Survey sharing

sickas

Hi, so I recently put an offer in on a house had a building survey done which highlighted some issues. Was trying to get trades people in to give quotes. Long story short I was woken from a nap by a phone call asking if they could share the report from the vendor, stupidly I said yes as I was still half asleep. I rang back within 5 min to say I was not allowed as per the contract (once I woke up) but the estate agent said she'd already sent it. Am I going to get in trouble. Right now I'm panicking. Anyone else done this and had repercussions. I feel sick to my stomach. 

user1977

What "repercussions" do you think there could be? It's up to you whether to let the vendor see your survey. The warning about not sharing it is mainly to make clear to other parties that only you as the client can rely on it.

sickas

Could he sue me? I don't know I just have this horrible feeling that I've done something really wrong. It says I agree to keep it private and not share. I'm unsure what the reasons behind this would be. 

user1977

sickas said:

Could he sue me?

For what? Have you ever heard of somebody been sued for this sort of thing? If it was such a weird and dangerous thing to do, why would your estate agent be suggesting it?

I'm unsure what the reasons behind this would be. 

See above.

sickas

No but then I've never bought a house before. Well I have once but that was from family. I stupidly shared it with the estate agent when trying to get in trades people to price up the issues. The estate agent thought it was weird to when I rang her to withdraw consent. I'm not really sure I even said to her half asleep am I allowed to do this then I said sure why not as I couldn't think of a reason. Then when I woke up fully remembered the small print, rang and went into panic mode. 
I don't know why it would be there maybe they've had trouble, bad reviews ect from people who's houses have had bad reports. 

princeofpounds

The likelihood is that you won't get in trouble. The surveyor is unlikely to find out, but sometimes they do. If they do, they will probably just ask for a fee for duplication of the report - they probably have such a fee in their rate card.

Just for future reference, you don't normally share the entire survey with the vendor's estate agents. You show them the relevant excerpts from the survey. This sort of use is protected under 'fair use' exemptions from copyright.

purplebutterfly

What exactly does your contract state? 

I'm pretty certain that most surveyors will expect the buyer to discuss any important points with their vendor and use the survey as evidence.

This is my contract with my surveyor.  When I spoke to him on the phone to discuss some things, he advised me to pass relevant parts on to my vendor and discuss either negotiation on price or on vendor doing repairs before completion.   He was perfectly happy for me to pass the whole report to the vendor but that wouldn't really be necessary. 

He also told me, in no uncertain terms, that I MUST pass the whole report on to my solicitor. 

"DATA PROTECTION:

The Surveyor will hold personal information in accordance with the Data Protection Act (1998) and this information will not be used for any purpose other than to produce the Home Buyer Survey.

The Report will be provided for the sole and confidential use of the named Client and his/her professional advisers. It must not be made available, copied, sold, or otherwise transferred to third parties without the express written consent of xxxxxxxx (for which consent a fee may be payable) and we will accept no liability to any such party unless such consent has been given. xxxxxxxxx retains the copyright and intellectual property rights to the report and all associated material, including photographs and other images, and reserves the right to publish or otherwise use all this material, or any part thereof, in any printed or electronic format, including web pages and social media, but in so doing we will take all reasonable precautions not to identify the property and/or the named client."

sickas

It states

 The Surveyor will send the Report to the client’s address (or other agreed address) by first class 

post for the sole use of the Client. The Client agrees to keep the Report confidential disclosing its 

contents only to the Client’s professional advisors. In particular (but without limit) the client 

must not disclose the whole or any part of the Report to any person (other than a professional 

advisor) who may intend to rely upon it for the purpose of any transaction. Any other persons 

rely on the Report at their own risk.

user1977

So there you go. They don't want you to disclose it to somebody who would expect to rely on it (e.g. another buyer if you pull out), and the final sentence seems to accept that other people might end up seeing it anyway. Find some other things to worry about, there'll be plenty of them!

sickas

Thank you 🙂 I'm dyslexic so sometimes I don't read thing correctly. Oh believe me there's loads! The report reads to me like it's going to cost thousands and the house is going to fall down. I'm getting trades people in as like I say sometimes I don't get the correct meaning, although a couple of tradesmen from what I read to them over the phone say I'm flogging a dead horse! The house is top of my budget so no extra money for expensive repairs. The roof, repointing and the electricity box worry me the most, the rest I can do over time. I do love the space the house has and haven't seen anything this large in my price range and believe me I've been looking a while.

badger09

Try not to worry. You won't get into any trouble. The surveyor is simply saying, you paid for the report so only you can go back to him if he's made a big mistake. You would be expected to let the EA/vendor know about any major issues, by letting them see extracts, if you're asking for a reduction in the agreed purchase price.

The other thing to remember is that surveyors tend to mention absolutely everything and scare the wits out of people -  especially FTBs. I doubt anyone on here has ever seen a survey which doesn't mention the electricity box! That's because the rules are constantly updated, so unless the house is a new build, or has had a new box fitted in the last couple of years (from memory), the box won't match current standards. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it though.

If you share extracts on here of what is worrying you, more knowledgeable posters will put your mind at rest, or highlight the really important bits.

Good luck