
New UK homes 'crumbling due to weak mortar' - camtarn
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46454844
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whatshisface
> _The full extent of the industry-wide problem is hard to measure as some
> homeowners have been asked to sign gagging orders to claim compensation._

It baffles me that this term is a legal part of settlement contracts. The
victim doesn't really benefit that much from committing the event to the
public record, society does - so they should not be able to negotiate it away
(nor should corporations be able to "un-happen" things that they did).

~~~
Nasrudith
I'm not sure of the fine details but it seems like something that should be
kept with internal records to be binding just for the sake of enforcement
alone - one has to tell what they were restricted from saying in the first
place in case it comes up. That level of record keeping also ensures that it
can't be used for malfeasance like covering up crimes because it means
entering in records for evidence.

Privacy isn't a valid claim here because the whole point is government use of
force - the right to oversight for everyone out-weights their non-existant
right to secrecy in use of legal force.

An old and very sensible principle is that the law isn't required to enforce
contracts involving breaking it. Prosecuting hitmen for taking the money and
running off would be a use of resources for the exact opposite of their job.

I think ideally you should technically settle out of court but it won't be
binding by definition but open for review. If you give someone $250 for bad
mortar and it later causes more damage because of containing asbestos the
settlement shouldn't block the clai.

And yeah it seems to be a 'guild' law artifact in that the legal principles
are entirely based off of 'caste interests' instead of principles of rule by
consent of the people or equality. The UK in particular has issues with
valuing reputation over truth - they have already been banned from many
countries over libel shopping and their laws helped cover up Jimmy Savvile's
monstrous deeds - ones so bad that his family took down and sold his tombstone
for scrap.

~~~
whatshisface
> _And yeah it seems to be a 'guild' law artifact in that the legal principles
> are entirely based off of 'caste interests' instead of principles of rule by
> consent of the people or equality._

Gag clauses are common in US corporate scandals as well. This seems like a
frequent abuse that everyone always wants to do when they are about to be
found out, a prime candidate for legislation.

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lstodd
> Exactly why the weaker building material may have been used is unclear.

Really? What's unclear with skimping on cement and pocketing the difference?
It's not that that wasn't happening since the cement was invented.

~~~
everybodyknows
Sure, at the first, proximate level of causation.

The deeper questions concern the regulatory failure:

\- Does NHBC possess the technical and budgetary wherewithal to adequately
inspect?

\- What enforcement powers does NHBC purportedly have?

\- Why has it not exercised them against the bad actors?

\- Have certain homebuilders captured the NHBC?

\- Has NHBC captured legislators, or public employees?

\- Why has there been no legal challenge to the NDAs?

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sys_64738
Do they do housing inspections in England? Or was somebody given a backhander
to look the other way?

~~~
nradov
Unless you do detailed and somewhat destructive testing, bad mortar can look
the same as good mortar. Most residential construction inspections are just
visual.

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hinkley
I believe in the 80’s here there was a rash of using coastal sand in concrete.
The salt lead to very premature failure of the materials.

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beerlord
The UK is running a large immigration program, but its cities are
fundamentally limited in size due to restrictive green belts. As a result, any
increase in population will lead to a direct increase in land values,
incentivising corners to be cut on the actual building work in order to meet
budgets.

The UK and other developed countries should set a population cap (they are all
at or below replacement fertility anyway) and restrict immigration to ensure
this cap is never exceeded.

We are seeing the same problems in other countries like Australia where heavy
levels of immigration are pushing land values beyond reasonable levels and
straining the construction and planning industry.

~~~
RobLach
I don’t intend this to be a personal attack but I think you need to take a
step back and re-evaluate what you’re saying because what I’m reading is that
because of increasing populations, property is more valuable, which creates
more opportunities for corners to be cut as land is developed; and then the
solution to that problem is to ensure land doesn’t increase in value by
implementing strict population controls by the state. I don’t even think
immigration is a core element of your argument since logically you’d still
want to limit the native population through some sort of dystopic state level
program.

~~~
beerlord
The UK fertility rate is 1.80. Replacement rate is 2.10. All of the increase
to population is through immigration, and can be controlled through simple
Government policies.

~~~
RobLach
Currently

