Visiting the development

Safety Matters - Your safety is very important to us.
We appreciate that you may want to look at your home while we are building it. However, building sites are dangerous and are defined in health and safety law as 'workplaces'. The builder is legally responsible for them and must not, by law, allow access to the general public.

Access to the construction site therefore is not allowed. However, at certain construction stages prior arrangements can be made with the Sales Negotiator to visit the property and when this is acceptable we will provide any necessary protective clothing, footwear or other equipment, which you must use while on our site.
On completion of your purchase we will provide you with the Health and Safety file for your home required under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994.

Reserving your new home

When you have chosen your new Jones home you will complete a Reservation Form and pay a reservation fee. Normally this secures your home for a fixed period after which the exchange of legal contracts will take place. If at this point you are not in a position to exchange contracts, a request from your solicitor for an extension to the reservation period will be considered.
If you have any queries at any stage during the purchase process please contact our Sales Negotiator, or if unavailable telephone our regional office and ask for our Sales Manager.

We will supply the following:

• Terms of sale including price.
• Details of the home including land and communal areas, location, site layout, demarcation and boundary details.
• Sketch layout plan with approximate room sizes marked.
• Summary specifications for the construction of the property.
• Energy efficiency details of the home.
• Fixtures and fittings to be included.
• Type of heating system and number of radiators and electric outlets.
• Kitchen and bathroom layouts.
• Summary of external works and materials.
• Details of things that may not be finished before you complete the purchase, such as the road-wearing course, drive topping, landscaping or street lighting.

Your Solicitor's role

You should appoint your own Solicitor or Conveyancer to deal with the legal formalities of the purchase including completion, handover and occupation.

They will liaise with Jones Homes' Solicitor to arrange contracts and proceed towards an exchange. The exchange of contracts is a legal procedure whereby both parties enter into a binding agreement for the sale and purchase of the property. A 10% deposit is normally required when contracts are exchanged.

Our homes are sold either freehold or leasehold for a period of 999 years (125 years if it's an apartment), and your solicitor will advise you on the contents of the transfer or lease, as appropriate, together with any covenants or obligations affecting the property.
Arrangements needed, for example for surveys by lending institutions and for handover and occupation, should be made by contacting our Sales Negotiator.

Personalising your new home

Our Sales Negotiator will advise you about the wide choice of wall tiles, sanitary ware colour and kitchen units which are available, together with a range of optional extras which you may wish to incorporate. These choices are subject to the construction stage of the property.

Services to your new home

• Our Site Manager orders your water, gas and electricity supply meters.
• When legal completion takes place our Sales Negotiator will forward a Transfer of Supply Form to the gas, electricity and water companies which gives meter readings taken by the Site Manager on the day of handover.
• Gas, electricity and water used up to that date is paid for by Jones Homes. Thereafter you will be responsible for payments.
• Telecom connection will be available. However installation must be arranged by yourself directly with the provider.

Completion of your new Home

• Once you have reserved your property we will advise you in writing of our anticipated completion date. We will also advise you of building progress on exchange of contract and at roof stage.
• It is also recommended that you keep in touch with our Sales Negotiator regarding the progress of your home.
• As your property nears completion the Final Account will be forwarded to your Solicitors.
• When your home is finished it will be inspected by an NHBC Inspector who will issue a Build Mark Cover Note which is faxed to your Solicitor.
• Your home is also inspected by our Quality Control Manager or Construction Director who will authorise the Sales Department to issue the Completion Notice to your Solicitor.
• This notice will enable your Solicitor to arrange for the monies to be made available and normally at this point (if applicable) you should request your Building Society or Bank Surveyor to survey your house to enable funds to be released.
• This notice having been issued gives your Solicitor a certain period in which to complete the purchase of your home.
• Also at this stage our Sales Negotiator will make an appointment with you to inspect the property with our Site Manager in order to discuss handover and occupation procedures and demonstrate its functions, facilities, services etc.

Your moving day

It is your Solicitor's responsibility to handle the financial transactions - collecting and processing monies through the banking system. This may take some time but as soon as your monies have been received at our Solicitor's, we are advised and the keys are released to you immediately and you will be allowed access.
Please note that, in order to safeguard our position and your own, this legal formality must take place. To avoid delay and disappointment, please ensure that your Solicitor and any Mortgage Lender are fully aware of your timetable and arrangements.
When you call to collect your keys our Sales Negotiator will arrange for the Site Manager to meet you at your new Jones home - the keys are handed over to you and you will be asked to sign a handover form, a copy of which is forwarded to our Customer Service Department.

Information Pack
At, or just before, handover we will give you an information pack about your home. This will contain:

• Health and Safety information
• Product information such as appliances and instructions for the central heating boiler.
• Guidance on items needing servicing and maintenance.
• An explanation of emergency procedures.
• A copy of NHBC's booklet 'Guide to your new home'(or similar).
• An explanation of the NHBC Buildmark Cover (or similar), including our responsibilities to you.
• Details of when the NHBC Buildmark Cover (or similar) expires.

Customer service after legal completion

Although we hope there will be no problems after you have moved into your new home, our commitment to you continues. We will repair any defects under the terms of the NHBC Buildmark Cover (or similar), although, of course, you will be responsible for wear and tear, decorating and routine maintenance.

Emergencies

By emergency we mean a problem which is, or seems to be, immediately harmful to your property, or to health, safety or security. This excludes: anything caused by your failure to follow operating instructions or take reasonable precautions; fair wear and tear; and events such as storm damage that are outside the builder's control and normally covered by household insurance.
Please note that we have a 24 hour Emerson Response Centre, telephone number 0800 88 12 88.
Our information pack gives details of our emergency contacts and procedures. We will respond to emergency calls within 24 hours and, if necessary, arrange for an emergency visit.

Non-emergency Service calls

Our information pack contains the telephone number and contact address for non-emergency problems.
We will respond to requests by telephone within 48 hours, or in writing within five working days, and at an agreed time we will send someone either to do the work or to inspect and decide what needs doing. In the latter case we will agree a new date within a similar timescale.
Following our inspection we will normally carry out any agreed work within four weeks of our visit. However, delay may occur due to availability of parts/materials, adverse weather, or other circumstances beyond our control.
When we carry out repairs, we will send workmen who are used to working in occupied property. They will call at a pre-arranged time. If you are in doubt about their identity, do not let them in until you have contacted us for confirmation.
We will in any case contact you after six months to arrange a warranty inspection. Unless, therefore, an item is causing you too much inconvenience, it might be preferable for you to list it for inspection when we make this planned visit.

Our Customer Commitment

We will provide the following service, procedure and information at the appropriate stages during the house buying process:

• Detailed information about the property to be sold.
• Reliable information about the Buildmark Cover from the NHBC (or similar), and any other cover from which you will benefit.
• Health and Safety advice to minimise the risk of danger during construction and in the use of the property.
• Assistance in respect of questions, choices and options throughout the purchase process.
• Information about the structural completion and subsequent occupation of the property.
• Once a structural completion date is set we will ensure that the property is complete, that subsequent transfer of ownership takes place, and that the functions/facilities of the property are demonstrated to you.
• We will inform you clearly about the after sales service we will provide within defined response times. Our aim will be to deal effectively both with routine service matters and with emergencies.
• We will tell you who to contact if you believe we have not satisfactorily fulfilled our customer commitment.