Our guarantee on building work
Your quotation names the guarantee for each part of the job. This page sets out our building work guarantee in full, so you can read the terms before you ask us for a price. It is given by Vayton Construction Ltd and sits on top of your legal rights, which it doesn't reduce.
How long each kind of work is guaranteed
| Work we do | How long it's guaranteed |
|---|---|
| Structural work: extensions, loft conversions, steel beams, supporting walls we take out or build, new brickwork | 10 years |
| A new roof or a full re-roof | 10 years |
| Kitchens and bathrooms we fit, including the tiling and the waterproofing behind it | 5 years |
| Plastering, drylining, partitions, ceilings and wall insulation | 5 years |
| Carpentry and joinery: doors, skirting, architraves, boxing in and built-in storage | 5 years |
| Rendering, repointing, patios and paths | 5 years |
| Fitted furniture we make | 10 years on the units and our workmanship, 2 years on the paint finish |
| Floors we lay | 2 years |
| Plumbing, heating and gas work | 2 years |
| Electrical work by the registered electrician we arrange | 2 years |
| Decorating, inside and outside | 2 years |
| Repairs to an existing building, such as a roof repair, a leak or a patch of ceiling | 2 years on the part we repaired |
On business premises and trade packages these terms still apply, and a 12-month defects period runs alongside them. That is explained further down.
What we put right
If something we built or fitted fails within its term because of our workmanship or a material we supplied, we come back and put it right at no cost to you. That includes making good and redecorating the area our repair disturbs. Boilers, taps, showers, appliances and windows also carry the maker's own warranty. We hand that paperwork over, and where a maker asks for a product to be registered, we register it in your name.
Wiring is done by a registered electrician we arrange, who gives you the certificate for the work. Gas work is done by a Gas Safe registered business we arrange, and for a new boiler Gas Safe Register posts you a Building Regulations compliance certificate. If anything goes wrong with either, you call us and we deal with it.
What the guarantee doesn't cover
Normal wear, accidental damage and work someone else has altered since we finished aren't covered. For materials you bought yourself, we guarantee how we fitted them, and the product stays with whoever sold it to you. Parts of the building we didn't work on, such as an old roof beyond our repair or existing drains and wiring, sit outside it too. Where we build from your architect's or engineer's drawings, we guarantee how it was built, and the design stays with the designer.
New plaster and new timber shrink a little as a building dries out in its first year, and fine hairline cracks can appear, mostly where new work meets old. That is normal and isn't a fault. If you ask within the first 12 months, we come back once to fill and touch them up for free.
When it starts and who it belongs to
Each part of the guarantee starts on the day we hand that part of the work over, and we confirm the date in writing. It applies to work that has been paid for as the quotation sets out. If you sell your home, the guarantee passes to the new owner for the rest of its term, so keep our handover letter with the sale papers.
How to make a claim
Email contact@vayton.co.uk, call +44 7346 816064 or send us a WhatsApp message. Give the address, a few photos and when you first noticed the problem. We reply within one working day and book a time to look. If water is coming from something we installed, put that in the first line and we treat it as urgent.
How long is a builder liable for their work in the UK?
The law gives you time to claim whether or not there is a guarantee. For homeowners, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says a trader must carry out a service with reasonable care and skill. Under the Limitation Act 1980 you usually have six years from the breach to bring a claim under a contract, or 12 years if the contract was signed as a deed. For negligent work whose damage only shows later, there can be more time: three years from when you found it, with a cut-off 15 years after the work. Our guarantee is simpler to use, because you don't need to prove we were careless. You only need to show that work we did has failed within its term.
What is the defects liability period on a fit-out?
Business and trade contracts usually have a defects liability period, sometimes called the rectification period. It runs for a set time after handover, and during it the contractor comes back to fix defects that show up. Ours is 12 months from handover unless your contract sets a different period. Near the end of it we visit, agree a final snag list with you and put it right. If you hold back a retention, the second half is usually released once those defects are done. The guarantee terms in the table carry on after the defects period ends.
For trade packages we carry out for a main contractor, the defects period in the subcontract applies. Where the subcontract doesn't name one, we use 12 months from completion of our package.
What you get at handover
At the end of the job we give you a handover pack. It lists the guarantee for each part of the work and the date it started, with the maker's warranties and manuals for anything we supplied. It also holds the electrician's certificate if there was electrical work and the gas paperwork if there was gas work. Where the job needed building control, it includes the completion certificate or a note of who will send it.
Want the terms for your own job? Send us your brief and your quotation will set out the guarantee for each part of the work.
This guarantee is given by Vayton Construction Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 17425061, registered office 66 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NA. Last updated: 10 November 2026.