Is it ok to sell a survey report?

notonebitsimpler

Hi all,

I pulled out of a purchase two weeks ago because of personal reasons. Today I was contacted by the EA asking if I would be willing to sell my survey report ( which was done 2 months ago) to the new buyer.

I asked the EA if this would have any legal consequences but she said it was the first time she came across this too so she wouldnt know.

In the "Standard Terms of Engagement" attached to the report, there is a paragragh on "Liability" stating "The report provided is solely for the use of the Client and the Client's professional advisers, and no liabiliy to anyone else is accepeted. It may not be provided to anyone else." I assume the "It" here refers to the report itself?

So is it legal/ethical to sell a survey report to the next potential buyer?

Thanks in advance.

princessamy86

You can sell it, it just means the surveyor has no liability to the person you sell it on to. It's their lookout if they rely on things in it, they have no comeback on the surveyor though.

ETA: plus you can recover some of your costs.

WhiteHorse

I seem to recall a case in which liability was imposed on a surveyor for third party use of their report. I don't have the reference unfortunately.

I see no reason why you should not sell your document, although it might be wise to state in writing that you offer no guarantees as to accuracy.

JQ.

I would be vary carefull doing so. 2 things spring to mind:

1. By you receiving money for the report you may find yourself liable for it's contents. If the surveyor has got something wrong you may find yourself dragged through the courts along with him.
2. There will be a caveat in the report stating that it is not to be used by or disclosed to 3rd parties without the Surveyors consent. By you receiving money for the report you may find the Surveyor suing you for the cash you received for his/her report.
3. Why would they want to buy your report - there's no way a bank would rely on a report not addressed to them, so unless they're 100% cash buyers, what's the point.

I would be very careful as point 1. above could cost you alot of money.

princessamy86

Looks like I might have been wrong! We've done it quite a few times though, just made it clear that the report is for general information only.

JQ.

princessamy86 wrote: »

Looks like I might have been wrong! We've done it quite a few times though, just made it clear that the report is for general information only.

. . . . and presumably nothing has gone worng. It's probably quite unlikely that something will go wrong, but when it does it could end up bankrupting the average person, I take it the OP does not have Indemnity Insurance for such an eventuality. As someone mentioned above I'm sure a surveyor has been successfully sued by a 3rd party for the contents of their report. By the OP profiting from releasing the report to the 3rd party without the Surveyors consent, I can't imagine they could avoid getting dragged into the ensuing proceedings.

Ditto

JQ. wrote: »

I would be vary carefull doing so. 2 things spring to mind:

1. By you receiving money for the report you may find yourself liable for it's contents. If the surveyor has got something wrong you may find yourself dragged through the courts along with him.
2. There will be a caveat in the report stating that it is not to be used by or disclosed to 3rd parties without the Surveyors consent. By you receiving money for the report you may find the Surveyor suing you for the cash you received for his/her report.
3. Why would they want to buy your report - there's no way a bank would rely on a report not addressed to them, so unless they're 100% cash buyers, what's the point.

I would be very careful as point 1. above could cost you alot of money.

Maybe the OP had paid out for a full structural survey. The new buyer may only want to pay for a valuation survey, thereby saving themselves £750 and using the information in the full survey as a bargaining tool to pay less than asking price.

silvercar

3. Why would they want to buy your report - there's no way a bank would rely on a report not addressed to them, so unless they're 100% cash buyers, what's the point.

Having read your survey they could just get a cheap valuation from the lender.

geoffky

ask for a gift...dont sell it...get what i mean???

timmyt

sell it with a caveat that you accept no liability for its contents, but you may be in breach of your own contract with the surveyor by selling it...depending on what caveats he has in the report.

so just have the new buyers employ the same chap...he'll do it for less and you can avoid any hassle