Survey missed stuff

[Deleted User]

I recently purchased a home. Prior to this I had a survey done, the more extensive survey. Unfortunately several things were missed. The report claimed there was no extractor fan, but there was and its broken. The report claimed the power shower was functioning, but after 30 seconds it packs up. On one of the main walls part of the skirting and wall is coming inwards. Is there anything I can do about this or is it a no liability thing? Thank you

Robin9

Are you a first time buyer ?  


Of those 3  - only the wall/skirting is (possibly) significant .   Would the surveyor be able to see it  or was there furniture hiding it.

The Power Shower  - what would you have him/her do ? He/she may well have turned it on but not run for several minutes.

The extractor a minor human error

user1977

Robin9 said:

The extractor a minor human error

And I can't see why it matters - if anything, a fan which is present (but not working) is easier to sort out than fitting a new one from scratch. Would be slightly different if the surveyor had said it was both present and working (though still not significant).

lookstraightahead

I don't remember my Level 3 survey even mentioning power showers, are you sure it was an in-depth one op? 

[Deleted User]

I paid £700 for the survey, I just expected the easy things to be done. Yes I am a FTB

i.e spot a fan and check the shower works for more than 30 seconds. 

The wall had a unit in front of it, but was easily moved. I just get the feeling it was done on a devil may care basis and I see it as a bit of a waste of money getting the higher price survey considering they did not even spot the structure issue which may or may not be bad.

lookstraightahead

Deleted_User said:

I paid £700 for the survey, I just expected the easy things to be done. Yes I am a FTB

i.e spot a fan and check the shower works for more than 30 seconds. 

The wall had a unit in front of it, but was easily moved. I just get the feeling it was done on a devil may care basis and I see it as a bit of a waste of money getting the higher price survey considering they did not even spot the structure issue which may or may not be bad.

It's not the price you pay for a structural survey - I think mine was £1500, so it's a mid range one. 

I'm not sure what that one covers, bit it might be worth checking what it's supposed to covers and comparing what you received. I would doubt it covers whether a shower works etc, but I could be wrong.

andy444

With all respect, why would a building surveyor run a shower for more than 30 seconds? Would you expect them to run it for half an hour to ensure it fully works? I doubt the vendors would be too pleased by that.

Omitting the extractor fan is human error and I'm guessing it wouldn't have affected your purchase.

If the surveyor was moving units to look at walls then it sounds like they were doing a thorough job. 

TBG01

So on the basis surveys are usually done at the start of the transaction, you've had 8 to 12 weeks for the shower to break. Who's fault is that?

I'm also assuming you visited the property one last time to make sure everything was how it was when you originally viewed it, yeah?

[Deleted User]

andy444 said:

With all respect, why would a building surveyor run a shower for more than 30 seconds? Would you expect them to run it for half an hour to ensure it fully works? I doubt the vendors would be too pleased by that.

Omitting the extractor fan is human error and I'm guessing it wouldn't have affected your purchase.

If the surveyor was moving units to look at walls then it sounds like they were doing a thorough job. 

If they are going to mention the shower in their report (which they did) then I would expect them to test it more than they did. They should state in their report they don't touch showers instead of stating it was functional. 

The missing the fan is no big deal as such, but it's not exactly hard to miss so I worry if they can miss that......

But he didn't move it because he did not spot it.

[Deleted User]

TBG01 said:

So on the basis surveys are usually done at the start of the transaction, you've had 8 to 12 weeks for the shower to break. Who's fault is that?

I'm also assuming you visited the property one last time to make sure everything was how it was when you originally viewed it, yeah?

Well it isn't my fault, and besides the property was empty so I find this unlikely that is broke on its own without being used, I suspect it's more likely the test was simply turn it on, "oh hot water comes out" for two seconds and then they state it works.

I visited the property a number of times and even took video to make sure nothing had changed. Their report stated is writing the shower was working, even stating in writing hot water was coming out and working as expected. They went out of their way to say it was working which is the point I am getting at. 

[Deleted User]

I forgot to also add in one of the cupboards there is evidence of a previous leak. Again the report makes no mention of this. And one of the tanks with the boiler is corroded on the outside, no mention of this, in fact the report states all is well.

Just looking at the initial pages of the survey and it clearly states tested items were tested to match "everyday use".