Unresponsive surveyor - advice needed

insomniac_ut

Hello,

We live in a property that's divided into two units - we are upstairs and the downstairs unit was recently sold. The buyers downstairs signed a party wall agreement before they started renovating their unit. They've done some structural work, which has resulted in wall cracks in our flat.

The surveyor visited once prior to the work starting and once after the structural work was completed. His assessment was that the damage was simply plaster and the walls are intact.

However, I think the cracking has become worse (one door frame appears cracked now). I tried contacting both the buyer and the surveyor without any luck (the people working in the flat don't seem to know much).

Any suggestions on what I can do? Also, am I within my rights to ask the surveyor to give an assurance of structural integrity in writing prior to any repair work being carried out upstairs?

Thank you.

ognum

Did the surveyor provide you with documented evidence of the state of your flat prior to the works or did you document this?

Write to the surveyor express your concerns quote the party wall agreement you have.

insomniac_ut

Thanks for the reply. Yes, he did. I have a DVD with photographs before and after and all the documentation related to the party wall agreement. I have sent 3-4 emails, left 3-4 voicemails and a number of missed calls without any luck.

G_M

Are you using your own surveyor (at the other flat's cost) or did you agree to 'share' their surveyor?

If the latter there is of course a minor risk of conflict of interest, though the surveyor's professional code should make him him entirely objective.

You and your neighbour should not choose the person you have engaged to
supervise the building works to be the "Agreed Surveyor". It is difficult to be the
person responsible for ensuring the completion of the work at the same time as
giving full regard to the rights of the neighbours. Your neighbour may also be less
inclined to agree to jointly appoint a person to resolve a dispute if that person is
already engaged by you in another capacity.

See here



Either way, he has a duty to you, and should respond.

When you say the surveyor has not resposnded, what do you mean? You left him a vague phone message and he didn't ring back?

Or you wrote him a letter requesting him to re-inspect? How long ago?

Ultimately, assuming he is an RICS surveyor, follow the complaints process here.

insomniac_ut

The surveyor was appointed by the buyer at their cost. I was given the option of substituting the surveyor, but chose not to exercise my right.

I did send a detailed email with pictures of the new cracks, requesting a re-appraisal. I then followed up with a 2nd and 3rd email and numerous phone calls over the course of two weeks.

I don't need him to attend right away, but I'd have thought that at minimum I could get a response saying he's unavailable, travelling, unable to attend for a few weeks, etc. Rather, the phone rings endlessly and goes to voicemail.

I'm not keen on filing a complaint just yet though.

G_M

Follow up with a letter "further to my various emails and phone calls (xx/xx/15, xx/xx/15 etc), I am writing to advise you that...... and to request that you.....

Yours sincerely