Homebuyers report through, advice re: electrics?

lessonlearned

AdrianC wrote: »

And what's the easiest, most foolproof way to identify which is which...?

There is none.

Your best hope is a healthy dose of scepticism until proved otherwise.:D

Building_Surveyor

lessonlearned wrote: »

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Half the time the surveyor's report is worthless.

They will not lift carpets, move furniture, will only inspect the roof from the ground using binoculars, the damp meters are a total waste of space, they rarely bother themselves to go into the roof void to inspect timbers, they are not able to check gas and electrical installations and so on and so forth.

What you get is a bland catch all "report" which is useless.

It's time the system was much clearer and fairer - for both vendors and purchasers.

It requires government legislation that has some teeth.

At the moment it has to be a case of Caveat Emptor, therefore a sensible purchaser will double check everything.

Either that or risk being faced with redial work running into £££££'s.

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I'd be more then happy to lift carpets and move furniture and the rest your on about if you want to pay at least 2k for a survey... More than happy! You fail to realise the time it would take to do all this. Your talking a whole day if not more to inspect one small house.. Add to that the time it's going to take for the survey to be written up... So factor in an additional x amount of weeks

Iid rather live in the real world. Independent in depth surveys cost money.

lessonlearned

Building_Surveyor wrote: »

I'd be more then happy to lift carpets and move furniture and the rest your on about if you want to pay at least 2k for a survey... More than happy! You fail to realise the time it would take to do all this. Your talking a whole day if not more to inspect one small house.. Add to that the time it's going to take for the survey to be written up... So factor in an additional x amount of weeks

Iid rather live in the real world. Independent in depth surveys cost money.

I was not criticising surveyors per se but a system which places the onus entirely on the purchaser to determine whether or not all is well with the property whilst the vendor has no responsibility whatsoever. This strikes me as a tad unreasonable.

Most vendors would throw a hissy fit if you asked if you could lift their carpets so you could inspect the floors:rotfl: I don't see a way round this one, the vendor quite rightly does not want their carpets damaged so no I don't have answers to that one.

Apart from gently jumping where you think the joists might be to check for sponginess there's not much else you can do. Some vendors will of course object to even this.

And whilst no-one expects a surveyor to climb on to the roof, it is, however, surely not unreasonable to ask them to pop into the roof void to check the roof timbers - assuming of course that they could get loft access.

An extra 10 minutes to inspect the loft?. That shouldn't push the fees to £2K.

As for electrics and gas - of course surveyors should not report on their condition. Surveyors have their own area of expertise but they are not usually fully trained and licensed gas engineers or electricians. So no I would not expect them to report on gas or electrical installations, it would be beyond their remit.

Of course surveys have their value - they can highlight areas of concern and point the purchaser in the right direction as to what further investigations are required.

However, surveys are becoming increasingly more vague - there is a lot of fudging and hedging of bets going on. I've seen surveys where just about any little issue is met with advice to obtain a "specialist report".

Some surveyors are very good indeed, they will phone you before they visit the property to discuss matters with you and ask if you have any areas of particular concern. They will then phone you before they write up the report to discuss their findings. Some can't be bothered…..

These phone conversations are often of more value than the actual written report. The surveyor can talk "of the record" and give impartial advice.

When someone pays £600 to £800 for "best advice" then that is what they should receive. Unfortunately not all surveys deliver.

AdrianC

lessonlearned wrote: »

An extra 10 minutes to inspect the loft?

Ten minutes, yes. IF the loft is empty, clear, and fully accessible. And how many are?

Ten minutes may well get you no further than the very edge of the loft hatch.

lessonlearned

AdrianC wrote: »

Ten minutes, yes. IF the loft is empty, clear, and fully accessible. And how many are?

Ten minutes may well get you no further than the very edge of the loft hatch.

Point taken - make that 30 mins;).

10 minutes was ample for my loft. Spring loaded ladder, light, loft boarded out, neatly labelled stacked boxes nicely laid in rows with access between the rows . It might have been packed to the gunnels with treasures but access couldn't have been easier.

Of course yours will be the same.;)

Adrian you seem to take great delight in nitpicking over my posts.

The OP asked for some advice over the survey results.

I answered to help the OP on how to decipher a report and clarify some of the findings.

I spent over 30 years working in the housing industry in one capacity or another. I have dealt with hundreds if not thousands of of transactions. I have worked alongside scores of surveyors, building inspectors, all the various trades.

I have years of experience under my belt and can speak with some degree of authority on survey findings.

I know my stuff. I'm not talking out of the back of my neck…..

I answered the OP in a spirit of goodwill. Isn't that supposed to be the the ethos of MSE.

All you seem to want to do is nitpick and point score. It's childish, tedious and boring.

I have in the past posted a few times when people have asked for advice.

I don't think I'll bother again….