JUST MOVED IN - SO NOW WHAT?
如果您是新房主并且有“缺陷”需要报告，您可能会发现您的开发商已经安排了一个 Occupant Portal 链接到您的开发项目。
如果他们有，那是个好消息，因为这意味着您可以从这里访问门户并在您方便的时候报告问题。
USE OUR HANDY GUIDE TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVEN'T OVERLOOKED ANYTHING IMPORTANT.
寻找您的门户网站
MANUALS AND WARRANTIES
On the day of completion, either your developer or your conveyancer (solicitor) should have handed you a range of documents concerning warranty cover, appliances and systems. So check that you have:
1. A full copy of the 10 year warranty covering your property along with a certificate of the same.
2. A user manual for your heating and hot water system/programmer.
3. A user manual for all of the fitted electrical appliances in your new home.
4. A warranty for the heating and hot water system.
5. A warranty for all of the electrical appliances in your new home.
If anything is missing, chase it up with your developer/conveyancer as it is YOUR responsibility to complete all warranty documents and register with the manufacturer. If you don't do this and later an appliance or system fails, you won't be able to report it.
BUILDER'S RECTIFICATION PERIOD
As a condition of your warranty, years 1-2 are known as the Builder's Rectification Period. This means that if you report a genuine build defect to your developer within this timeframe, they are duty bound to attend to the issue at their expense (not yours). Years 3-10 are generally regarded as the 'structural' warranty years (in the highly unlikely instance that something more critical occurs).
Make sure you understand what this does and does not cover you for, and how to report a defect should you need to.
Not covered:
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Maintenance
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Weather/storm damage
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Homeowner damage
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Criminal damage
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Servicing of boiler/ventilation systems
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Re-pressurising boiler
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Bleeding radiators
SETTLING IN
A new build employs a great deal of water in it's construction - concrete, plaster, paint etc. For this reason a period of 'drying out' is required. We would strongly advise you do not decorate for the first 12 months as you will notice over that period small 'hairline' cracks appear in walls and ceilings - often around apertures for windows and doors. This is perfectly normal and is NOT a defect. However, as these will need to be filled before re-decorating, you should allow a year.
For the same reason, if you want to hang wallpaper, wait until the end of the first 12 months.
Don't try to force the drying out by turning up the heating as this is likely to create even more cracks (as well as bigger cracks).
KEEPING WARM
With the onset of winter we'll all be looking to turn up the heat sooner or later.
Modern properties benefit from high levels of insulation so this means you don't need to turn up the heat as much as before. To heat a house economically it's better to maintain a constant, low level of heat output - especially with underfloor heating.
Remember too, one of the most important things to do is maintain your annual heating/boiler system service intervals. Failure to do this could invalidate your warranty.
There are some procedures that you'll be required to maintain yourself as they are not deemed to be 'defects':
1. Re-pressurising a boiler - this is a relatively simple process which will be explained in your user manual (or failing that there are always lots of really helpful YouTube 'how-to' videos.
2. Bleeding a radiator - if you have a heating system which includes wall hung/floor standing radiators it is possible for an airlock to travel around the system causing cool areas in the radiator. A small container (cup), cloth and a bleed key are all that are required to resolve this - again 'YouTube is your friend'.
3. Ensure that you have set-up programmers and thermostats correctly as this is one of the most common reasons why heating problems can occur.
KEEPING DRY
As already mentioned above (keeping warm), modern homes are very well insulated so adequate ventilation is important when creating a lot of warm water moisture in your property. Examples of this include:
1. Use of bath and/or shower.
2. Cooking.
3. Lots of people in small confined areas.
When warm moist air hits a cool surface e.g. a double glazed window, it quickly condenses i.e., turns back to liquid water in the form of droplets which as they build up, will run and cause damage to your window frames, window boards and decoration.
Worse than this is the build up of mould spores - these appear as a 'rash' of black or dark spots on a wall, floor or ceiling - often in corners of rooms or behind wall units. These are DANGEROUS as the spores when inhaled can cause severe lung conditions.
So, ALWAYS, use your trickle vents (the small opening vents above double glazed windows), any opening window lights, and of course any ventilation system e.g., ceiling mounted extraction fans in bathrooms and kitchens.
PERSONALISATION
Putting our stamp on anything is really important to a lot of us - the ability to personalise a room with a change of decoration or the addition of art on the walls.
Pictures and photographs are a nice way to achieve this however remember that there are pipes and cables very often between two wall surfaces so it's critical that you avoid these if you don't want to take out your power or create a flood.
Your developer may have already provided you with helpful information if they supplied any form of home user manual.
Things to look out for - switches and power sockets - avoid the space above and below (unlikely that power cables span horizontally and certainly not diagonally).
Best of all - buy a pipe/cable locator from your local DIY suppler. These are easy to use, inexpensive tools which identify the position and nature of a power cable and/or a water/gas pipe behind any dry lining.
Bear in mind also that if you're planning on hanging anything heavier than a painting, you wall may not be designed to take the weight; or at least, with 'cavity' walls you should seek out the appropriate fixings, designed for this purpose - again consult a knowledgeable DIY assistant for guidance (weight load is usually shown on the packet).
NO POWER!
If your power goes off, what do you do first? Check your consumer unit (the box with all the fuses).
Here's how to read it:
1. If ALL the small switches are in the upright position, this is most likely a power cut - check with your neighbours to see if they are in the same boat!
2. If ANY of the small switches are in the down position, take note of what it says (they should all have been labelled) this will almost certainly be the circuit with the problem. Think back to what you were doing seconds before the power went down - if you were ironing, unplug your iron and flip the fuse switch back to the upright position. If it stays up, the problem has been identified (you have a faulty iron).
3. If you have no power and you have checked with neighbours who appear unaffected, report this as an emergency (use the instructions provided by your developer for reporting emergencies).
