Review finds lack of minimum building standards at homebuilder

An independent report has concluded York-headquartered house builder Persimmon does not have an agreed minimum standard for all the homes it constructs.

The review says the lack of a group build policy increases the chance of defects in Persimmon’s houses.

Persimmon, which said in November that it was working to prioritise higher levels of customer service, despite a dip in its sales volumes, has faced intense criticism after a number of buyers complained about the quality and safety of their homes.

The review found that some of its houses did not feature fire-stopping cavity barriers, or this measure had been wrongly installed.

It said the issue of missing or improperly fitted cavity barriers was “a systemic nationwide problem”, which it judged to be “a manifestation of poor culture coupled with the lack of a group build process”.

Persimmon’s chairman Roger Devlin commissioned the report in spring this year, after complaints surfaced about the quality of the firm’s homes.

The review was headed by barrister Stephanie Barwise QC of Atkin Chambers.

She warned there were no agreed procedures to supervise or inspect its employees or sub-contractors’ work and that staff were only given limited training.

And her report said the company’s corporate culture needed to change.

Barwise added: “The Board of Persimmon deserve significant credit for commissioning this Review and publishing its findings. It demonstrates their willingness to confront some difficult truths as they focus the business on rapid change and improvement.”

Persimmon’s former chief executive Jeff Fairburn departed last year amid outcry of a pay deal which awarded him £75m.

Devlin said: “This is a very thorough and comprehensive review with clear conclusions and recommendations in nine key areas.

“The review found Persimmon had focused on policies around inspections immediately before and after the sale of a home, rather than those governing build quality inspections.

“In my view, this is one of its central findings and I am encouraged that the company is already embracing the review’s recommendations in this area through significant operational investment and procedural change.

“Our Construction Working Group will focus on ensuring our new policies and processes fully address this critical finding.

“As we focus hard on the changes that we are making, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise once again to those Persimmon customers who have been affected in the past.”