Complaining about a surveyor

Swasterix

Good afternoon all!

We completed on our house purchase June 2019, moved in in October. We had a homebuyer report completed by a RICS surveyor. 

Following on from my recent thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76877494#Comment_76877494 (no lintels above windows), I’ve had a couple of builders round to price the job. The last, a bricklayer, has told me that it should have easily been picked up by the surveyor, and that it’s fairly obvious to the trained eye. I don’t have a trained eye, but with hindsight I’d have to agree with him! There was no mention of this within the report, only that the sealant around the windows required attention. Funnily enough, he did pick up that a door on the side of the attached garage would require a lintel, but nothing to do with windows. 

Has anybody successfully (or not) claimed against a surveyor who has missed something? What process did you follow? Did they put up much of a fight? Am I wasting my time?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Swasterix

Photos for context...

You can see the cracking above the kitchen window, and two of the bricks above the bathroom window don’t even have any mortar between them...

Shelldean

Sorry they look just the same as mine and mine definitely have lintels.
As the workmen tried to put an extractor fan best to window and couldn't due to lintel.
It's now about six inches lower than the window.

Can't tell you anything more as our house is rented from HA

Swasterix

Shelldean said:

Sorry they look just the same as mine and mine definitely have lintels.
As the workmen tried to put an extractor fan best to window and couldn't due to lintel.
It's now about six inches lower than the window.

Can't tell you anything more as our house is rented from HA

Thanks for your comment, but there are definitely no lintels. 

daveyjp

A window with a Catnic lintel looks exactly the same as that from outside and you only know if there is a Catnic when you decide to drill into the internal wall.

Homebuyers is a basic survey to pick up on serious defects likely to require attention in the short term, or which affect the value for mortgage purposes. 

Swasterix

daveyjp said:

A window with a Catnic lintel looks exactly the same as that from outside and you only know if there is a Catnic when you decide to drill into the internal wall.

Homebuyers is a basic survey to pick up on serious defects likely to require attention in the short term, or which affect the value for mortgage purposes. 

Ive seen it from the inside, trust me, there is no lintel. I have an extension on the back of the house, and can clearly see the lintel from the outside. 

thearchitect

In 27 years as a qualified architect, I have only ever had one building which did not incorporate lintels (a large, Edwardian hotel) and instead had load-bearing window frames.

Assuming that alternative spanning arrangements had not been originally incorporated then I would expect to see significant cracking if the windows were replaced in the 1990s, as you say in the other thread.  Unfortunately the angles of the above photographs aren't ideal to judge.  If cracking is minor then it might be missed on the basis there was assumed to be a concealed Catnic or similar unit.

Have you had a structural engineer look at it?  I would imagine their input will be essential to both size a new lintel and pursue action against the surveyor.

Swasterix

@thearchitect

Ive included a couple of shots from the inside below. Difficult to get a clear shot, but you can see the brickwork above the frame inside, and also the timber lintel which is supporting the inner blockwork. You can also see that the damp proofing is woefully inadequate and in rather bad shape... a perfect storm...

The two houses next door to me are the same construction. You can see the fresh brickwork where they have had to have lintels installed in the past, presumably when fitting UPVC. Haven’t had a chance to speak with one of the neighbours yet though. Speaking with a couple of window fitters that have been to quote for the job, apparently it was standard with this particular firm who have built the house...

I haven’t yet consulted a structural engineer. Do you think I stand a chance of getting anywhere with the surveyor? Don’t really have the time if I likely won’t get anywhere, so not sure whether to just chalk it down to experience. But given that the window fitters spotted it within seconds of looking outside, it would be a bitter (and probably expensive) pill to take!!!

Appreciate your input!

RedFraggle

I think it'll be cheaper and easier to get an independent local joiner to fix than go down the route of complaint.

thearchitect

RedFraggle said:

I think it'll be cheaper and easier to get an independent local joiner to fix than go down the route of complaint.

It may be cheaper to have a contractor fix any defect, but it should be a builder not a joiner - and will require a structural engineer to determine the size of the lintel. 

Consideration should also be given to whether the internal ("safe") lintels should be renewed, assuming they are indeed timber.  I have only seen timber safe lintels in one modern (late 1960s) cavity construction in my career, which gave the structural engineer an unwelcome surprise and cause for concern insofar as a significant amount of water can run down a cavity in severe weather conditions.  Any bridging could be problematic.

Burns1702

Hi
I have just been in a similar position, something missed on the survey
I spoke to the survey company today and they have advised me to email them the details with pictures and they will pass it to their legal team.
Might not get anywhere but worth a try, they have indemnity insurance to cover this