Surveyor's complaint

libra2222

Hi, I just bought a flat in London and had a full building survey done. It came OK. We noticed the stairs were a bit wobbly but made nothing of it, as it was not in the report.
However, after taking off the carpet to replace it, some steps were coming off the wall. Two carpenters quoted around £2000 to fix the issue.
We contacted the surveyor, and he sent a photo saying that the damage was concealed by the old carpet and he accepted no liability for negligence. Still he offered to come to the flat and inspect it 'for free'. He came and said it could be fixed for about £300+VAT by screwing a piece of wood under the steps, and he suggested his builder could do it. He also offered to pay £140 + VAT towards the costs, even if we selected our own carpenter. The carpenter that gave me a quotation said he will not do that solution because it's not the right way to do things.
I need to move into the property in 2 weeks, and can't afford to wait for complaint procedures.
My question is:If I go with the solution proposed by the surveyor and later it's proven not safe, can I go back to them? How can I make sure the solution is sound and safe? Or should I pay for a better fix and hope I can recover the costs from the surveyor?.
I have asked him for the CHP as requested by RICS, and the Ombudsman that they are registered with.

Boatdweller

Unikely to recover costs from surveyors at there will be so many caveats in the survey to cover them i.e they don't remove carpets/move furniture, but you can try.

G_M

1) you are unlikely to have any success complaining about the originalsurvey. If the problem was hidden neneath a fitted stair carpet, the surveyor could not be expected to see it.

2) the surveyor appears, however, to be being helpful. He's offered either to fix, or to make a payment towrds you fixing. He did not need o do either.

3) There is often more than one way to fix a problem. When you need new brakes on your Audi car: you can pay £300 to the Audi car dealership, to fit Audi brand bakes; or you an pay £100 to a local garage to fit generic brakes.

Both will stop the car.

Your carpenter sounds like a craftsman, who takes pride in his joinery work, and wants to do an "Audi" job. (or if I'm cynical, perhaps just wants a more profitable job....).

The surveyor is trying to save you money by offering a "generic" solution.

But if you are in doubt - get a 3rd or 4th opinion.

Millerdog

Just a thought...was there not an under stairs cupboard or access that the Surveyor could reasonably have used to assess the state of the staircase without lifting the carpet?

Boatdweller

Millerdog wrote: »

Just a thought...was there not an under stairs cupboard or access that the Surveyor could reasonably have used to assess the state of the staircase without lifting the carpet?

Surveyor would not remove any items that may be stored in an understairs cupboard to inspect.

libra2222

Thank you for your response.
There is no cupboard to access the stairs from underneath. The flat below the stairs has a small cupboard, but the main part of the stairs is blocked by a wall (nobody knows why)

libra2222

1) you are unlikely to have any success complaining about the originalsurvey. If the problem was hidden neneath a fitted stair carpet, the surveyor could not be expected to see it.
....
My objection to him is that some of the steps felt loose under the feet, but he just responded that in a Victorian house, most stairs are a bit loose.... so just because of that, he did not bother to check what made the steps loose???? If you looked properly you could see that the carpet was separated from the wall, but as I have removed the carpet, all I have is an old photo from which the separation can be interpreted as a 'dust line' as the surveyor said.


2) the surveyor appears, however, to be being helpful. He's offered either to fix, or to make a payment towrds you fixing. He did not need o do either.
... that is true. Not sure what to think, is he being helpful or just covering so he doesn't get a bigger complaint?. That's the hard question, when someone offers you a settlement, are they being sincere or just trying to cover themselves from a bigger damage?

3) There is often more than one way to fix a problem. When you need new brakes on your Audi car: you can pay £300 to the Audi car dealership, to fit Audi brand bakes; or you an pay £100 to a local garage to fit generic brakes.
... that is true :-). I just would like to know how safe is the 'generic' option and how long it will last. I had another carpenter come before and he did not give me a number, but he said it was not going to be in the hundreds, but rather in the thousands. That's what makes me doubt about the solution proposed by the surveyor....