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kwackerUK
Posts: 10 Forumite
Hello MSE,
Need some advice regarding a RICS Building Survey that was carried on on a property we purchased. The survey cost £425. The details the survey provided were as follows:
The most comprehensive report for home buyers
Detailed property inspection
Comprehensive structural report on the condition
Ideal for older, period or large and unusual homes
Advice and analysis of defects, repairs and ongoing maintenance
Issues that need to be investigated to prevent further problems
Part of the report was to inspect the external oil storage tank. The completed RICS report gave the following opinion: There are no indications of urgent or significant defects. Normal maintenance should be undertaken. Condition Rating 1.
From reading this, we felt we would have no issues with the external tank.
However, on moving in, we filled the tank up with fuel and noticed a slight leak on the valve at the front of the tank. We then cleared the area around the front of the tank of old garden waste and moved a pallet and waste bins that had been left in this area (which is also evident in the RICS report photos and most probably left to hide the oil leak), we noticed that a major leak had occurred in the past and that the tank was still leaking oil.
This leak was evident on the the walls on the side of the building as well as under the tank and on the brick work supporting the tank. You would have thought this would have been picked up by the surveyor.
However, things got worse. When we turned the cold water taps on in the morning, we could smell oil. We contacted Anglian water who took water samples. Today we got the result that our water supply was contaminated and is now condemned. The water board have also contacted the Environmental Agency as the soil around the tank is heavily contaminated.
We now face a massive bill to replace our mains water supply which runs under the oil tank. £3000 bill to purchase a new oil tank, have the 2400ltrs transferred and the old tank disposed of. We will also be looking forward to the massive bill we will be hit with to remove the contaminated soil and have it disposed of.
What annoys me the most is this leak has been going on for years. The water supply has been contaminated for years. The sellers knew about this and also knew we were moving into the property with 1 and 6yr kids. We gave our kids this water every day. How low can people get. My wife is in tears as she gave our kids contaminated water every day.
If the sign of a leak had been picked up by the surveyor, we would have had it investigated before exchanging.
How could this have been missed.
So where do i stand with this? Do i have a case to sue the surveyor?
I would post pictures but as a new user, i can't.
Thanking you all for any advice.
Phil
Need some advice regarding a RICS Building Survey that was carried on on a property we purchased. The survey cost £425. The details the survey provided were as follows:
The most comprehensive report for home buyers
Detailed property inspection
Comprehensive structural report on the condition
Ideal for older, period or large and unusual homes
Advice and analysis of defects, repairs and ongoing maintenance
Issues that need to be investigated to prevent further problems
Part of the report was to inspect the external oil storage tank. The completed RICS report gave the following opinion: There are no indications of urgent or significant defects. Normal maintenance should be undertaken. Condition Rating 1.
From reading this, we felt we would have no issues with the external tank.
However, on moving in, we filled the tank up with fuel and noticed a slight leak on the valve at the front of the tank. We then cleared the area around the front of the tank of old garden waste and moved a pallet and waste bins that had been left in this area (which is also evident in the RICS report photos and most probably left to hide the oil leak), we noticed that a major leak had occurred in the past and that the tank was still leaking oil.
This leak was evident on the the walls on the side of the building as well as under the tank and on the brick work supporting the tank. You would have thought this would have been picked up by the surveyor.
However, things got worse. When we turned the cold water taps on in the morning, we could smell oil. We contacted Anglian water who took water samples. Today we got the result that our water supply was contaminated and is now condemned. The water board have also contacted the Environmental Agency as the soil around the tank is heavily contaminated.
We now face a massive bill to replace our mains water supply which runs under the oil tank. £3000 bill to purchase a new oil tank, have the 2400ltrs transferred and the old tank disposed of. We will also be looking forward to the massive bill we will be hit with to remove the contaminated soil and have it disposed of.
What annoys me the most is this leak has been going on for years. The water supply has been contaminated for years. The sellers knew about this and also knew we were moving into the property with 1 and 6yr kids. We gave our kids this water every day. How low can people get. My wife is in tears as she gave our kids contaminated water every day.
If the sign of a leak had been picked up by the surveyor, we would have had it investigated before exchanging.
How could this have been missed.
So where do i stand with this? Do i have a case to sue the surveyor?
I would post pictures but as a new user, i can't.
Thanking you all for any advice.
Phil
0
Comments
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The people selling the house knew about this leak, I think maybe you would get more recourse from pursuing them? Did you take legal cover with your home insurance, it may be very useful now.0
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It sounds like they should have noticed it. How long ago did you move in? I think you ought to go back to the surveyor, yes.
I am wondering how the water supply is contaminated by it ... Did it somehow get into the water pipes?0 -
Most unfortunate - I feel for you.
1) speak to your solicitor - you may have a case against the sellers, but only if you can prove they knew. Difficult. Had they been living in the property?
I seriously doubt they knew of the water contamination - Surely noone would continue living there and drinking/washing/cooking?
2) you may also have a case against the surveyors. Keep all photos/reports evidence. Contact them first, enclosing the reports, and ask them to come out and look. They may simply refer it to their professional indemnity insurers, who may acknowledge the error and pay out.
Or not. The next sage would be a complaint internally, escallated to RICS, and ultimately court action.
As Chanes suggests, do you have legal cover? This might cover court action. You might also need another independant surveyor to state whether they think the 1st surveyor was negligent - you'd need to pay for that. Again, legal insurance cover might cover that cost.
ps depending where you are, I can recommend my tank company. They installed my harlequin tank including new base, with a nasty access over a farmer's field. They also now fabricate their own steel tanks to their own specification as they could not find any manufacturers that met their high standards. PM me if interested.0 -
Chanes: We contacted our insurance company but he stated we only had buildings and contents. The insurance won't cover the cost of any external pipe work. Also, as the leak was old and existed before we took the policy out, we can't claim against it.
Hoploz: We moved in around 8th Sept. Didn't fill that tank for another 2-3 weeks. That's when we noticed the issue.0 -
If the sign of a leak had been picked up by the surveyor, we would have had it investigated before exchanging.
How could this have been missed.
If the leak was hidden then appears it was the sellers that intentionally mislead you. A surveyor will only report on what they can visually see.
Did you inspect the tank or have the heating system examined by a qualified person.0 -
We moved in around 8th Sept. Didn't fill that tank for another 2-3 weeks. That's when we noticed the issue.
8th September is today!
I wouldn't expect a surveyor to move things out of the way (though they should disclose that as a limitation on their survey), so they're not necessarily liable. And they're not going to check for soil or water contamination.0 -
Thrugelmir: I have attempted to add a link to show 2 pictures of the area. As you can see, it's a right mess. Maybe the leak was not visible but the signs that a leak had occurred are and damage to the brick work is very visible.0
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Sorry typo. Meant 8th August.
( 0 -
A good point. Though an inspection by an OFTEC engineer should have spotted this..... if you had one.8th September is today!
I wouldn't expect a surveyor to move things out of the way (though they should disclose that as a limitation on their survey), so they're not necessarily liable. And they're not going to check for soil or water contamination.0 -
We have had the tank checked now and he mentioned a leak had occurred. Failed to see that the tank was still leaking underneath.
I understand the surveyor won't test the water or check for oil leaks but he should have mentioned the oil damage to the walls and oil support structure.
All that was hiding it was a bin and wooden pallet.
Remove the extra . from the link I added to see the pics of the area.0
This discussion has been closed.
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