Home and building survey tips and tricks : Is your House a Well? OK, this may seem a weird question to ask, but it even happened to me! A ground floor flat I bought showed damp in the front room wall. The previous owners had built another wall outside and put a concrete ‘floor’ in between. The result: a fantastic well when it rained! It was easy to fix, the concrete came out and was replaced with gravel so water can drain away. Electrical and Gas Safety, I don’t know why, but every home I’ve ever bought has had a really useless boiler! As a result I’ve had to fork out between 1,000 to 2,000 to get a new one fitted. So, after having this happen twice, I now make sure I ask the surveyor to have a quick look and then I get a Gas Safety Registered plumber to check it out – albeit at an extra cost of up to 75. However, this has saved me over 10,000 due to the number of properties I’ve bought over the years!
Plants and any other large object present on windowsills should be removed, as these will also be assessed by the surveyor. This saves the surveyor from having to move things around themselves. Mould is one of the most obvious signs of damp in a home and must always be dealt with as it can thrive if left alone. Make sure you scrub away any mould that is present in your kitchen or bathroom, fix dripping taps by replacing the washers.
A Building Survey, otherwise known as a Structural Survey, will detail the condition of each element of the house while suggesting which aspects are of immediate and major concern and may need further investigation. This type of survey will be carried out by a Chartered Surveyor and is an ideal report for most property types.
A HomeBuyer Report with survey: Includes all the features of the RICS Condition Report and advice on defects that may affect the property. A HomeBuyer Report with survey and valuation: Includes all the features of the RICS Condition Report, plus a market valuation and insurance rebuild costs. As one of the most comprehensive surveys available, more often than not a building survey will be requested by potential buyers of your property. It is a wide range inspection of the entirety of a property done in more specific depth than a Homebuyers Report or a Mortgage Valuation. A Building Survey’s purpose is to give a detailed report of the condition of the property in question.
The RICS Building Survey is well suited to unusual properties, older or non-standard construction properties were buildings which are away from the status quo. They are most typically commissioned for older properties whether listed or not and are valuable for understanding the common issued associated with their original methods of construction, as well as giving new owners advice on the best methods to preserve or maintain their condition and rectify problems before they become devastating to the property. Where our traditional building stock has been modernised, altered or extended a RICS Building Survey will be able to investigate if these modern methods of construction are affecting the traditionally built building such as PVC or Cement, which in modern houses designed to be kept dry function surprisingly well but in older traditional stock designed to have breathability there inclusion can lead to all sorts of moisture retention and this can lead to rot or beetle infestation. See extra info on Party wall notice.
These types of work all require notices to be served as required by the act, once notice has been served, if there is dissent then it is deemed there is a dispute and the Act allows for this, this would be the dispute or resolution stage. Most disputes arrive when the Adjoining Owner has worries or concerns with the proposed work or simply fails to respond in the statutory time to the building owner, for which there could be many reasons. Where a dispute arises either due to non-consent or no response then the Act lays down the steps required to resolve the dispute this is where the Building Owner and the Adjoining Owner will each appoint there Surveyor this could be one each or even the same surveyor with an agreement for all parties working as the Agreed Surveyor.