Roger
RE: Master Build Guarantees, highly over-rated in my opinion. Better to invest in some decent construction insurance and get something for your money. Once you get into the fineprint of the master builder guarantee and if you ever try to claim on it, they will shaft you seven ways til sunday. one of these guarantees is probably handy and better than nothing when you’re buying a completed new-build all ready to move into and fully CCC’ed etc., but it will not help you if you are the principal (i.e. you’re paying a builder to build a place for you.) For minor little issues MB might play ball, but if you get a major issue or anything slightly nonstandard they will run a mile and hide behind every possible loophole in their guarantee. The guarantee is next to impossible to comply with so you end up voiding it before you get anywhere with them.
I’ve seen registered master builders get up to all sorts of shonkiness, poor build quality, poor remediation, go into liquidation etc. and even after you complain to the master builder group they don’t seem to care and let the builder stay on as a “master builder” under their new, phoenix trading entity after the old one has gone belly up. it’s a money-gathering and marketing exercise and nothing more. better than nothing but you’re better off with something that isn’t stacked against you like a good construction insurance policy – at least insurers are regulated!