The UK housing developers' five-star rating: fact or fiction?

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to explore how the data collected by the NHBC is used in practice to improve the service provided to the customers, the transition of any changes into practice and the overall management of the customer satisfaction process by the builder.
Design/methodology/approach – A Qualitative approach to the research was adopted and the findings from the interviews provide an indication of the views from a range of private house builders relating to the areas of customer satisfaction and the ratings provided through industry based questionnaires.
Findings – This paper has uncovered the views and opinions of private house builders relating to customer satisfaction and five star ratings. The findings provide evidence that the house building industry is not fully engaged with the HBF five star related concept and that they provide a differing level of service in relation to customer satisfaction.
Research Implications - The research concluded that the customer can be manipulated by the builders in some cases causing a bias in the market; on the whole the customer satisfaction surveys and star rating are simply seen as a marketing tool, used by the builders marketing department as a sign of quality and a way to promote the company.
Practical Implications - This paper is of interest to private house builders and the wider construction industry and will aid their understanding of customer satisfaction and quality related ratings applied by industry bodies.
Originality/value – The findings within this paper provide an overview of the opinions of house builders relating to customer satisfaction and five star ratings using interview-based data obtained from private house building operatives.