Structural surveys – what exactly am I paying for?

Asbestos is only a danger if disturbed, for example if you wanted remove an Artex-coated ceiling or carry out structural changes to the house. My understanding is that later textured ceiling coatings are unlikely to contain asbestos, so you might have nothing to worry about.

Post 1999 I have seen quoted as the end of the asbestos products. I have a friend who is an asbestos surveyor and it has been interesting to hear his tales.

Asbestos as a scare tactic is often due to mis-identification of the particular type.

AFAIR Reading University around 20 years ago set up a house and had many surveyors come to do a brief survey for the benefit of the mortgage company – though paid for by the applicant. They were fairly dire almost universally.

Perhaps it is time for another sting!.

Full structural surveys are an interesting case as without getting involved with removing parts there is a limit as to how much can be seen. I do have a copy of the RICS manual so feel reasonably competent but anyone with some intelligence should be able to notice most things.

Blocks of flats …aah … they can be a whole different problem.

Incidentally in France they do not instruct surveyors! Perhaps a tribute to the quality of the original workmen. The vendor though is required to provide reports on the important matters such as drainage , gas , electric , asbestos , and woodworm.

Belatedly I come back to this subject. The book I bought second-hand at a second-hand bookshop and it is for members of RICS, and possibly libraries.. Annoyingly I cannot find it currently.

There is a huge amount of advice available on the Web and in books and I believe given the money you can spend buying and doing up a property that people really ought to acquaint themselves with the subject.

It is not scary and most “signs of this or that” will probably be minor. Basically though do not rely totally on surveyors and give them a hard time on getting explanations that are satisfactory. The best instrument for you is the Mark 1 eyeball you possess and you really really need to use it on a second visit if you think you might offer.

Also check neighbouring properties to see if there are any curious points. Purchasing this property I noticed that drainage was sluggish by seeing overflow at the external drain for a sink.
Re-lining the main drain and the cost of re-wiring given none since construction 50 years ago saved £8500. I did fail to pick-up the recent flat-roof was shoddily done : (.

As for the surveyor – just a mortgage valuation agreeing the already low offer made by us. I am not a great fan.

An MoT will check the long list of safety features that could affect your car. Many people (well, some) would have no idea of the condition of their car, and its threat to other road users, if they were not forced to have an annual check – very good value for money. Just have to overlook the minority of rogue garages (try Which? Local).

Equally with surveyors; unless you know what to look for you cannot assess the problems that might lurk in a potential purchase – and at risk is a lot of your money. Surveyors should be insured if they miss something that you have paid for them to look at, and that gives you protection. If defects are found you can either negotiate the price or decide to reject the purchase. Most of us have very little experience of surveys so to draw a general conclusion is impossible. But I have respect for the professions – bad apples of course but I expect most will benefit from their services. Which Local lists those with personal recommendations that Which? have accepted.

At least a professional has confirmed your findings and, together with specialist reports may help you decide whether you buy or not or enable you to bargain with the seller. The latter should aim to more than cover the report costs and remedial work necessary.

Whilst you spotted damp and cracks the surveyor might well have found other problems you would not have spotted, or otherwise given reassurance.

I am not sure you would have been in a happier position if your surveyor had also discovered more serious defects – thus justifying the scope of the survey – leading you to withdraw from the purchase and be out-of-pocket for the survey. As Malcolm says, at least you now have a professional condition survey that (a) confirms that the property is in no worse a state than you thought, (b) can be used to negotiate on price for the purchase [to the extent that the condition is not already priced in], and, importantly, (c) can be used to ensure that the specialist repair and treatment contractors that you employ will do what needs doing, will leave nothing undone, and won’t invent work that isn’t necessary, You might find that a friendly word with your surveyor might elicit some useful advice or suggestions for no additional fee.

You would have been entitled to feel cheated if the surveyor had not produced a comprehensive report on the full extent of any defects in the house you wish to buy but since the firm has done what they were paid to do I can’t see how you have been “totally cheated”. As US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said : “Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” A good surveyor’s report should cover all bases.

A friend of ours bought a house at the end of last year. She asked me to have a look at it. I am not competent to examine and report on structural and fundamental problems so I said my observations would have to be superficial and that although I could not advise her not to have a professional survey I could certainly recommend one if I thought it would be advisable to do so. We were not certain of the date of the house, either just prior to the Second World War or just afterwards. Outwardly it looked in good condition and appeared to have been reasonably well-maintained, but inside there had been many minor alterations and installations that suggested a lot of odd jobs had been done over the years and the electric circuits had certainly been ‘stretched’ several times with spurs and surface cabling. I thought she should have a survey which she did. The surveyor noted the obvious things and numerous unsatisfactory aspects which might be expected in such a house but also reported that there were signs of woodworm in the flooring and under the staircase. This would not otherwise have been known. Although it means she will now be having extensive timber treatment carried out, by knowing about it at the outset at least it can be dealt with before she embarks on complete bathroom and kitchen refits and other internal alterations. I don’t know how much she paid for the survey but it was probably less than a quarter of one per cent of the price she paid for the house. The remedial work will also cost a small fraction of the purchase price and she will get the electrical work done while the floors are up to minimise the expense and disruption. As well as confirming that other invisible conditions [like chimneys, drains, and rainwater disposal] were satisfactory, the surveyor’s report contained plenty of advice on what should be done and how to go about it.

Considering the high cost of houses and of possible repairs, and the lack of ability of most purchasers to detect actual and potential problems, it seems surprising that they should quibble at the cost of a full survey. Any expensive problems uncovered can often be partially negotiated off the purchase price, thus saving money (as in the example above perhaps). As John points out, a proper survey will be a minute proportion of the value of what you are buying. Perhaps the trouble is we are so focused on buying to the limit of our finances that we neglect to factor in other items.

As far as I am aware professional surveyors will be insured and if they are clearly negligent you should be able to recoup costs.