Building Surveys?

shoppaholic_returns

Hi Folks,

We have recently accepted an offer on our home, the surveyor has rung up wanting to come round and do what was described as being between a mortgage survey and a full survey.
Does anyone know what this type of survey is and how long it might take for a 4 bed detatched property?

Also i have quite alot stored in my loft, and believe the surveyor will want to go into the roof, will he move the boxes or will he have to look around them as some of the stuff in them is very fragile and I dont want to risk any breakages, or would it be a health and safety issues if he/she were to have to move boxes etc?

Many thanks

wodgerdodger

Sounds very much like a Homebuyers Survey. Thye take around an hour and i dont think you should move anything in the loft for him. He will probably be just looking at the size and qunatitiy of trusses, quality of felt and insulation and any obvious things and doubt very much if he will do any moving around of things himself. the same goes with flooring, he wouldnt lift carpets or move furniture to see what might be under or behind them.

shoppaholic_returns

Thanks for that, the lady booking the appointment seemed to think it might take longer than 1 hr more like 2 hrs, do you think it could be a full survey?

Any surveyors out there?? Do you move boxes etc in lofts or leave stuff alone????

thistledome

I used to work for a Surveyor and they definitely wouldn't move boxes around, especially heavy/large ones.

If you have stored material in the loft which prevents him from inspecting something that needs to be inspected, it should be mentioned in the report that he couldn't gain access. Some buyers would find this suspicious.

Having said that, if the boxes concerned are very light and easily movable, some individual surveyors might decide to move one or two if they are covering something very important.

ETA: they usually say the survey will take around 1 - 2 hours just to cover themselves, I agree with wodgerdodger, they mostly take around an hour unless you have a very unusual property or large property.

tux900

As you have already experienced, a 'full' survey is a somewhat ambiguous term. A Homebuyer's Report on our 3-bed terrace took bang on 2 hours so chances are that's what it is. A Building Survey (formerly known as a Structural Survey) would take significantly longer.

Mathew

shoppaholic_returns

Thanks for your replies, I was just concerned as I have some fragile stuff up in the loft and we tend just to place it all within immediate reach of the loft ladder for ease!

vet8

We had a survey done, which must have been a full survey as the guy was here for over 3 hours. It was a right pain.

He went into the loft, but did not move anything and we have loads of stuff up there.