Surveyor or Structural Engineer for Building Survey?

marmitemum

What difference is there, if any, between using a surveyor or a structural engineer for a Building Survey on a property?

G_M

Think GP Vs hospital consultant.


Surveyor is the GP. A SE will only look specifically at structural issues eg if the surveyor has spotted a crack that he thinks might be subsidence but needs more investigation.

marmitemum

Thank you. The situation is that, re the house that my daughter wants to buy, it has come to light that the house was underpinned 27 years ago, with no paperwork to detail what was done. Anecdotal evidence from a neighbour is that there was leakage from a water supply pipe which caused instability to the front wall, which was totally rebuilt. She was going to get a full Building Survey anyway, as the house is 1920s, but we are now wondering who would be best to do that.

todayisagreatday

Look for someone who is RICS but specifically ask them to focus on the area's you want them to.

We.wemt for the most basic mortgage valuation but then used this website to help find a RICS surveyor who could provide details https://www.ricsfirms.com

kingstreet

Straight to structural engineer for me.

Likely to be cheaper and if the RICS surveyor requests a structural engineer's report anyway, you'd pay twice.

Tom99

A RICS building surveyor will cover much more than a structural engineer will do so if your only survey is one by a structural engineer you will be missing out on a lot of items normally covered in a survey.

marmitemum

What would a surveyor cover that a structural engineer would not?

westernpromise

A surveyor will tell you that there might be damp, the roof might be a bit dodgy, there might be subsidence, that they couldn't explore the loft because it had stuff in it and most important of all that you're overpaying for the house.

In fact many surveyors have these caveats printed onto their office stationery. They just type the rest of the stuff - their carefully considered views on the property's address, for example, and the date they walked around it - into the white space that remains.

They then print it off, put it in an envelope and post it to you along with a disclaimer and a bill for £600.

Tom99

marmitemum wrote: »

What would a surveyor cover that a structural engineer would not?

Google "Homebuyer survey sample" and have a look at what is covered, the building survey will cover the same areas but in a bit more detail.

marmitemum

I know what is covered by a Building Survey done by a surveyor - what I am asking is what a survey done by a structural engineer won’t cover.

G_M

https://www.istructe.org/about-us