Building survey missed elements/too brief?

Mareland6

Hi

We have just had a building survey completed and have been provided with a four page report on structural movement.

I raised some concerns that there seemed to be things missing and that I expected it to be longer. This was his response:

'Thank you for your e-mail regarding your report. Our reports are based on what elements are visible or accessible at the time of our inspection. This means we do not carry out intrusive investigation or start removing sections of plaster to examine steelwork etc.

Our reports are concise and cover all areas where defects have been found or are evident. We do not cover things like damp, timber rot, asbestos etc., which is how we are able to offer such a competitive price. The reports are accepted by financial institutions in nearly all cases. If there are further items that need further inspection or monitoring we note that in the reports.'

Should we be concerned that they didn't even consider things like damp etc? I would have thought they'd have to tell us this before doing the survey. Does this seem normal? As a FTB I don't have anything to compare this to.

Thanks!

davidmcn

What did you instruct them to do?

G_M

How much did you pay?


Did you speak to the surveyor beforehand and discuss what you wanted, what he would do, and what he would not do?

Mareland6

A general structural survey.

Mareland6

We paid £300.

waamo

Things like damp and timber generally need specialists in their own right. Your surveyor should pick up if there are problems with damp but not the extent of the problem.

It sounds like you instructed they do a structural survey and that's what they did.

Edit to say just saw you paid £300. That is cheap. You aren't going to get a lot for that.

Mareland6

waamo wrote: »

Things like damp and timber generally need specialists in their own right. Your surveyor should pick up if there are problems with damp but not the extent of the problem.

It sounds like you instructed they do a structural survey and that's what they did.

Edit to say just saw you paid £300. That is cheap. You aren't going to get a lot for that.

So you say they should pick up issues with things like damp, but then go on to say they did a structural survey? Even when they have explicitly told me the report doesn't cover it?

So presumably surveys work on a 'you get what you pay for' basis. Which considering the amount of research I did into building surveys, which all listed elements that would be looked at, I should have assumed they wouldn't check everything? I just don't see how four pages (in a pretty big font) is a 'comprehensive report'. Should they not report on the condition of the walls? The roof? The cellar? The loft conversion? Or do they usually just list the materials?

G_M

I'm amazed you got a structural survey for £300.

Prices for a basic Homebuyers survey go from £300 - £700. An RICS structural survey, being more in-depth, costs more.

Was this an RICS surveyor?

I can only guess this was a cheap online outfit who used their own definition of 'structural survey' rather than the RICS definition.

In which case, what was the definition given in their marketing? Did you ask for and/or receive a sample report before you instructed them?

You get what you pay for!

davidmcn

Mareland6 wrote: »

So you say they should pick up issues with things like damp, but then go on to say they did a structural survey? Even when they have explicitly told me the report doesn't cover it?

So presumably surveys work on a 'you get what you pay for' basis. Which considering the amount of research I did into building surveys, which all listed elements that would be looked at, I should have assumed they wouldn't check everything? I just don't see how four pages (in a pretty big font) is a 'comprehensive report'. Should they not report on the condition of the walls? The roof? The cellar? The loft conversion? Or do they usually just list the materials?

I don't know whether "a general structural survey" was literally the extent of what you asked them to do, but I can see why that may be interpreted as looking solely at the structural integrity of the building, rather than non-structural elements. Though that ought to include e.g. commenting on whether the loft conversion is structurally sound.

Mareland6

According to Google, they can carry out a general structural survey or a specific one for specific issues.

Given our lender spotted the structural movement and may decline the mortgage pending the survey results, we were concerned about the cost and didn't want to pay £700 for our mortgage to be declined.

I thought that they were required to cover certain things. Not that they could pick and choose what they wanted to do. They offered prices for a general survey and a specific survey. We chose general.

G_M

Mareland6 wrote: »

According to Google, ............

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:




Well if you feel you did not get what you paid for, sue Google.....