Damp Proof Certificate - still valid?

KateFitz_2

Hello

I am currently in the process of purchasing my first house. Some damp has been found and has been brought to my attention in the Survey I have had carried out.

A damp proof course was applied to the affected walls in 2002 and I have the certificate stating the work has a 30 year guarantee. However from speaking to the company who carried out the work, they state that the original invoice and report are needed for the guarantee to be valid. The vendor does not have these documents.

Does anyone know if the guarantee is still valid?

Many thanks

G_M

I cannot read the companies conditions for the guarantee.

What do they say?

Is the damp the result of defective dpc, or some other cause?

kingstreet

You should always look for a "30 year insurance-backed guarantee" as that is what mortgage lenders request. These are transferable from owner to owner.

In this way, you avoid the kind of discretionary requirements of the contractor.

I would act as if there is no guarantee at all.

DaftyDuck

I would echo Kingstreet, but from a different perspective. Even if the guarantee were valid, actually getting the original firm to admit that there is a fault they should rectify will, in my experience, prove impossible. The current owner will have ... wrongly decorated, bridged the wall on the garden side, had electrical work filled in with the wrong plaster, or have the wrong starsign. They'll find an excuse to "prove" that the problem is not theirs, and they'll charge you £100's to prove it to you.

Certainly, if every piece of paper isn't perfectly in order, correctly signed, they'll use that as a get-out.


Act as if there's no guarantee.... or get the current owner to deal with the DPC firm.

Rachylou1981

NO, a very big no. Be very careful.

I had this issue. I was told in the survey that my house had damp but informed from everyone involved in the sale that there was a valid damp proof course guarantee. So I went ahead (being only 20 at the time and I loved the house).

When the firebreast walls started to crack open I got out the paperwork and contacted the company but they refused to acknowledge the guarantee without the original documents. I contacted the estate agent, solicitor and previous owners to no avail. No one would help me and therefore I have bad damp with no guarantee that I cannot afford to sort out myself

I am in the middle of trying to sort this now as I want to sell up. I feel very angry that I was duped when sold the house.

ka7e

"Rising damp" as such, doesn't exist. Houses do not wick up water, despite what DPC salesmen say. Look to the guttering, roof, drains, external soil levels, blocked air bricks and ventilation.

A terrace of houses near us had all there front foundations washed away due to long-standing mains leak (pre-1900 houses). The first owners knew about it was when window and door lintels bowed. Not one had any signs of internal damp, despite having a body of water a couple of feet below their wooden floors and plastered walls!

Rachylou1981

ka7e wrote: »

"Rising damp" as such, doesn't exist. Houses do not wick up water, despite what DPC salesmen say. Look to the guttering, roof, drains, external soil levels, blocked air bricks and ventilation.

A terrace of houses near us had all there front foundations washed away due to long-standing mains leak (pre-1900 houses). The first owners knew about it was when window and door lintels bowed. Not one had any signs of internal damp, despite having a body of water a couple of feet below their wooden floors and plastered walls!

I have a builder coming to look at my chimney as I suspect that water is coming down it and has done for years. Could have a swimming pool behind my chimney breast for all I know. I just want to sort it without too much upheavel or money :eek:

KateFitz_2

Thanks for all your advice. As predicted the company is not budging and stating that the guarantee is not valid.