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Hey, I am in the process of buying house and had ordered for building survey. But this Surveyor seems to be real un-scruplous one. Having opted for building survey, I thought I will get a thorough report but I was surprised that the survery-report says that they cannot check the rain-gutters as it was not raining at that time. Is that acceptable? So if it was raining, he would have said that he could not check say the garden area because it was raining and he could not go out or say on the roof.

 

I want to know if it is acceptable for the surveyor to say that he cannot check rain gutters because it was not raining.He could have easily got a bucket of water and poured it through the pipes and checked?

 

Please let me know if that is okay and common ?

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Hey, I am in the process of buying house and had ordered for building survey. But this Surveyor seems to be real un-scruplous one. Having opted for building survey, I thought I will get a thorough report but I was surprised that the survery-report says that they cannot check the rain-gutters as it was not raining at that time. Is that acceptable? So if it was raining, he would have said that he could not check say the garden area because it was raining and he could not go out or say on the roof.

 

I want to know if it is acceptable for the surveyor to say that he cannot check rain gutters because it was not raining.He could have easily got a bucket of water and poured it through the pipes and checked?

 

Please let me know if that is okay and common ?

 

Standard stuff. They cannot check whether guttering is up to the job unless enough water is going through them.

 

If you want to check, go around to the house when it is peeing down with rain or put a hose up and give a thorough testing.

 

The surveyor may have only done a quick check of the roof as well. They don't tend to spend ages checking every aspect. They may have just gone into the loft and done a visual inspection. And also looked up from outside. The are not going to put ladders up to inspect a roof. Same goes with guttering. They may not have looked into the drainage either.

 

Think you are expecting more than a surveyor will do.

We could do with some help from you.

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Well, but the contract does not say that report will depend on weather conditions. Rain gutters are standard thing and and honest survey will involve pouring down a bucket of water. How difficult is that? I find so many other lapses as well. For example he said that he was not informed about the garage and he had not inspected the garage? He made no attempt to call me or the agent to find this out.

 

Is this acceptable excuse?

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is this a mortgage survey or a full survey? The latter should include things like lifting up carpets and peering in the attic as well as a full exterior visual ( and tipping a bucket of water into the gutter if it looks dodgy.

 

Having seen a large number of survey reports, they don't fart around looking at everything. For a Home Buyers report, they have a standard procedure they run through. They won't lift stuck down carpets. As far as i know they won't put buckets of water down gutters,

We could do with some help from you.

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Well, but the contract does not say that report will depend on weather conditions. Rain gutters are standard thing and and honest survey will involve pouring down a bucket of water. How difficult is that? I find so many other lapses as well. For example he said that he was not informed about the garage and he had not inspected the garage? He made no attempt to call me or the agent to find this out.

 

Is this acceptable excuse?

 

 

If the garage was missed, you should advise the mortgage company, as they should insist on the surveyor going back. I take it you used a surveyor on the mortgage companies list and if this is so, you should complain to the mortgage company about any issues you are unhappy about.

We could do with some help from you.

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Having seen a large number of survey reports, they don't fart around looking at everything. For a Home Buyers report, they have a standard procedure they run through. They won't lift stuck down carpets. As far as i know they won't put buckets of water down gutters,

 

You seem to be one from Surveyor community and therefore showing their kind mentality through your bad language. I would rather you not say anything than use a foul language.

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is this a mortgage survey or a full survey? The latter should include things like lifting up carpets and peering in the attic as well as a full exterior visual ( and tipping a bucket of water into the gutter if it looks dodgy.

 

It was a FULL Building survey.

 

 

As it was a full building survey, how he will check the rain gutters is his task. The contract does not say that weather can prevent certain aspects of building not to be checked. They can't get away saying that it was not raining. That sounds so funny an excuse. And he was well aware that the house has a garage.

 

He has clearly tried to be clever.How can I complain against him and I don't want to pay him anyway.

 

And he has done just visual inspection every where. I can do a visual inspection myself.

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It was a FULL Building survey.

 

 

As it was a full building survey, how he will check the rain gutters is his task. The contract does not say that weather can prevent certain aspects of building not to be checked. They can't get away saying that it was not raining. That sounds so funny an excuse. And he was well aware that the house has a garage.

 

He has clearly tried to be clever.How can I complain against him and I don't want to pay him anyway.

 

And he has done just visual inspection every where. I can do a visual inspection myself.

 

What doe the contract say about full surveys please and how much is the surveyor charging? Was the he also there to do a mortgage valuation for the lender?

 

I agree with UB, it sounds fairly standard for a survey. UB isn't a surveyor AFAIK.

 

HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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You seem to be one from Surveyor community and therefore showing their kind mentality through your bad language. I would rather you not say anything than use a foul language.

Not actually from the surveying community, but have seen large numbers reviewing for insurance/mortgage purposes. Have had numerous conversations on behalf of clients with surveyors about what they actually do and about the standard content of their reports.

 

ASK the surveying company for the industry standard guidelines they follow when they do a full building survey. This will usually detail what they are expected to do when carrying out an inspection and when it is acceptable not to check something. The reason they follow a standard procedure is that surveyors have to have professional indeminity insurance against any mistakes they make and the insurers expect the surveyors to comply with industry standards of operating.

 

Buying a house is one of the most anxious periods in peoples lifes, so i can understand this, but don't get funny about the word fart. I am not sure whether you are anxious or simply a pain in the backside.

We could do with some help from you.

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Not actually from the surveying community, but have seen large numbers reviewing for insurance/mortgage purposes. Have had numerous conversations on behalf of clients with surveyors about what they actually do and about the standard content of their reports.

 

ASK the surveying company for the industry standard guidelines they follow when they do a full building survey. This will usually detail what they are expected to do when carrying out an inspection and when it is acceptable not to check something. The reason they follow a standard procedure is that surveyors have to have professional indeminity insurance against any mistakes they make and the insurers expect the surveyors to comply with industry standards of operating.

 

Buying a house is one of the most anxious periods in peoples lifes, so i can understand this, but don't get funny about the word fart. I am not sure whether you are anxious or simply a pain in the backside.

 

ah, you there, back again.

I am sure there are other threads for you to reply to. I told you in a simple and plain language.

 

I am not anxious but know my rights well.

 

The contract does not say , subject to weather condition,and thats it.

He did not inspect garage, plain excuse, that no one told him.

 

Costing me GBP 797.00, high-end side, looking at other quotes on internet.

I already had the basic valuation done earlier through HSBC and then once searches were fine, I wanted to go for Building Survey.

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ah, you there, back again.

I am sure there are other threads for you to reply to. I told you in a simple and plain language.

 

I am not anxious but know my rights well.

 

The contract does not say , subject to weather condition,and thats it.

He did not inspect garage, plain excuse, that no one told him.

 

Costing me GBP 797.00, high-end side, looking at other quotes on internet.

I already had the basic valuation done earlier through HSBC and then once searches were fine, I wanted to go for Building Survey.

 

I am not being funny. If you know your rights about this, why post to this site asking questions ? You don't need any help !

 

All you need to do is check what should be included and when it is acceptable for a surveyor not to check something. Where they have not done the job properly, you ask them to go back again to check and report on the missed items e.g garage.

 

All that i know is that surveyors might not check guttering by putting buckets of water through or a hose up. If it was not raining enough, they might not see any flaws that exist, so they put their standard wording in to cover it.

We could do with some help from you.

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I'd expect a survey to disclose serious issues such as wall cracks, bowing walls, damp problems, old style consumer panel with wired fuses, etc.

 

Beyond that, a lot of surveys will refer to items saying they look ok but need to be checked by a Competent Person. Eg, the survey will refer to the electrical system saying :-

 

The electrical system appears to be working and has a consumer panel possibly replaced 10 years ago. For a detailed report as to the the safety of the system, and compliance with existing NICEIC Regulations, a full electrical report should be obtained from a qualified electrician.

 

The same would be said about the central heating system, the hot and cold water systems, the roof, the floors and the rainwater goods (guttering). The surveyor is NOT a qualified electrician, gas engineer, plumber, etc.

 

He's certainly not required to flush water down every gutter to see if the gutters are clean and free of leaks.. But I'd expect a general description about how the gutters look, if they're old cast iron or modern plastic, if there are any obvious problems such as missing gutter brackets causing a "drop" in a run, or gaps in downpipe runs, etc.

 

If you want detailed reports on gutters, central heating, electrics, etc, you can pay for separate reports from qualified or competent persons.

 

Otherwise, you'd normally buy a property and deal with problems as and when you see them.

 

A good idea is to go round the property before you buy with a competent general builder who can tell you about the general look of electrics, central heating, roof, gutters, walls, etc.

 

If you don't pay for the survey you've ordered, you'll probably be taken to court. You'll always find cheaper offers online but I'd rather go to a local surveyor who's likely to know issues that are more common in a particular area. Best option is to use someone you know or is recommend by someone you know personally.

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So can a builder give a better report than a Building surveyor. If the building survey does not bring out all the details, then which other kind of report will. The surveyors , just like landlords, always are among the cunning lot..

 

And I am not keen on him pouring water using a bucket, but it is for him to determine if the gutter is good enough. Saying the weather is not there to help him when he was out there to survey is a funny ( actually cunning ) excuse. If it was raining , he might have said that as it was raining, he did not want to get his trousers muddy and so did not step out in garden to check. Or he would say that as it was hot wind blowing, he would have got sunburns while doing the inspecting roof.

Edited by honeybee13
Accusations against surveyors removed.
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So can a builder give a better report than a Building surveyor.

 

That's not what I said. In addition to the survey you select, you can get a good idea about various aspects of the property by going round with a builder. He can point out areas of concern and give a rough idea of likely costs to remedy problems.

 

 

If the building survey does not bring out all the details, then which other kind of report will.

 

I answered this clearly above. If you feel the need or desire, get a competent person to report on their particular speciality, be it an electrician, central heating engineer damp specialist, etc.

 

The surveyors , just like landlords, always are among the cunning lot..

 

 

And I am not keen on him pouring water using a bucket, but it is for him to determine if the gutter is good enough. Saying the weather is not there to help him when he was out there to survey is a funny ( actually cunning ) excuse. If it was raining , he might have said that as it was raining, he did not want to get his trousers muddy and so did not step out in garden to check. Or he would say that as it was hot wind blowing, he would have got sunburns while doing the inspecting roof.

 

I won't dignify the rest of your post with a reply, in case I also get branded as part of "the cunning lot".

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I have had full surveys done on properties I was interested in purchasing as buy-to-lets and they went into everything you can think of whereas a mortgage survey does enough to look after the lender's money if they have to sell quick.

Things mentioned on full survey that you might not expect:- blocked vents in air brick, faulty window locks, woodworm in timber in attic that is part of later addittion for shelving, elctrical matters (visual) internal doors not closing properly (possible subsidence/heave), guttering testing, water test on flat roof to look for pooling, looking up chimneys, repointing on brickwork, shower/bath testing for leaks/outflow.

For the money you paid I would expect a thorough job and a list of what was and wasnt actually done, for example, if the vendor wouldnt let him lift the carpets then it should say so. Obviously there is an arbitration scheme so you can make a complaint to the chartered body if you wish but I would start with asking him to explain what you have got for your money and to revisit and do it all agin if you still feel you have been short changed. Much of what you pay actually goes towards the insurance premiums he has to pay for professional indemnity so it is in his interests to make you happy or happier at least.

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