Functional and technical quality in new build homes in the UK: the snagging problem.

Over the last ten years there has been a constant call from both clients and the government for improvements in the quality achieved by the house building sector of the UK construction industry. Various working parties have been set up and reported back, outlining methods for improving quality within the construction industry - Latham (1994) and Egan (1998 and 2002), although these have focused their attention upon the commercial rather than the private house building sector. Within the UK it is clear that the house buyer plays a decisive role in selecting the house builder and the actual house itself, together with the finance provider. With the conclusion of missives to purchase, the control of quality on the new house moves from what may be perceived as the buyer's realm to that of the builder's and finance provider's. However, in reality the quality expectations were never that of the buyer. Indeed in the vast majority of cases the quality standards are set and managed by the builder. The new home buyer therefore has no control over the quality of the finished product. In other words if the house builder constructs the new house to the original specifications, they will consider the new home to meet the 'quality standard'. This would indicate that a new house builder is concerned with the technical quality of the building rather than the functional aspects. The volume of research specifically related to the new private housebuilding industry is remarkably sparse given the size of the industry, and what research there is concentrates primarily on defect (snagging) prevention. The defects in question are technical defects; in other words, contraventions of either building regulations or the warranty provider's standards. There has been little research into the actual snagging process, what causes snagging, whether snagging technical or functional and how the problem is viewed within the industry. Indeed the current snagging systems in operation within the new house builders' quality procedures provide little comfort to the most important member of the house building supply chain - the customer. According to the last three Housing Forum/MORI customer satisfaction surveys carried out in 2000, 2001 and 2003, an increasing number of new home purchasers were unhappy with their new home, whilst at the same time the amount of people reporting snagging problems rose. This paper discusses the technical and functional quality aspects of new homes within the UK private house building sector. The concept of snagging will also be identified with regards to the technical and functional aspects of new homes. Snagging data will be analysed in order to detail the extent of the problem within the UK house building sector and its relationship to functional and technical quality.