<p>From April 1st all housebuilders building private sector homes will be required to comply with a new consumer code of conduct, launched today by a pan-industry group including warranty firms and trade bodies.</p> <p>The code will require housebuilders to develop customer procedures covering issues such as information provision on completion dates, contract termination, reimbursement of fees and deposits, warranties and disputes resolution.</p> <p>The code establishes a new independent resolution service to deal with disputes between a builder and consumer which have resulted in the consumer being out of pocket. This is designed to be speedy and effective with a maximum award to the consumer of £15,000.</p> <p>The code has been set up in response to a series of industry reviews including that of the Office of Fair Trading in 2008. However the OFT has withdrawn support for the initiative because of the £15,000 maximum which it wanted to set at £150,000.</p> <p>However the industry argued that £15,000 is appropriate for a non-legal and simple system, and that higher figures would need to be dealt with by the ombudsman or through the courts.</p> <p>"Our research suggests that £15,000 should deal with 95% of complaints," said Rod MacEachrane, chairman of the consumer …