Surveyor missed asbestos in garage

Chisel2014

We recently purchased a house and instructed the surveyor (acting for us and the bank) to carry out a full structural survey. This surveyor failed to pick up that there was a fairly sizeable strip of asbestos insulation board on the garage ceiling. I am very annoyed as this will cost us a good chunk of money to have it replaced and disposed of in an environmentally responsible way, and this is money we could have negotiated off the purchase price. I wish the survey would have made a mention of this board. It is really obvious to anyone, particularly a professional, who steps into the garage so a the survey should have mentioned it. I am also looking at getting an asbestos management survey for the whole house to make sure we are not missing anything else.
Now, the survey does state that they don't test for substances, however my understanding is that they would at least mention asbestos which is visually noticeable with a recommendation to have it properly tested. I am now suspicious that the surveyor didn't inspect the property properly as we have also uncovered other issues (roof etc.). Anyone been in this situation? What's my recourse? I did make a complain to the bank as they arranged for this survey, but am not entirely sure what the best course of action is.

ess0two

Recourse for what?


As long as it remains un-disturbed theres no issue.

bris

There is no obligation for a surveyor to mention asbestos in his report, in fact they may not even be aware it's asbestos as this is a specialist field which requires an asbestos surveyor.

Other materials can also look like asbestos and vice versa so unless it's tested then you don't even know if it is asbestos or not.

dimbo61

So what are you talking about ?
1930/40,s semi with separate garage which may or may not have asbestos in the roof and side panels or asbestos panels as fire protection with integral garage !
We sold an old garage on eBay which had concrete panels and a roof made off concrete roof panels which MIGHT have contained asbestos but it was all in good condition and not flaking.
Why do you need to remove it ?

pinkshoes

A board of asbestos is not really a hazard, and most builders can easily get rid of it, so it won't cost you much.

How come you didn't notice it when viewing? How did it come to light that it is asbestos?

It is also perfectly find just left undisturbed.

davidmcn

Chisel2014 wrote: »

It is really obvious to anyone, particularly a professional, who steps into the garage

Had you not been in the garage before instructing the survey?

JencParker

Chisel2014 wrote: »

We recently purchased a house and instructed the surveyor (acting for us and the bank) to carry out a full structural survey. This surveyor failed to pick up that there was a fairly sizeable strip of asbestos insulation board on the garage ceiling. I am very annoyed as this will cost us a good chunk of money to have it replaced and disposed of in an environmentally responsible way, and this is money we could have negotiated off the purchase price. I wish the survey would have made a mention of this board. It is really obvious to anyone, particularly a professional, who steps into the garage so a the survey should have mentioned it. I am also looking at getting an asbestos management survey for the whole house to make sure we are not missing anything else.
Now, the survey does state that they don't test for substances, however my understanding is that they would at least mention asbestos which is visually noticeable with a recommendation to have it properly tested. I am now suspicious that the surveyor didn't inspect the property properly as we have also uncovered other issues (roof etc.). Anyone been in this situation? What's my recourse? I did make a complain to the bank as they arranged for this survey, but am not entirely sure what the best course of action is.

Correction - this is money you could have 'tried' to negotiate money off the purchase price. There is no reason why the seller has to agree.