Surveyor Negligence ~ Level 2 Survey (when it goes wrong)

Alias_Omega

**Update 14th Dec 22 ~ Surveyor has offered £15,000 via bank transfer to settle, without prejudice or liability**

Room ~ Dining Room

Just in front of a window, litterly as you stand looking out of the window, there is a hump in the carpet. 

Surveyor didn't notice anything. Room was empty, carpet and underlay was fitted to room; however they pulled back the carpet to tell us that it has potential asbestos tiles. 

We purchased the house, moved in, pulled the carpet full back (like an extra metre), concrete floor is cracked. Possible heave. 

Nightmare... Always go "full structure"

Surveyor is coming back, possible negligence as they should have spotted this when looking out of the bay window. 


Previous owners deny knowing it, however one tile is missing. It would be nice to know if this is 2 months or 20 years old..!

canaldumidi

I'm no expert but... a crack in the floor? And we're talking 'nightmare'? And 'potential negligence'?

Take a deep breath and calm down.

If you are really worried, pay a structural engineer to look at your crack.

Alias_Omega

canaldumidi said:

I'm no expert but... a crack in the floor? And we're talking 'nightmare'? And 'potential negligence'?

Take a deep breath and calm down.

If you are really worried, pay a structural engineer to look at your crack.

Yes, because. 

1. It's an potentially asbestos tiles 

2. With potentially asbestos tar used to stick said tiles down. 

Then, we get to work on the floor.

If it's nothing, it's a case of concrete grinding to remove the raised area, fill with self levelling and monitor. 

If it's heave, it's through the insurance, but then have to declare it forever, then risk putting future buyers off 🙄. 

Good case ~

Not asbestos nor heave. Just monitor it and fix in the future. 

Bad case ~ 

Asbestos and heave. Through the insurance and probably moving out for 3 months. 

Noneforit999

Concrete floors do crack, it does happen.  You just need to wait until you find out what it is. 

The pictures don't really show how obvious a 'hump' would have been for the surveyor to see. 

You have to be realistic with a survey, they are not going to spot everything. Its hardly like they can rip the whole vendors house apart before you have bought it. 

Alias_Omega

An update...

• The surveyor came back out to the property, they inspected it and have instructed further work (at there cost).
• They could not work out why there was a hump or a crack in the floor.
• I've had the drains surveyed, there is no correlation between the drains & the crack.
• There are no trees nearby.

Next week, a contractor is attending to "core drill" the floor to work out what is going on ~ at surveyors cost.

FreeBear

Could be sulphate attack depending on area & age of the property rather than heave - You wouldn't have to declare it to the insurers as it isn't subsidence/heave. It also gives you opportunity to put loads of insulation under the floor.

Alias_Omega

FreeBear said:

Could be sulphate attack depending on area & age of the property rather than heave - You wouldn't have to declare it to the insurers as it isn't subsidence/heave. It also gives you opportunity to put loads of insulation under the floor.

I am actually unsure where the Surveyors are actually going with this, it does read as "Sulphate" attack, but i don't live in a coal mining area. I suspect i am not the first to come across the problem, and now that we are getting towards the end, we can decide if to remove it completely, or just grind the "done" down, and fill the cracks and concentrate on other things in property which are of a higher need.

FreeBear

Alias_Omega said:

FreeBear said:

Could be sulphate attack depending on area & age of the property rather than heave - You wouldn't have to declare it to the insurers as it isn't subsidence/heave. It also gives you opportunity to put loads of insulation under the floor.

I am actually unsure where the Surveyors are actually going with this, it does read as "Sulphate" attack, but i don't live in a coal mining area.

Geographical area is not hard & fast for sulphate attack - If the builders had used any old rubble that had gypsum plaster mixed in, that could result in the attack.

Alias_Omega

Yeah, makes sense. I do wonder if the dining room (the affected room) had a wooden floor, and during the building work they filled it in with brickwork during the extension.

Alias_Omega

Update 40192, they broke the floor up, the concrete is quite "thin" and the sub-surface is damp. It had random bits of brick in it or so, plus what appeared to be sand. Looks like sulphate attack and the concrete was not thick enough to hold it back.

Alias_Omega

So, we are back...

They have offered £3500, I have asked them to repair the floor (via own contractors). Likely, break floor up, dig down, new insulation, DPM, concrete...

What do you think? 

Conclusion 

In summary, it is accepted that the RICS Home Survey & Valuation Level 2 Report is silent on the possibility of sulphate attack to the solid concrete floor of the dining room, and it’s considered best practice for the surveyor to have recommended further specialist investigation of unevenness to the concrete floor prior to you entering into a legal commitment to purchase (address removed) which it’s acknowledged the surveyor did not reference.               

The recognised measure of damages in proven cases of surveyor negligence is the diminution in value of the property at the material date i.e., 13 January 2022. There is no independent evidence provided which demonstrates that diminution in value has occurred in this instance as only the dining room floor is affected. However, it is recognised that the quality of reporting on the uneven condition of the solid concrete floor to the dining room of the bungalow is deficient, for which I would like to convey sincere apologies to you. 

Notwithstanding the aforementioned, I am authorised on behalf of XYZ Company Limited to offer you a full and final payment of £3,500 (Three thousand five hundred pounds) in settlement of your whole claim, which is made without prejudice to liability and is subject to contract.