Certificates of Structural adequacy

winsand23

Hi

When your insurance company employs a loss adjuster/assessor to act for them on a subsidence
claim, and the adjuster/assessor issues the certificate of structural adequacy on behalf of your Insurer, what qualifications does the person who issues the certificate have to have please?

Are there any FCA or FOC guidelines that cover this please?

Any advice or experience would be appreciated. Thank you.

DullGreyGuy

Do you have the name of the adjustor? It's fairly likely their qualifications are online. 

It's the norm for the LA to be the one issuing the CSA in relation to a subsidence claim. After all it's not a guarantee or warranty on the works. 

winsand23

Thank you for responding.

Crawfords are the Assessors/Adjusters on behalf of RSA. There is no mention of LA issuing the cert, or even being involved.
Crawfords have already issued me with two certs of adequacy and structural works haven't started.There is no name on the certs, just on behalf of Crawford. I am very concerned as they seem to be issuing certs without any qualified Surveyor overseeing. I am told, by them, that the person overseeing my works is a Civil Engineer, but I cannot find them listed as such. 
Are you sure the LA are the ones that should issue the Cert, because if that is the case, I am even more concerned than I was before?

DullGreyGuy

You haven't been given the name of your loss adjustor? 

Each firm does things slightly differently and it also depends on the scale of your loss. In the firm I worked with anything but the most minor subsidence was dealt with a senior LA who is also a qualified building surveyor. They determine what works need to be done, oversee the works being completed and then issue the CSA. If the case was particularly complex they could call on one of the structural engineers to perform a report and determine the works needed. The engineer would determine if the repairs needed revisiting once completed/whilst in progress or if they were confident enough of the cause/solution then they'd leave it to the surveyor/LA to call them back if they have further concerns. 

A CSA broadly is saying the works identified as required to stablise the property have been completed. I've not known any that were issued before the works were actually done however in principle probably 90-95% of them could have been as its uncommon for the solution to change once investigations have been completed and rare for the surveyor who's overseen the works to then not be happy with the standard of them. I can understand from an optics perspective early issuance isnt going to give confidence. 

winsand23

May I give you the name of the loss adjuster as a dm please? I don't think it fair to put her name publicly. Crawford's tell me she is a Civil Engineer and will be signing off my "final" COA once works are completed. I cannot find her on the Civil Engineers list. I don't seem to be getting a senior LA. There are three properties in a terrace all having suffered subsidence. I want to make sure repairs are lasting. I'm in the middle!

DullGreyGuy

sure         

subsidence_expert

Certificates of Structural Adequacy are typically issued just in the name of the company that led the handling of the subsidence matter (i.e. in most cases the loss adjuster - i.e. Crawford in your case). In some cases (such as ones where no loss adjuster was involved in mitigation and repairs - which might have been done by a private client-appointed engineer) the CSA will be issued in the name of that engineer. In some cases, a CSA is issued retrospectively by a different consultancy at a later stage - providing they are satisfied that the matter was properly investigated, mitigated and repaired in the first place.

A CSA is merely a nutshell summary of what happened, the cause of the subsidence, how it was mitigated and repaired and by whom, and when. It is 'certified" by a consultant (or consultancy firm) who have knowledge and experience in such matters and who would be expected to carry PI insurance cover - though it is not a guarantee. It is merely a helpful 1-page document which sets out the essential information by an independent trustable third party specialist. It is for the benefit of buyers and future insurers designed to give them some comfort that the matter was properly resolved. It does not have to be signed by an individual with any particular qualifications (such as a Chartered Structural or Civil Engineer).