Surveyor "Goodwill Offer"

Kiyonari

I'll try to keep this concise and any advice much appreciated.

Had a level 2 survey completed and over the course of the first 6 months of occupation and having multiple tradesmen point out defects and say "didn't your surveyor pick up on that" I decided in the end to raise it with them.  They have offered £150 goodwill payment if I accept within 28 days and waive all further liability etc... Just wondering whether to bother pursuing this further and how this would be done.  I get free legal advise through work so maybe its worth ringing them too?  Personally I can't be bothered and if I hadn't written a letter to them I'd be getting nothing, but the other side of me says why are they bothering to offer anything at all if they are not in the wrong?

1.  Flue heat shield on boiler wasn't wide enough and it was melting/burning the surrounding fascia - potential fire hazard?, wasn't even mentioned on survey despite being obvious.  Surveyor says gas services outside their remit etc, and i have since had the boiler relocated anyway...

2.  Conservatory - wall removed between conservatory and house but this wasn't mentioned - when asked the surveyor said this will have been done under permitted development rules, though it is my understanding that if this is done it has to be signed off by building control due to issues around heat loss and meeting U values?

3.  Conservatory roof tiles not suitable for pitch of 8 degrees, not mentioned, leaks like mad.  

4.  Bow in ceiling in dining room.  Some nearby water staining was mentioned but not the bow which was a metre or so away, turned out to be a broken joist.

propertyrental

£150 is a joke.

If they messed up, then a much more meaningful figure should be negotiated/agreed (£500? More?) or you should be presenting quotes from reputable tradesmen for the jobs you feel they should have spotted, and claim that.

As you have legal cover, let your legal bods deal with the claim once you have quotes.

If they didn't mess up, they wouldn't be offering a 'goodwill gesture'......

1) I suspect is a non-starter. Surveyors are not heating engineers, and nearly all surveys recommend you get an inspection from a relevant person. As your survey recommended this, did your you get a boiler engineer to inspect?

2) is  a legal issue, either Planning and/or Building Regs, but the surveyor should have advised you to ask your solicitor. But if the conservatory was built longer ago that the council's enforcement window (12 months or 4 years respectively) then there's no risk to you of eforcement.

3) I can't comment but would have thought a surveyor should know what tiles are or are not suitable. was the leak apparent at the time?

4) Was the water stain related to the bowing? Seems unlikely, so irrelevant. If the bowing was obvious/significant, yes I'd expect a surveyor to spot it (and recommend further investigation.

The fact they've offered £150 suggest they agree there was negligence, probably re 3 and 4 above.

user1977

propertyrental said:

The fact they've offered £150 suggest they agree there was negligence

Not so sure. I think it might be a reasonable amount to pay to stop somebody badgering you about their complaint / claim, even if you think it probably doesn't have merit.

Though as the OP, I'd only be "waiving liability" in relation to these specific points, not the whole survey, in case there's something else which crops up later as a potential claim.

Section62

propertyrental said:

If they didn't mess up, they wouldn't be offering a 'goodwill gesture'......

£150 is a reasonable amount to offer someone to make them go away and stop generating correspondence which takes time (=cost) to reply to.

It's also more businesslike than the Arkell v Pressdram response.

SDLT_Geek

Section62 said:

propertyrental said:

If they didn't mess up, they wouldn't be offering a 'goodwill gesture'......

£150 is a reasonable amount to offer someone to make them go away and stop generating correspondence which takes time (=cost) to reply to.

It's also more businesslike than the Arkell v Pressdram response.

It is good that Ian Hislop’s “case” gets mentioned every now and then!

Richard1212

I have very little to add to propertyrental's post, which I consider the best on this thread. The surveyor will assume you cannot afford legal costs or the hassle of taking legal action--------you seem to have both : use them and get a lot more than £150.

Section62

Richard1212 said:

...The surveyor will assume you cannot afford legal costs or the hassle of taking legal action--------you seem to have both : use them and get a lot more than £150.

Alternatively the surveyor better understands their liability than you do.

To be liable to pay the OP a substantial sum the surveyor has to have been negligent and caused the OP a (mitigated) loss.

Could you please point out the negligence and costs to the OP you think would make it a safe bet to commence a legal claim against the surveyor?

sevenhills

2.  Conservatory - wall removed between conservatory and house but this wasn't mentioned - when asked the surveyor said this will have been done under permitted development rules, though it is my understanding that if this is done it has to be signed off by building control due to issues around heat loss and meeting U values?

3.  Conservatory roof tiles not suitable for pitch of 8 degrees, not mentioned, leaks like mad.  

4.  Bow in ceiling in dining room.  Some nearby water staining was mentioned but not the bow which was a metre or so away, turned out to be a broken joist.

During the inspection the surveyor will look over the roof, walls, pipes, timber, and and other visible aspects of the home to check for significant defects. The report is in a standard paper format and uses an easy-to-follow Condition Rating system:

• Condition rating 3 - Defects that are serious and/or need to be repaired, replaced or investigated urgently.
• Condition rating 2 - Defects that need repairing or replacing but are not considered to be either serious or urgent.
• Condition rating 1 - No repair is currently needed

Without knowing what they put, it's difficult to comment. I would think water staining would warrant further investigation, did it say that?

An 8-degree slope is really low. I believe that your local authority can carry out an inspection, if you want an expert opinion, but if you have had multiple tradesmen repairing things, that might be too late.