Insight, transparency and consistency
Premier Guarantee is introducing an improved site scoring framework that will offer you clearer visibility of workmanship standards.
Our scoring focus will move from areas like site tidiness and health & safety to put emphasis on construction quality at Key Stages.
The key changes
As part of the improvements, scored areas such as tidiness and health & safety will be replaced by a single workmanship quality score for each plot or block at every Key Stage.
To support this, the 1-5 site rating will be immediately replaced by a 1-6 score for every structure inspected at every Key Stage.
What you will see on site
There will be no significant change in how, or how often, a Risk Management Surveyor inspects your sites.
This update focuses on moving our scoring system from individual site visits to the structure and stages of individual plots and blocks.
1-6 scoring in practice
The refreshed scoring system will use 1-6. A plot that is not compliant with Premier Guarantee’s Technical Standards cannot register a score higher than a 3, regardless of other quality observed in the construction.
The table below shows how workmanship on your site is evaluated during a warranty inspection, helping to highlight strengths and recognise the quality demonstrated across individual plots or blocks.
| Quality | Definition | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Very poor | Significant non-compliances with our Technical Manual and/or Building Regulations. Significant risk of a claim or imminent danger to health and safety. |
| 2 | Poor | Several minor non-compliances and/or some significant non-compliances with our Technical Manual and/or Building Regulations. Potential H&S risk.. |
| 3 | Requires improvement | Some minor non-compliances with our Technical Manual and/or Building Regulations. |
| 4 | Good | Complies with both our Technical Manual (Functional Requirements and Performance Standards) and Building Regulations. |
| 5 | Very good | Complies with technical standards and show good attention to detail beyond requirements. |
| 6 | Outstanding | Fully compliant with technical standards, work exceeds requirements and cannot be improved upon. |
Updated reporting suite brings new insights
This improvement delivers enhanced reporting for builders and developers.
This includes:
- Plot-by-plot, or block-by-block scoring
- Key Stage-level reports and scoring
- Site-level scores on Key Stages, created by averaging the scores of individual plots and blocks
- Plot-level register of defects and risks
- Photographic evidence to accompany every score
These new reporting tools let you take an in-depth, granular and transparent look at performance and quality on your sites.
Clear scoring at Key Stages
To make performance data more transparent and easier to interpret, housebuilders will now see scoring aligned to four stages of construction, or five if you are building apartments:
- Foundations – Every plot or block on a site will be individually inspected at foundation stage.
- Superstructure – All plots will be inspected at the Superstructure stage, but not all plots will be inspected at the end of the stage. The first plot to reach end of the Superstructure stage will be inspected and scored. This plot will be used as a benchmark for quality for all other plots for scoring consistency and transparency. The remaining plots will be inspected as they are observed, and may earn a score even if they are not at the end of stage.
- Pre-Plaster – As above, the first plot or block reaching Pre-Plaster stage will be inspected as a benchmark for all other plots, and others may be scored before the end of the stage.
- Pre Handover – Every plot, or plot in a block, will be individually inspected and scored when complete.
- Roof (Apartments only) - Roof inspections follow the same format as Superstructure and Pre-Plaster stages but will only apply to blocks.
This reflects natural build milestones without limiting the breadth of our inspection process.
One compliance score per plot
Each plot, or the plots inside a block, will receive one compliance score.
- For individual plots, this is the lowest score recorded on a specific plot for that stage.
- For blocks, this is the average of the Key Stage scores inside a block.
- Multiple inspections of a plot or block may be performed to offer insight into progress and improvements but do not impact the recorded compliance score.
Enhanced reporting through the Extranet
The existing Inspection Summary Activity Report will be updated to reflect the updated scoring framework.
A new Site Scoring Analysis MI report will also allow deeper insight across offices, regions and time periods.
Developers will find it easier to:
- Track performance at each Key Stage
- View average scores per order, office,or region
- Deep dive into scoring trends across multiple developments
- Access photos linked to each recorded score
- Download raw scoring data for further analysis
Watch our Site Inspection Scoring explainer
Watch our Extranet tutorial
Frequently Asked Questions
Why has the scoring system changed?
The scoring system has been updated to improve clarity for developers and align scoring to key construction stages at plot and block level, focusing on quality of workmanship.
By focusing the scoring system on the quality of plots and blocks, we can help you maintain the highest standards in homebuilding, and offer you a more insightful, granular look at your site performance while identifying risks before they have a chance to become defects.
This includes offering you:
· Data on the performance of every plot or block on your site.
· Photographic evidence of every single plot and block inspected by your Surveyor.
· A 1-6 scoring system to make performance comparison across sites easier.
Is this an end-of-stage only inspection process?
No. Although only Key Stage scores at each plot are used to calculate the overall site score, Risk Management Surveyors will continue to undertake risk-based inspections, provide guidance, and deliver additional value services where required, throughout the build. This ensures ongoing quality monitoring and technical support beyond the staged scoring framework.
At each Key Stage, the work completed within each plot up until that point will be scored and evaluated against the Technical Manual, highlighting any potential risks that are evident on works that are in flight, to prevent them becoming defects on the next stage inspection.
Which stages will be scored?
You will see scores for:
- Foundations.
- Superstructure.
- Pre Plaster.
- Pre Handover.
- Roof stages (for apartment blocks).
These stages offer a clear, consistent view of build progress (additional inspections may be undertaken where risks are identified).
How does the scoring work?
The updated numerical scoring now runs on a 1–6 scale, replacing the older 1–5 system.
- 1–3 = not compliant with technical standards.
- 4–6 = compliant with technical standards.
Surveyors assign a score based on the quality they observe against the relevant stage of works. Plot or block scores are generated individually and stage scores reflect the averaged output of the units inspected.
What do the scores mean?
| Quality | Definition | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Very poor | Significant non-compliances with our Technical Manual and/or Building Regulations. Significant risk of a claim or imminent danger to health and safety. |
| 2 | Poor | Several minor non-compliances and/or some significant non-compliances with our Technical Manual and/or Building Regulations. Potential H&S risk.. |
| 3 | Requires improvement | Some minor non-compliances with our Technical Manual and/or Building Regulations. |
| 4 | Good | Complies with both our Technical Manual (Functional Requirements and Performance Standards) and Building Regulations. |
| 5 | Very good | Complies with technical standards and show good attention to detail beyond requirements. |
| 6 | Outstanding | Fully compliant with technical standards, work exceeds requirements and cannot be improved upon. |
Will my scores go down?
We do not anticipate that scores will go down as we move to a 1-6 scoring system, but we must also stress that your scoring will not migrate into the new 1-6 system.
Your first inspection under the new system will generate scores against new criteria, and your site will start accruing new scores from scratch.
There is no continuity between your old 1-5 score and your new 1-6 score.
What is a risk?
A ‘risk’ is something that your Risk Management Surveyor sees on site that does not yet meet the criteria to be considered a ‘defect’ but, unremedied, would likely develop into a defect.
Risk Management Surveyors will highlight and log these risks in the course of their inspection.
How are awards affected?
Following our scoring approach, awards will also grade quality in construction as the primary focus.
Health and safety, site tidiness, etc. are no longer formally scored, although these areas are still considered important in a development partner and will be evident in commentary provided by surveyors visiting a site.
Can a plot be scored more than once in the same stage?
Will photos accompany site inspection reports and scores?
How does this affect previous scores?
Legacy 1–5 scores will remain available on the Extranet but will not be used going forward.
Under the updated scoring approach, all sites begin building scores fresh under the 1–6 scale.
You will be able to view and download your historical scoring data from within the reporting suite.
When will I be scored?
Where can I view my new scores?
In the same place you have always found them. Your new scores will be available on our Extranet, alongside historical records and associated site photographs.
Please note, however, that the new scoring starts fresh from zero. You will not see any new scores until an inspection has been completed under this system.
How can I view old scores?
What should I do if I have further questions?
properties.trackTitle
properties.trackSubtitle