroom - just not where I want one.

Whole process has been a drama - my buyer is a cash buyer and I'm going into a new-build therefore no chain so would have expected minimal fuss but oh no........removal company cancelled on me, solicitors are f*ck-wits, one estate agent very good, the other hopeless (what kind of an idiot 'phones me at 4pm today to say 'by the way, you can't complete on Friday after all 'cos the NHBC inspector can't get there 'til Next Tuesday'. I mean FFS - they've known about my planned completion date for over 4 weeks. Unbelievable.

Everything is built in in the new place, so I've flogged my washing-machine, fridge, freezer, tumble-dryer - the lot, and have been without them for a couple of weeks now. Another few months of take-aways and wearing yesterday's clothes and I'll have had enough, I'm sure  .

I feel like walking away too, but then I'd have a fight on my hands to get the deposit back to say nothing of the solicitor's fees to date. When my buyers find out the position tomorrow, they might make that decision for me anyway.

Oh well - I could have woken up this morning to find filthy water 2 feet high in the kitchen like some poor sods did I guess.


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## digimeisTTer (Apr 27, 2004)

Planned completion date?

you can't exchange until everything is in place for an agreed completion date. If your property hasn't got an NHBC/Zurich certificate i'd be very interested to know how they were marketing it in the first place (i.e. With NHBC or not?) other than that it's all down to the Sols.

Last week i had a solicitor talking through his silver spoon at me. His client had lost his NHBC cert so he "couldn't possibly exchange" until this was produced - which is fair enough- he assured me he had applied for the cert and it would take anything from 10 to 30 days for it to arrive.

I checked with the NHBC directly after 2 days and they had recieved no such request. So I paid by credit card and after much buttering up had the duplicate cert faxed the same day and we exchanged after much blustering from said solicitor that this was "very unorthodox" etc etc. (mainly cos i billed him for the Â£33.25)

:roll: :lol:


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

digimeisTTer said:


> Planned completion date?
> 
> you can't exchange until everything is in place for an agreed completion date. If your new build hasn't got an NHBC/Zurich certificate i'd be very interested to know how they were marketing it in the first place (i.e. With NHBC or not?) other than that it's all down to the Sols.
> 
> ...


You can exchange contracts whenever you like, can't you? No actual "date" for completion is required for an exchange of contracts.


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## digimeisTTer (Apr 27, 2004)

jampott said:


> You can exchange contracts whenever you like, can't you? No actual "date" for completion is required for an exchange of contracts.


Nope, has to be set.

It can be brought forward by an "on or before" contract but you must have an expiry date.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

digimeisTTer said:


> jampott said:
> 
> 
> > You can exchange contracts whenever you like, can't you? No actual "date" for completion is required for an exchange of contracts.
> ...


Tell that to my solicitors and house builder then... :lol:

Lisa and I exchanged in Feb/March on our new place, with no date agreed.

It is feasible they put a date in 2008 on it, of course, just to be "legal" but we certainly didn't agree anything closer than "sometime around August / September".

When it is complete, THEN they give us a date, which will be 14 days hence. At that point, they say "jump" and we have to jump...


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## digimeisTTer (Apr 27, 2004)

Sorry thinking of 2nd hand market


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## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

Well after a long wait i finally got my keys at 5.30 [smiley=mexicanwave.gif]


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## WozzaTT (Jan 15, 2006)

jonah said:


> Well after a long wait i finally got my keys at 5.30 [smiley=mexicanwave.gif]


Nice one - I finally exchanged contracts yesterday and complete one week today.


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## WozzaTT (Jan 15, 2006)

Christ on a bike - BT want Â£124 just to switch the line on (i.e. the line itself is already in place).

Any alternatives recommended for line rental, although I guess they all charge something ludicrous just to switch it on?


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## Ikon66 (Sep 12, 2003)

WozzaTT said:


> Christ on a bike - BT want Â£124 just to switch the line on (i.e. the line itself is already in place).
> 
> Any alternatives recommended for line rental, although I guess they all charge something ludicrous just to switch it on?


afaik, only BT can do it unless you go with cable if it's in your area?


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## Sim (Mar 7, 2003)

Ikon66 said:


> WozzaTT said:
> 
> 
> > Christ on a bike - BT want Â£124 just to switch the line on (i.e. the line itself is already in place).
> ...


Yes it is all a con. They come round have a cup of tea and it is sorted :roll:


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## scott28tt (Jul 30, 2002)

WozzaTT said:


> Christ on a bike - BT want Â£124 just to switch the line on (i.e. the line itself is already in place).
> 
> Any alternatives recommended for line rental, although I guess they all charge something ludicrous just to switch it on?


Welcome to the world of owning a new build....

Got phone extension sockets you want connected? :roll: 
Got your TV ariel yet? :roll: 
Garden turfed? :roll: 
Have you heard "sorry we don't recognise your address/postcode" when you try and apply for anything? :roll:

Been there.....

Hope you like your house


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## WozzaTT (Jan 15, 2006)

scott28tt said:


> WozzaTT said:
> 
> 
> > Christ on a bike - BT want Â£124 just to switch the line on (i.e. the line itself is already in place).
> ...


Is that right - only BT can switch the line on? I said to the bint on the phone I'll see if I can get it cheaper elsewhere, thinking they might do me a deal. No wonder she said 'ok then'.

Phone sockets - 3 in house, need another one put in. Price will be ludicrous for that no doubt.
TV aerial - never even thought of that.
Garden is turfed.
Yeh - very few sites online recognise the postcode yet.

Oh well - got a good tip re Sky. Phone them up and say you want to cancel 'cos you're moving and will probably go with cable. They then say stay with us and we'll install in the new place for free. Works every time. Apparently.


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## scott28tt (Jul 30, 2002)

Pay BT for connecting your line, and be VERY nice to the engineer if one has to visit the house - why?

It will normally cost you extra to get the extensions connected to the master socket (even though the cabling is all in the house). So, by being nice to the BT engineer (if you see one) he might connect the extensions for you while he's there at no cost.

Either that or you'll have to get the extensions done some other way - any local firm will do it (but charge you), or you can try yourself (my brother-in-law did ours).


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## alexasTT (Jan 19, 2005)

scott28tt said:


> Pay BT for connecting your line, and be VERY nice to the engineer if one has to visit the house - why?
> 
> It will normally cost you extra to get the extensions connected to the master socket (even though the cabling is all in the house). So, by being nice to the BT engineer (if you see one) he might connect the extensions for you while he's there at no cost.
> 
> Either that or you'll have to get the extensions done some other way - any local firm will do it (but charge you), or you can try yourself (my brother-in-law did ours).


i gave the BT engineer 20 quid to connect up 4 sockets when he was connecting up the main line


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## R6B TT (Feb 25, 2003)

scott28tt said:


> WozzaTT said:
> 
> 
> > Christ on a bike - BT want Â£124 just to switch the line on (i.e. the line itself is already in place).
> ...


And light bulbs too - there was only one in the first new build we bought, first trip was to the local shop to buy a load so the Removal men could see where to put things


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## WozzaTT (Jan 15, 2006)

Cheers chaps. 

So the advice seems to be that I should stop bleating, pay the Â£124.00 and then be pleasant to the engineer in the hope that he'll put me an extra socket in for free, presumably after I've used up a day's holiday waiting in for him?

I'm already looking forward to the next half hour wait on the 'phone trying to get through to them. Funny how their recorded message says why not try again after 8pm when we're not so busy. According to my bill the lines close at 8pm so no wonder they're not so frigging busy then.

Bloody love BT me :evil:


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