26 y/o house - what survey??

Jackdaw75

The house is detached and was built 1996. It's since had a kitchen extension put on plus part of the garage has had a stud wall added.

My last house purchase involved a full
structural survey as was 1930's.

Wanted to know people's thoughts on instead of a structural survey, getting trades people in to check stuff. So an electrician,  plumber, builder, roofer, gas safe engineer and also getting a drains survey.

Not sure what's best as the surveyors always pass the buck anyway saying get so and so to check.

teachfast

Difference is you have comeback on a surveyor if they miss something costly. 

princeofpounds

For most properties, a homebuyer's survey is good enough. It should identify any major defects to the property that could affect its value (* that a surveyor actually covers). 

The biggest difference between a full building survey and a homebuyer's survey is actually the report rather than the visual inspection which is similar in both cases, although more in-depth for the former as they are trying to divine detailed information rather than just spot problems. The former will be in prose form and contain lots of information about how the structure is actually built, advice on maintenance etc. The latter is essentially based on a checklist of comments, but if you've got a problem, it will highlight it.

More explanation here:
https://www.rics.org/uk/upholding-professional-standards/sector-standards/building-surveying/home-surveys/

I think there is some value in getting trades to check certain things with the money 'saved'. But not all of those you list, that would be overkill in most instances; a roofer or a builder would just be largely duplicating a surveyor's visual inspection (not denying that experienced builders can pick up all sorts). Try things out on your second viewing - hot water, central heating, flow down plug holes, lights etc. If you get any bad vibes then yes, get them checked.