Surveyors Report - Many errors

elsien

Surely some of them should have been blindingly obvious to you from your own viewings?
You would have seen, for example, that the windows are wood and not UPVC. 

Ditto the chimney stack covers. You would have seen the wardrobes in the master bedroom. You would have seen the escape window in the loft. 

Did you not go back to the surveyor at that point to ask what on earth they were talking about, before pulling out of the sale? 

greatcrested

The early comments certainly suggest a difference of opinion between the surveyor and the vendor. But before complaining, you need to check for yourself. You'll look foolish if the vendor is mistaken or misleading you....

Later comments ( the condition rating 3s) on water, heating etc are normal - surveyors always put this since they are not qualified to comment on specialist areas so recommend (rating 3) professional inspections.

I'm surprised your electrical inspection shows compliance if the Wylex unit that has fuse wire holders not mcb’s.

But overall, irrespective of the contested accuracy of the report, there's nothing there serious enough to warrant pulling out of the purchase.

Thrugelmir

The surveyor is simply in part making observations. Did you visit the property again yourselves. 

The conservatory doesn't sound well built. 

Engineered redwood is a composite material. 

AdrianC

The surveyors comments in ordinary font , the vendors comments in bold italics : - 

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1/ E1 The chimney stacks have delaminating brickwork and loose pointing. Also noted that it is advisable to cap and ventilate any pots that serve redundant flues.

The chimney was rebuilt  two years ago and has no issues with the pointing or bricks delaminating. Additionally there are already capped pots in situ and bird guards fitted on the working flues. The surveyor must have assessed the incorrect chimney .

A quick glance from ground level will confirm which of these is correct.

2/E5 The windows re of uPVC construction, with some timber frames

All of the windows are of Hardwood or engineered redwood . The surveyor then explains what can go wrong with UPVC windows , of which there are none.

3/E5 There is no proper fire escape from the windows to the upper floor . We recommend that you replace some of the windows. 

The property has a velux escape window fitted in the upper floor that allows for egress in the event of a fire. This was a requirement of the building regulations at the time when the loft conversion was done

4/ E6 The front door is of composite construction and the French doors leading off the dining room are of wood effect construction

 All of the doors are of engineered redwood

5/E7 The conservatory is built to a very basic standard . Demolition and reconstruction if required is the most realistic option.

The conservatory was built according to building regs requirements and is of sound construction with only periodical repainting of the hardwood required.Demolition and rebuilding would be a non sensical proposal.

It was built pre FENSA requirements so could not comply with this. All glazing is BSI approved tempered safety glass commonly in use when the conservatory was built.The roof is twin wall polycarbonate sheet.

6/F6 There are no built in cupboards or wardrobes

The house has understair cupboard storage, a walk in wardrobe in Bedroom 2 and built in wardrobes in the master bedroom

7/F9 We recommend that mains powered smoke alarms  and carbon monoxide detectors are now fitted as there are none currently installed.

The house has three mains powered , interlinked smoke alarms , one on each floor, fitted as part of the building regs requirement for the loft conversion. There is also a CO detector on the back of the boiler cupboard door that was visible when the property was inspected.

You surely remember from your viewings whether the surveyors comments are accurate here, right?

8/G1 The electrical installation does not not now comply with modern regulations and requires upgrading.

The property had a new electrical safety certificate completed one week before the surveyors visit, clearly showing compliance with the electrical safety requirements. We offered to show this to the surveyor who declined as he said we could have done modifications in the week since it was issued.-Really?? The consumer unit is a Wylex unit that has fuse wire holders not mcb’s . Perfectly acceptable in an installation , but not fitted to new installations anymore

If it's a rewirable-fuse CU, it must be utterly ancient - and it would certainly have been flagged on the EICR.

9/G1 The provision of sockets appears inadequate by modern standards.

The house has more sockets in each room than the new build that we are buying, 47 sockets in total, all tested and complying with electrical safety test requirements

I refuse to believe you walked away from the property because somebody said there weren't enough sockets.

10/G2 Gas/oil -Condition rating 3

We have an annual boiler inspection . No request was made to see evidence of this

11/G3 Water . Condition rating 3

Nothing in the report to confirm why this rating has been assessed, only supposition

12/G4 Heating - cannot confirm the system meets the current standards.

We have an annual boiler inspection . No request was made to see evidence of this or to test the system. Central heating system works perfectly

13/Water heating.Condition rating 3

We have an annual boiler inspection . No request was made to see evidence of this or to test the system.Hot water system works perfectly

All perfectly standard survey boilerplate - the surveyor isn't a gas engineer, plumber or electrician. He doesn't test them. If you want them tested, don't take the vendor's word - commission a test.

14/H3 The rear slopes towards the property and there is a risk of surface water ponding.Drainage should be improved 

There is no evidence of this , and it is not a problem in reality, having lived in the property for 32 years , this has never happened. Supposition by the surveyor based on no material facts or evidence to support

There's no evidence it slopes towards the property...?

So, should I have pulled out from the purchase? Based on the surveyors report , yes, too many concerns/negatives. But having first hand seen the reply from the vendor and having had chance to review again in person , perhaps not.

I really can't see what in that list would make you pull out. Unless you hadn't even bothered viewing the property...?

NeilC1965

davidmcn said:

Have you checked the veracity of all of those rebuttals from the vendor?

Also, bear in mind that it's perfectly normal for surveys to recommend you get specialists in to check services, on the basis they're not gas etc experts - they will recommend you consider installations to be suspect until you've done that.

But even if everything there is true, I wouldn't say there's anything which looks all that significant a problem or would make me pull out. The whole point of a survey is to point out all the defects, not to tell you it's a lovely house.

I visited the property again. The vendor took me through all of the errors. They were all incorrect , and very easy to see for a non expert.

elsien

You don’t need to be an expert to spot a wardrobe. Or wooden vs plastic windows. 

davidmcn

NeilC1965 said:

davidmcn said:

Have you checked the veracity of all of those rebuttals from the vendor?

Also, bear in mind that it's perfectly normal for surveys to recommend you get specialists in to check services, on the basis they're not gas etc experts - they will recommend you consider installations to be suspect until you've done that.

But even if everything there is true, I wouldn't say there's anything which looks all that significant a problem or would make me pull out. The whole point of a survey is to point out all the defects, not to tell you it's a lovely house.

I visited the property again. The vendor took me through all of the errors. They were all incorrect , and very easy to see for a non expert.

As explained above, no they're not all incorrect, as some are standard and expected comments. And even if they weren't incorrect, I'm not sure which of them would have made you pull out, nothing looks that dramatic.

greatcrested

NeilC1965 said:

davidmcn said:

Have you checked the veracity of all of those rebuttals from the vendor?

Also, bear in mind that it's perfectly normal for surveys to recommend you get specialists in to check services, on the basis they're not gas etc experts - they will recommend you consider installations to be suspect until you've done that.

But even if everything there is true, I wouldn't say there's anything which looks all that significant a problem or would make me pull out. The whole point of a survey is to point out all the defects, not to tell you it's a lovely house.

I visited the property again. The vendor took me through all of the errors. They were all incorrect , and very easy to see for a non expert.

And yet you are not buying this property. Why not?

But if all you are concerned about is the survey cost, speak and/or write to the surveyor. He'll either accept he made mistakes/wrong assumptions, and offer a full or partial refund (probably as goodwill gesture with no acknowledgement of error), or he won't, in which case you can consider the next step.

Chandler85

You spent £850 on a survey, presumably because you don't know enough about property so wanted a 2nd professional opinion.

The problem is half the 3s are because he can't/ won't comment so they give it a 3.  It's pathetic, but that's surveys for you.

The others, you pulled out without any further understanding it seems.

The surveyor has made some mistakes with uncapped chimneys etc, but the rest of it is surely what you expect.  Maybe a new home would be more suitable what you need, so that a survey wouldn't come back as scary.

AdrianC

NeilC1965 said:
They were all incorrect , and very easy to see for a non expert.

When you originally viewed the property, did you not notice things like the presence or absence of smoke alarms or wardrobes?
Did you not notice the doors or windows or conservatory at all?
Did you not notice that the consumer unit was an ancient rewireable-fuse one, not a breaker one like every one that's been fitted in the last forty years or so?
Did you not notice whether the ground slopes towards the house, away from it, or is flat?

If not, what DID you look at before placing your offer?

Am I the only person who takes literally dozens of photos on a second viewing of a place I'm very interested in offering on...?