Which Survey to choose? Home Survey This is an intermediate report. This will give a general overall condition and highlight any major defects. It is important to point out that this is not a detailed survey although all parts of the building will be inspected where possible.
The format for this survey has been devised by Chartered Surveyors within the Independent Surveyors Association.
This report is intended for properties that are conventional in construction up to about 130 years old and are in a reasonable condition.
The purpose of this survey is to enable the prospective home owner to be aware of any significant defects that could affect the value of the property and as a result whether or not to proceed at the agreed sale price.
The survey covers the building inside and outside, the services and the site. It will assess the general condition, identify any particular defects which become apparent during the inspection and any possible safety issues. Particular features such as possible shared ownership will be pointed out and should be referred to the client�s legal advisers.
Where flats are concerned the survey will cover an overall opinion of the condition of the property together with closer inspection of any parts such as roofs if possible.
Matters which are judged to be not urgent or not significant are in general not included in the report, but the surveyor will mention matters judged to be both helpful and constructive.
If the client has a particular concern � the surveyor can keep this in mind during the inspection.
The purpose of this survey is to enable the prospective home owner to be aware of any significant defects that could affect the value of the property and as a result whether or not to proceed at the agreed sale price.
The survey covers the building inside and outside, the services and the site. It will assess the general condition, identify any particular defects which become apparent during the inspection and any possible safety issues, Particular features such as possible shared ownership will be pointed out and should be referred to the client's legal advisers.
Matters which are judged to be not urgent or not included in the report , but the surveyor will mention matters judged to be both helpful and constructive.
If the client has a particular concern - the surveyor can keep this in mind during the inspection.
Building Survey (formerly known as a structural survey) This survey will give you a comprehensive report on any property house, flat, shop or industrial premises.
The identification of defects and costings are obviously going to be important should any negotiation on the price be required, but even if a lower price is not possible then there is a much more clear indication of the cost of repairing the building over the next few years.
A report will include:-
A full detailed report on the condition of every accessible part of the structure. All the defects and potential defects identified and scheduled. Approximate costings given to all these defects. A set of digitised photographs incorporated within the report identifying the larger defects. More in depth analysis of particular issues Building defects survey This is a survey that can be used for an older property that will need modernising. The survey will be limited and will be more suited to a vacant property where considerable alteration work will be required.(this additional service can also be provided) It will involve looking at specific issues such as roofs or subsidence. Because of its limited nature, it tends to be used for commercial or larger value property. This survey will be a prelude to further more detailed surveys.
Dilapidation survey When a lease comes to an end the landlord should normally expect to get his property back in good condition, and ready to be let again. So it's important that both landlords and tenants understand what they have to do under the terms of the lease.
We can, for the Landlord, prepare a schedule of the repairs required to bring the property back to its original state and produce a schedule of the costs involved.
These costs can be considerable sometimes and Tenants can either get the work done themselves, to the satisfaction of the landlord's surveyor, or pay the estimated costs directly to the landlord.
Alternatively we can provide a schedule of condition is done for tenant at the start of the lease, preventing the tenant falling into the common trap of becoming liable for all defects including ones that were there originally.
If it is at the end of the lease we are able to analyse a schedule presented to the tenant and negotiate the costs with their surveyors.
Schedule of Condition A much better alternative for the tenant is to agree the condition of the building before occupation as as a schedule of defects will cover every defect found whether it was originally there or not. This is where a schedule of conditions can be used.
This is a document that can be attached to a new lease to limit a person's liability for dilapidations. For example, it might record a roof leak or damage by the previous tenant.. This would mean that when the tenants leave they can prove they weren't responsible for this defect.
Condition Schedule This document is used in the planning of building maintenance over a period of time. We will analyse the current condition of the property and break it down into different areas usually the elements (roof gutters windows etc) of the building. Then the overhaul or repair work together with predicted costs can be scheduled in over the years.
This has a 2 fold use: Parts of the building will be put right before the defect becomes serious and costly. By planning the work in advance quotes are going to be far more competitive than reacting to any failures or emergency repairs. The client is able to budget his maintenance costs over a number of years thereby controlling his business costs much more closely. This technique is useful for a whole range of buildings. For example:
Shops Offices Blocks of flats Hotels Industrial estates Disputes Have you got a dispute with your builder? Can your architect not help you? Do you not have one?
We can look at the job, draw up a schedule of defects and work to be finished (commonly known as snagging) Then you can present this to your builder so both of you know what is required to finish the contract.
A much better way of course is to engage our services before the job gets to that stage. We can negotiate with the builder and determine if extra work is actually needed and if so how much it really costs.
