So I've noticed some cracks in my mums conservatory. They are vertical, near to the main house and on the inside wall. In some places you can fit a 20p piece in.

It was built in 2009, so its still under guarantee. My mums been in the house for a few years, so the guarantee has passed on to her. There was no visible damage to the conservatory when she bought the property, and nothing came up on the survey.

Looking at the gutters, the rain water has been discharged right next to the wall of the conservatory. My guess is that this has caused damage to the foundations of the conservatory. Why the company that built the conservatory would have the gutters discharging directly into the ground at the base of the conservatory, I dont know. It wouldn't have been much extra effort to lengthen the gutter so that it discharges a few meters away.

There aren't any massive cracks in the actual house itself thankfully, so it looks like its only the conservatory is the concern.

So I'm wondering what the best way to proceed would be. A structural survey is probably the best bet, just to double check its just an issue with the conservatory and not related to the main house. Expensive but reassuring.

Im guessing that the survey will pick up on the position of the discharged rain water, next to the conservatory, and possibly recommend underpinning the foundation of the conservatory.

I'm also guessing that the company who built the conservatory will try and worm their way out of it. I'd like for them to pay for the structural survey, which I wouldn't have to arrange and pay for if it wasn't for their less than 8 year old conservatory cracking already.

And I definitely think that they should pay for the cost of repairing what was pretty much an obvious design floor.

Yes, I should have spotted it a few years ago and extended the drain myself. However as the rainwater had already been soaking in the ground for nearly six years, that wouldn't have necessarily prevented the problem.

I'm considering whether my first port of call should be the company that built the conservatory, or a structural engineer.

Thoughts and experiences much appreciated.