Who is responsible: Building survey

silvercar

clutton wrote:

do i remember from years back that all water is owned by the water companies ? i wonder if they have the duty to maintain banks ? just a thought - any legal eagles on here ?

we are responsible for ensuring the flow of water through our stream, so I doubt the water board would take responsibility, whether they own the water or not.

mi-key

If you had a full survey done, it should have mentioned everything within the property boudaries ( this is according to our surveyor - on our survey it included the front garden wall, fencing around the back garden, back patio, outbuildings, shed etc... ).

If you got the survey back and it didnt make any mention of the stream, then I would have been a bit suspicious and asked the surveyor why it wasnt mentioned, particularly if it had some sort of permenant structure like the dry stone wall as part of it.

I would also have thought that any property with a stream on it would be a potential flood risk, so for the insurance people they would have wanted this properly checked ?

elizw

I would ask the Surveyor about this now. The valuation done for the building society should have picked up any onerous conditions relating to the property and may have required you to refer the valuation to your insurance company to make sure they were aware.

ratchford

Thanks for evryones comments. In reply to a few questions, the surveyor did mention the stream in the survey ( it is pretty big an divides our garden), but he didn't mention anything about banks collapsing etc. Our solicitor did ask about the stream etc and our insurance company know about it ( it has never flooded in the 170 years that the house has been here). As far as the building question goes, I'm certain that a full structural survey etc does everything ( building, outside buildings, garden etc), so surely it was his responsibility to check it out?
We've had qoutes to carrty out the work and they go well into five figures! We feel that we would have piut in a lower offer on the property if the surveyor would have informed us about it?
Any more suggestions?


Ratchford

clutton_2

in view of the size of this repair bill, i would be most tempted to go to a different solicitor and get a free half hour consultation and get some legal advice, taking the survey with me, and estimates for repairs.

mr.broderick

I'd sue the surveyor, he's insured for getting it wrong, sounds like he's got this wrong big time. Surveyors hey, you gotta love em..

clutton_2

""the surveyor did mention the stream in the survey"" -

what did he say exactly ?

ratchford

Totally forgot I'd posted this thread! Too bust getting quotes for the river bank.
In regards to the last question. The surveyor mentions that a stream runs throught the centre of our garden.
We've recived the quotes and the cheapest is £11,500. Since then the bank has become even more undercut, although this shouldn't effect the price as they are replacing the entire wall.
We've sent a nice letter to the surveyor ( after advice from an friend who is a surveyor in yorkshire) and a copy of the quote, but that was nearly a month ago, and still haven't recieved a reply.
Looks like we'll be contacting a litigation solicitor shortly if they don't reply soon.
We took a copy of our report to show our friends ( 3 of whom our surveyors) and they all commented on the poor quality of the report and the lack of photographs etc ( which they would have expected on a full building survey), so we may be able to contact the RICS as well.
Thanks again for all the advice, if anyone has anymore info, it would be gratefully recevied.

Ratchford

Mrs_Optimist

Thanks for the update, please let us know the outcome!

zkeithz

Speaking as a commercial building surveyor, I would say yes you do have recourse against the surveyor.

You have commissioned a full structural survey. The duty of care rests with the surveyor to survey the building including appurtenances and land associated with the building. It would even stretch to matters on adjacent land that can be reasonably observed by the surveyor, which may have an impact on the land and buildings, for example a mature tree located on the public footpath near to the land.

I would advise that you establish who the surveyors professional indemnity insurers are and claim under the PI policy. This is precisely why building surveyors require PI insurance.

Good Luck, Regards.
Keith