Damp proofing

Ultranol_2

Hello,

I’m not sure if this is the right place for this, but wasn’t sure where else to put it…

We purchased a house a month ago. The house had a damp proofing course carried out 4 years ago when the previous owner moved in - the owners before her had organised and paid for it. When we were purchasing the house we tried to get hold of the certificate guaranteeing the damp proofing for 25 years, but it transpired that the vendor didn’t have it – the previous owners had never passed it to her and for whatever reason she didn’t feel it important to get hold of it(!)

So she (and we) called the damp proofing company who confirmed that the damp proofing had been carried out and agreed to transfer the guarantee over to us when we completed. My partner enquired about the certificate and they said we didn’t need it – all that needed to happen was for them to transfer the guarantee over to us. At the time this sounded weird but we were naïve first time buyers and stupidly didn’t question it enough.

I rang the company a few weeks ago to check that the guarantee had been transferred over to us (it has been), and it then transpired that we did in fact need the certificate, and that the guarantee was non existent without it. The damp proofing company have a copy of the certificate but it is apparently in the “archives” and they are making a huge deal about going to find it and making a copy for us.

I have rung a few times now and I think they’re just trying to fob us off. Surely it can’t be that difficult to find it? And as they have confirmed that they did the work and have transferred the guarantee into our name it seems bizarre that the guarantee is void?

There is no other way of us getting the certificate, as the vendor didn’t have a copy, and we have no idea where the previous owners might be now and even if we did I’m sure they wouldn’t still have the guarantee.

Can anyone offer any advice? Do the damp proofing company have any obligations? It sounds to me that they’re just trying to get out of the guarantee. I realise that we’ve probably been very naïve…

Thank you

David_Aldred

Hi Ultranol,
If you could find out what products had been used by the contractor you could approach the manufacturer to see if the guarantee is a joint guarantee whereby the manufacturer guarantees the effectiveness of the product if the contractor goes into liquidation. If this is the case the manufacturer could be approached to issue you copy paperwork relating to work done at the property by one of their 'approved contractors' and if they are prepared to do this please ask for everything they may have such as a copy of the contractors original survey, constractors drawings of areas treated, copy original invoice and guarantee all of which woudl be useful for any future claim.

This is not always the case and the contractor themselves may simply have issued their own guarantee and if this is what has been done then the chances of the contractor sending you a copy diminish because as you say they may wish to evade their potential liability.

You might try sending this contractor a recorded delivery letter asking them to confirm in writing whether or not they undertook work at the subject property and if so what did this include (i.e chemical injection of a damp proof course only or did they undertake the re-plastering etc).

What you want is some confirmation in writing that they treated the property with a date of treatment preferably with details. Once you have such confirmation then irrespective of the guarantee the contractor will be liable for defective work where it fails to have been undertaken with reasonable care and skill of a person in their profession though the period of liability will be limited.

Because of this you may wish to have the property inspected by a specialist now rather than wait because the period for such a claim is usually less than the 25 year guarantee certificate and claims for negligence often have to be made within 6 years though this can sometimes be extended if you can show that you did not have the specialist knowledge to be aware of the defect. Hope this helps kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

jfed

I think your solicitors should have flagged this at time of purchase. If they did they should have made the vendor purchase an indemnity insurance for this exact situation. Very much like if you had windows fitted but failed to get a FENSA certificate. It may be worth a call to solicitors to try and find out.

Running_Horse

Even with the certificate, you may find the guarantee useless; most of them are. Many firms will demand payment to even look at the problem, and then will deny it is anything to do with them, saying it was caused by other factors. The evasive tactics they have used so far do not bode well.

Ultranol_2

Thanks for the replies.

David - I think the contractor just issued their own guarantee unfortuantely. And I do think they are just trying to get out of honoring the guarantee. I think our solicitors should have flagged it as well...

I guess the guarantee is almost more for when we sell the property. There is no damp at the moment and it was only damp proofed 4 years ago, but another few years down the line it might be a different story.

Well, I guess we'll try ringing a couple more times...is there any kind of official body we could go to about this? Long shot I know...

Running_Horse

Trading Standards, as a threat?

David_Aldred

Hi Ultranol,
Reputable damp proofing companies should be a member of the Property Care Association (PCA). It may be worth checking whether or not they are a member as the PCA which has a code of conduct / arbitration scheme, though from what you are saying this company has a rather dubious code of conduct. Kindest regards, David

Fire_Fox

Why not write to the damp proofing company instead of telephoning?

clutton_2

most damp proofing "guarantees" written by individual contractors are not worth the paper they are written on...

if they wont give you a certificate... they sure as heck would not come out to inspect a "problem" without charging an arm and a leg.... and then they would deny responsibility

move on - and when you sell... buy an indemnity thingimayjig....

loulou41

The house I bought months ago had damp proof done under the guarantee. I contacted the firm and was told I have got so many days to have the certificate transferred in my name and that attracted a fee. The same with the double glalzing guarantee with everest, I was told I had to pay a fee to have the certificate transferred in my name.

Ultranol_2

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, we will look into some of those as ringing has proved useless! I have heard that guarantees can be quite hard to enforce, but I guess its more of an issue when we come to sell the house...

Thats one lesson we have learnt in buying a house!