// Our guarantees
Our guarantees, in plain English.
A fixed price, two years on workmanship and surfaces, and ten years on the base underneath. Here’s what each one covers, what it doesn’t, and how to claim.
// What you’re covered by
Three guarantees and our insurance, in writing before you commit.
Fixed price
From signing to the last day
It never goes up without your signature. It doesn’t move if the job takes longer, the digging is harder, or our costs go up. Only a change you ask for, or something nobody could have spotted beforehand, can change it: a buried structure, seriously unstable ground or asbestos. If that happens, we stop, show you photos, and nothing extra is done or charged until you’ve agreed it in writing.
Two-year workmanship guarantee
Two years from completion
If something fails because of the way we built it, we come back and put it right at no charge. Failed joints, slabs or blocks that move or sink beyond normal tolerance, water pooling because we set the falls wrong (the gentle slope that carries rain away), loose coping or render on a wall, fixings that come loose.
Ten-year structural guarantee
Ten years from completion
Ten years on the base under your paving: compacted layers of crushed stone (called MOT Type 1) over a membrane. It’s the part you never see, and the part that decides whether your paving stays flat. If it sinks, spreads or breaks up because of the way we built it, we put it right, including relaying the surface on top.
£5m public liability insurance
While we’re on site
On every job, so you and your home are protected from the first day on site to the last. It’s insurance, not a guarantee, so it doesn’t pass on if you sell.
// What gets which
Which parts of your job each one covers.
Two years on the workmanship and the surfaces you see. Ten years on what holds them up: the base under your paving.
| What we built | 2 yearsWorkmanship and surfaces | 10 yearsThe base underneath |
|---|---|---|
| Patios, driveways, paths and steps | The surface: slabs or blocks, joints, levels and falls | The base underneath |
| Concrete bases, for a shed, summer house or hot tub | How the slab was laid and finished | The base underneath |
| Brick, block or stone walls, including retaining walls | The whole wall: footing, structure, face and coping | Not covered |
| Edging, kerbs, drainage channels and gravel | How it was laid | Not covered |
| Fencing, gates, sleepers, decking and raised beds | How it was built and fixed | Not covered |
| Turf and planting | How it was prepared and planted | Not covered |
| Lighting, electrics, or anything another trade fitted | Its own maker’s warranty or certificate | |
Your certificate lists everything we built at yours, with a tick for each cover.
// What isn’t covered
What isn’t covered, and the two conditions.
We’d rather you read this now than find it later.
Normal life and weather
Misuse, accidental damage or heavy vehicles. Frost damage in an abnormally severe winter. Normal weathering, colour variation in natural stone, and moss or weeds on a surface that hasn’t been sealed.
Ground that moves on its own
Settlement is ours. If the surface sinks because the base was too shallow, badly compacted or laid on unsuitable ground, it’s covered. Subsidence and heave aren’t. That’s the ground itself moving: clay shrinking in a dry summer, tree roots drying the soil, or a leaking drain washing it away. No base of this kind prevents that, at any depth or price. It’s normally a matter for your buildings insurance, and we’ll give you our photos and notes to support a claim.
Plants and timber
Turf and plants are covered for how the ground was prepared and how they were planted. Watering and care after that are yours, so we can’t guarantee growth. Timber is covered for how it was built and fixed, but it naturally moves and weathers.
Anything we didn’t build
Work by other trades, and anything with its own maker’s warranty or certificate, such as lighting or electrics.
We dig down to firm ground, not to a fixed depth. If we find soft spots or made ground (old buried rubble or fill), we stop and show you photos before we build over it, and you decide what happens next.
The two conditions on the ten years
- Don’t load it beyond what it was built forSuch as lorries, plant, or cars on a patio built for walking on. If you’ll park something heavy on it, tell us when we quote so we build for it.
- Nobody else digs or builds within 1 metre of the baseSuch as a cable trench or a new wall. Planning work nearby? Call us first. It costs nothing, and we’ll tell you if it’s a risk.
Those are the only two conditions.
// If something isn’t right
How to make a claim.
- Step 1
Tell us
Call 01582 377 593 or email chris@mtdevelopments.co.uk with a photo and the reference on your certificate.
- Step 2
We come and look
We tell you honestly whether it’s covered.
- Step 3
We put it right
If it’s covered, we agree a date with you and fix it.
// In writing
A certificate, not a promise on the phone.
When the job’s finished, we walk it with you and you sign a short completion sign-off. Your guarantee certificate follows. It lists everything we built at yours, which cover each part carries, and the date each cover runs to.
It goes with the house
If you sell, it passes to the new owner for the rest of its dates, with nothing to register. Hand it on with the house paperwork.
Backed by your agreement
It sums up section 8 of the agreement you sign, and if the two ever differ, the agreement applies. Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 aren’t affected.
“Everything, including payment structure, was set out in a clear work schedule & was easily adapted when we had a change of mind over required plants.”
When does the cover start?
From the date on your signed completion sign-off. Your certificate shows the actual end dates, so nobody has to work them out later.
What if I sell, or I’ve bought a house you worked on?
The guarantee goes with the house. The new owner is covered for the rest of the dates on the certificate, with nothing to register. If you’ve bought the house and don’t have a copy of the agreement, ask us and we’ll send one.
What if something isn’t finished at handover?
We walk the job with you and write anything outstanding on a snagging list, with a date for each item. You can add to it for 14 days. Until it’s done, 5% of the price is held back from your final payment.
Do I have to seal my patio to keep the guarantee?
No. Sealing is your choice. It makes moss, weeds and stains easier to keep on top of. Without it, some green growth is normal: a cleaning job, not a fault, and not something the guarantee covers.
See what it would cover at yours.
Book a free design consultation, get an instant estimate online, or call us on 01582 377 593.
Where we work. Dunstable, Luton, Leighton Buzzard, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, and the towns and villages in between.