Has E.Surv survey failed to identify problem?

teneighty

I say in reply "you come on", Nowhere in the post has the OP mentioned that there was visible signs of deflection or distortion, or undue flexibility, or visible signs of altered or uneven skirting trim or doors.

You don't work for esurv do you?

2). Room in rear of property has some give in flooring with visible signs of damp on wood clad (decolourisation and mould).

The client even highlighted their concerns to the surveyor. How many more clues did they need? I would certainly consider accepting an instruction to prepare a claim against the firm on the limited information available and genuinely believe the firm needs to address their client's complaint.

Unless you are buying a modern box, instruct a local firm of Chartered Surveyors.

I would add a further suggestion. If you want a thorough full building survey instruct a local independent Chartered Building Surveyor, not a General Practice Valuer and certainly never a large national chain.

propertyman

teneighty wrote: »

You don't work for esurv do you?

I would add a further suggestion. If you want a thorough full building survey instruct a local independent Chartered Building Surveyor, not a General Practice Valuer and certainly never a large national chain.

Oh god no :rotfl: Hopefully my post(s) made it clear my considered view of "factory" firms:eek:

The personal local firm is best with as you say GP and BS staff/ partners, not that I am biased at all :A

Having bought an investment in Canada, we met the sellers home inspector, and I threw him out halfway through. We then got in Mike Holmes Inspections and it was a world of difference.

RubbleAndSoil

I didn't include all the details as just wanted a gain was this a simple yes/no. I appreciate that this a far more complex issue.
With regards to clues, I apologise for the lack of 'techy' knowledge and jargon but what I highlighted to the surveyor was 'a bouncy floor particularly to the rear of the property and one corner', 'mould and decolourising of the wood clad on the rear walls', 'slope in floor at one corner' and 'gap between skirting board and floor at rear of property'. Bearing in mind this in the 'extension' and on the exterior side wall there was the aforementioned crack I suppose I was asking naively was the back of the house falling off!

Furts

RubbleAndSoil wrote: »

I didn't include all the details as just wanted a gain was this a simple yes/no. I appreciate that this a far more complex issue.
With regards to clues, I apologise for the lack of 'techy' knowledge and jargon but what I highlighted to the surveyor was 'a bouncy floor particularly to the rear of the property and one corner', 'mould and decolourising of the wood clad on the rear walls', 'slope in floor at one corner' and 'gap between skirting board and floor at rear of property'. Bearing in mind this in the 'extension' and on the exterior side wall there was the aforementioned crack I suppose I was asking naively was the back of the house falling off!

If it goes to a PII claim or to law...did you put these concerns in writing as part of your instruction to the surveyor? If not, do you have a witness to the conversation when you instructed him?

My concern is you highlighted concerns that were not in a report . If you did not question or challenge these omissions you have weakened your case. Remember, the surveyor was acting for you, on your instructions.

Come back to me if you want further reasoning.

propertyman

RubbleAndSoil wrote: »

I didn't include all the details as just wanted a gain was this a simple yes/no. I appreciate that this a far more complex issue.!

That's what I was getting at in replies to earlier posts -people want affirmation and its too readily offered which leaves you no further forward, just feeling better

If for example the floor was described in the first post as"so sloped I thought I was the last man on the Titanic", then a simple yes is easier to give.

As your post #14 has shown things that I mentioned, then yes, there is a basis for a complaint. If you have records and evidence to this, or the floor is still unrepaired, then this will assist.

:money:Check your insurance polices as they may have legal expenses insurance which will help you get the claim started and dealt with.

teneighty

One final snippet, and to agree with propertyman's point above.

Your biggest hurdle will be proving what condition the floor and roof etc. were in and what was visible or would have been reasonable for a competent surveyor to conclude from the evidence available at the time.

It sounds like all the remedial works have been completed now. It would have been better to raise the complaint as soon as the full extent of the defects were revealed to you. Do you have a photographic record by any chance or would the builder or someone who did the work be able to confirm your side of events?

Otherwise it just becomes your word against theirs and they could turn round and say the floor was perfectly level with no evidence of deflection at the time of their inspection and no evidence of water penetration to the roof etc.

Like I said it will be a battle but worth pursuing if you have the evidence to back it up.

RubbleAndSoil

No work has been undertaken to the floor and joists etc as it was only recently we started to do this part of the property. We have only got as far as taking up length of flooring approximately 3 feet wide which runs the length of the room (approx. 32 ft).
Its in that state and easy to see rotten joists, temp supports and joists that have fallen away due to rot. We also have photos from going into the space below the flooring.

RubbleAndSoil

An update; I've had a couple of quotes from builders which vary from £30k to £14k to 'make the building safe'. It materialises that the extension, where the rotten floor, joists etc is, is 'insufficiently tied into the main build', there are internal, weight bearing walls built on floor boards with no support underneath (5 foot drop from floor board to ground), walls are bowing where there are no wall ties between internal and external wall and the list goes on!!
So absolutely gutted for trusting the surveyor's report but hey I've got a £1400 report which confirms the interior decor needs updating

olly300

Most surveyors reports have disclaimers.

OP read your disclaimers and see what they say. They tend to cover themselves for you finding things like this later.

You need to read the general disclaimer and the disclaimer in the section where they examined the extension.

Personally while I don't strictly agree with propertyman about only local surveyors having a clue at what they are looking at, I do agree with him it really does depend on the experience of the surveyor in knowing what to look for.

I should admit I'm biased as I've known people who work as surveyors and their personal attention to detail. I've also dealt with 2 surveyors of various quality this week.