Should a house surveyor also quote for / do the work?...

sdee445

I'm currently selling my house and the buyer had the survey done as expected; the estate agent sent me an email from the buyer with a list of 3 items to fix plus a quote from the surveyor to carry out the works. Is that normal? For the surveyor to also say they'll do the work. 

sdee445

Bookworm105 said:

no, its abnormal. Surveyors are not builders
That said the surveyor may of course simply be adding a margin on to the work as its "supervisor", whilst the work itself is done by subcontractors appointed by the surveyor

I'd bet there is a very high chance of getting lower quotes by cutting out such a middleman 

Thanks, yes I'm assuming the surveyor would sub-contract the work out and take a cut. Their quote is 4x higher than what my builder has quoted. It just seems a bit suspect that they say x needs to be fixed and that they will then carry out the work. I would have thought the survey/surveyor should be impartial. My sister said I should report them but I'm not sure that's a thing! 

Albermarle

sdee445 said:

I'm currently selling my house and the buyer had the survey done as expected; the estate agent sent me an email from the buyer with a list of 3 items to fix plus a quote from the surveyor to carry out the works. Is that normal? For the surveyor to also say they'll do the work. 

Are you sure there is no misunderstanding?
Surveyors will often give an estimated cost of work on problems they have spotted.
The figures are normally well OTT.

Are you 100% sure they have actually offered to do the work? If so that is very odd.

user1977

As above, I think it's more likely to be a guesstimate of what the quotes would be, not actual offers to do the work.

sdee445

The email says "notes from surveyor... lists the 3 items and what work needs to be done to rectify.". It then goes on to state "Estimate: the surveying firm (won't put their name) will be able to carry out the works listed 1-3 at a cost of £x plus VAT. (There would be a refund of the survey fee £180 off the overall cost should you choose to accept this quote)."

I don't think I've misunderstood?...

Hoenir

Ask to see a copy of the actual valuation report that specifies this. 

lfc321

Was this surveyor also doing the valuation for the mortgage lender? Or was this a separate survey commissioned by your buyers?

Was this a general survey of the house or a specialist survey (eg a damp survey, where this kind of thing would be more normal). 

sdee445

lfc321 said:

Was this surveyor also doing the valuation for the mortgage lender? Or was this a separate survey commissioned by your buyers?

Was this a general survey of the house or a specialist survey (eg a damp survey, where this kind of thing would be more normal). 

It was a damp/timber survey. It was a follow up to the general survey. So that's quite normal then to do the survey then quote to do the work?

Bookworm105

sdee445 said:

lfc321 said:

Was this surveyor also doing the valuation for the mortgage lender? Or was this a separate survey commissioned by your buyers?

Was this a general survey of the house or a specialist survey (eg a damp survey, where this kind of thing would be more normal). 

It was a damp/timber survey. It was a follow up to the general survey. So that's quite normal then to do the survey then quote to do the work?

oh, that is a very different scenario to a survey pending purchase your first post implied it was.
There are 2 types of "damp" surveyors

1. Those who work independently for themselves purely as damp "surveyors"
or
2. Those who are salesmen for a treatment contractor, but call themselves "surveyors".

For 1: Theoretically such independent people are supposedly less motivated to find "damp" as they are not looking to do the work to fix it themselves. That said, they can of course get a commission from the company "recommended" in their quote if they "find" damp. 

For 2: it would be 100% the norm for the "surveyor" to do a quote, the cynic would also assume it is 100% certain their survey will find "damp" that they can "fix" since he has a sales target to meet.

lincroft1710

@Bookworm105 's cynicism is probably spot on

FreeBear

Bookworm105 said: For 2: it would be 100% the norm for the "surveyor" to do a quote, the cynic would also assume it is 100% certain their survey will find "damp" that they can "fix" since he has a sales target to meet.

And nine times out of nine, the recommended work only covers up the symptoms without curing the source. Much of the time, it can also do damage to the fabric of the building, especially with older properties.