Buildings Survey or Roof Survey?

rawr_ · 19 September 2018 at 2:20PM

Hello, hoping someone can help me.

We are in the process of buying our first property, and want to get the roof specifically checked. I'm happy with the rest of the house. I originally wanted to get a full buildings survey done, but on looking at some examples, a lot of them end up saying the roof will need looking at by someone else anyway, so do I just go for a full roof survey? I'm struggling to make a decision, and don't want to make a mistake by getting the wrong thing, then having to get someone else in anyway. The buildings survey with one company will cost £500 or a roof survey will be £380 with someone else - so obviously wouldn't want to end up having to get both.

Anyone have any clarity or experience with something similar?

pramsay13 · 19 September 2018 at 2:34PM

Get both done.
It amazes me that people buy a house worth £200k, plan on spending 50 years in it and want to forego £500 on a survey.
Even if it comes back all clear then it's peace of mind for you, and if it flags up something then it will be invaluable.

Just_Di · 19 September 2018 at 4:23PM

Are you buying the property with the help of mortgage?

If so the lender may only recommend a valuation report by a surveyor simply to establish whether they'll be able to recover the loan if things don't work out.

I would always suggest a Full Structural Survey even if it's expensive because you need to know whether there are any hidden defects from a professional who knows what they are looking for. Unethical sellers will paint over the cracks!

If the surveyor misses something which subsequently costs you a small fortune to put right you can establish if they have been professionally negligent to recover the expense of repair etc. from their Professional Indemnity insurers.

As importantly if a survey throws up some problem you may want to renegotiate the price you've offered to reflect the work needed. Or it the survey throws up some serious flaws then you may decide to walk away from the purchase of a problem property.

I always feel skimping on the survey is 'penny wise pound foolish'

Di

AdrianC · 19 September 2018 at 4:59PM

If you're happy with the rest of the house, there's little point in paying somebody else to have a quick once-round and point to the glaringly obvious things. I assume you're happy because you know what you're looking at with houses.

If you have specific concerns about the roof, then go straight to that. An HBR will say "there's a roof, you might want it checked", and while a full structural might give a bit more detail, it would likely cost more than £500.

Any lender will insist on a valuation at the minimum, but that's unlikely to do any more than suck its teeth in and say "Definitely a house."

rawr_ · 19 September 2018 at 4:59PM

Thanks Di (and also thanks for not being condescending!) Think I will look at doing the full survey.

rawr_ · 19 September 2018 at 5:03PM

Hi Adrian, thanks for your reply. We don't know a great deal about houses, my dad knows a bit and I've had him look at it. We've been quoted £500 for a full buildings survey, and have had a few that are a little more but still around that mark. Might just be the going rate for my area. I guess I'm amazed that it costs this much and all they do is glance around... I've seen mixed views on how thorough they can be.

Thrugelmir · 19 September 2018 at 5:05PM

rawr_ wrote: »

I guess I'm amazed that it costs this much and all they do is glance around

20% of the fee is accounted for by VAT. Of the remainder a large amount would be in professional indemnity insurance if they all they did was glance around.

YoungBlueEyes · 19 September 2018 at 8:27PM

A proper survey is invaluable. I don't have many spare pennies at all right now, but I had a full survey done. The guy was a real find and the detail was fantastic. Yes it did say "so there's a roof there look, get a specialist", but he also told me all about the individual parts and what I could/should do, and a time scale of what to do, and what to ask the specialist/roofer when I got to that stage. He even gave me a notion of price and how long it might take. He gave me that level of detail for every issue he found in the house. That's what you're paying for

Tom99 · 20 September 2018 at 2:51AM

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]What is it that concerns you about the roof and what are the professional qualifications of the person who would undertake the roof survey as opposed to the building survey?[/FONT]

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Buildings Survey or Roof Survey?

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