Roof structural survey- missed leak

Missbrookes

Hi all,

We had a structural survey for our roof done when our home buyer survey recommended it.
They have missed a leak due to the felt going and other issues. In response to our complaint the structural surveyors have stated that they would never enter the roof space due to risk of harm to themselves and they have gone off very limited photos taken by themselves from the loft hatch alone.

Now the wet period has come we have a leak into our main bedroom which is damaging the ceiling plaster and we have had no choice but to have this repaired at our own cost, we have a baby coming in the next two weeks and are worried the celling may come in.

The surveyors don't believe we have any damage and they have said they would need an independent expert to assess the damage. We have many photos showing the extremity of the damage.

Is it normal for a structural surveyor to not enter the roof at all.
They have offered us £200 as a good will gesture and our original £242 for the survey back.

The damage has cost is £650 to fix plus their 242 to provide a structural survey report with very little structural detail at all.

Any advice greatly appreciated

Cheers

Missbrookes

G_M

1) who did this structural survey, and what was their remit? A surveyor? A structural engineer? A roofing specialist?
If their remit was specifically, and only, to report on the roof, then clearly "would never enter the roof space due to risk of harm to themselves" seems absurd.

2) What was wrong with the roof? What repairs were required? Have the repairs completely fixed the problem, or is it a temporary solution?

3) their offer suggests to me they feel liable and wat to pay you off. That being so, you could negotiate further ie reject the offer and suggest they pay the £650 & £242 in full.

4) If you were to take this to the next level either
* a formal complaint to their professional body (RICS? ISE? FMR?), or
* the courts,

then you'll need to pay for an independant professional to write a report. But this might be diluted by the fact the repairs have been completed, so an inspection now won't show the condition as it was.

Missbrookes

Thank you for the reply.
It was an RICS registered roofing surveyor to provide a comprehensiveness roofing structural survey. Hence why I'm so shocked at the sudden claim that they shouldn't enter the roof space. I will call the RICS to see what assistance they can provide.

The damage was a failure of the membrane and the felt. Which meant the rain was coming in in between the Tiles. The verging/ valleys had also crumbled away, we've realised this is visible on the photos on our house sale documents. This was allowing water to build up as it wasn't being carried away as it should. It's been fully repaired now, it will take a while to dry out as the wood is all soaked as well as the Roof insulation.

We took a lot of photos but had no choice but to continue with repairs.

Missbrookes

anselld

Missbrookes wrote: »

The damage was a failure of the membrane and the felt. Which meant the rain was coming in in between the Tiles.

Whilst I am not defending a shoddy survey, your explanation doesn't make sense. It is not the primary purpose of the membrane to exclude water in a pitched roof construction. Indeed there are plenty of pitched roofs constructed without any membrane which are perfectly watertight. The root cause must have been missing, broken or dislodged tiles or a fault with flashing, valleys, etc.

G_M

anselld wrote: »

Whilst I am not defending a shoddy survey, your explanation doesn't make sense. It is not the primary purpose of the membrane to exclude water in a pitched roof construction. Indeed there are plenty of pitched roofs constructed without any membrane which are perfectly watertight. The root cause must have been missing, broken or dislodged tiles or a fault with flashing, valleys, etc.

I agree with this, though OP does go on:

The verging/ valleys had also crumbled away,

The amount of water ingress from damaged felt alone would be intermitant and minimal.

teneighty

Just to add there is no such thing as an "RICS registered roofing surveyor"

It is reasonable for a surveyor not to enter the roof space if it is unsafe to do so but they must make this clear in their report.

What was the brief for the "structural survey"? Strictly speaking a structural survey only looks at the structural elements, so the roof timbers and any supporting walls etc. not the roof covering.

However, if it was a full building survey the important fact is......could the defect have been identifiable to any competent surveyor at the time of the inspection? If it wasn't raining at the time of the inspection and the roofing defect wasn't visible and no associated damage was visible then probably no grounds to complain. If the roof defect should have been visible and/or evidence of damp stained timbers in the roof or staining to ceilings etc. (and no mention of no access to roof space in report) then go through the formal complaints procedure.

kinger101

teneighty wrote: »

Just to add there is no such thing as an "RICS registered roofing surveyor"

It is reasonable for a surveyor not to enter the roof space if it is unsafe to do so but they must make this clear in their report.

What was the brief for the "structural survey"? Strictly speaking a structural survey only looks at the structural elements, so the roof timbers and any supporting walls etc. not the roof covering.

However, if it was a full building survey the important fact is......could the defect have been identifiable to any competent surveyor at the time of the inspection? If it wasn't raining at the time of the inspection and the roofing defect wasn't visible and no associated damage was visible then probably no grounds to complain. If the roof defect should have been visible and/or evidence of damp stained timbers in the roof or staining to ceilings etc. (and no mention of no access to roof space in report) then go through the formal complaints procedure.

This is a difficult one. It appears from the OP's post that the survey was commissioned specifically for the roof (you don't get a full building survey for £242). The offer of a refund might indicate that the surveyor isn't entirely satisfied they have no liability, but without an independent report establishing they have been negligent, this isn't clear.

I'd be doing as GM suggested and aiming for full recovery of the repair costs too.

davidmcn

teneighty wrote: »

What was the brief for the "structural survey"? Strictly speaking a structural survey only looks at the structural elements, so the roof timbers and any supporting walls etc. not the roof covering.

Yes, I was wondering this too - and also what the Homebuyers Report said about the roof, because I'd have expected that surveyor to have inspected and commented on any apparent leaks.

Missbrookes

Thank you all further.

This was my instruction below and response below for the survey, it starts with the latest email and then goes back to the booking with the company.
I wasn't able to send across a hard copy of my home buyers survey before the surveyor viewed the property, however I instructed the roof surveyor based on their concerns. They gave me feedback over the phone due delays in getting their paper copy competed.

"
Hi

Yes this is a roof survey and will detail any necessary works. If you could let me have a copy of the relevant part of the homebuyers survey that would be very useful for the surveyor.

Regards


Sent:

Hi

I need to check that this is a detailed roofing survey as we have already paid for a homebuyers survey.

I am right that this will provide us with more detail regarding the roof? whether it will definitively require more work?




Date:
Dear Miss. Brooke

As discussed, Xxxx have accepted your instruction to carry out an RICS Building / Structural Survey of the above property for the sum of £242.00 inc. VAT.

The inspection has been arranged with the estate agent for Xxxx. Please forward any details of the issues so that the surveyor can have a look prior to his inspection."

The instruction was solely for the roof. It's only a 35 year old property. Had I realised the brief report would only be taken from the ladder I wouldn't have paid £242 for it. I went with this company and paid quite a lot - (in my view) for reassurance.

Thank you all for your advice. Based on your advice I will continue with my complaint and see how far I get. I have emailed some other companies too to ask how they would survey a roof. If it's normal to pay such a large amount of money and never move past the loft hatch then I will accept their offer.

I really appreciate the feedback and everyone taking to time to read this post.

Missbrookes

JoeCrystal

A friendly word of advice, you shouldn't name companies or use your personal details in public forums. Just leave them and the dates and so on blank.

Missbrookes

Apologies. I have edited post