Bio Cycle Service

CorkFeen10

Hi, just joined on here to see if anyone in the know could shed some light on an issue thats come up.

We bought a house in a rural area 2 years ago which was surveyed by an Engineer prior to purchase, as per normal. It was noted that there was a Bio-Cycle out front, but no other details.

We went to get the Bio-Cycle unit serviced this week for the first time since we moved in and have discovered that the unit has never been serviced and has been installed since 2007. The unit was originally commissioned during construction but had not been completely installed....which is the norm apparently.

The problem is that the builder/previous owner had put the Bio-Cycle control unit in to the chamber above the tank and is now in a bad state due to the fumes from the tank with roughly €500 to €1000 worth of refurbishment work required. The clock alone is €500 seemingly. It was also discovered that there is no access to the cover on the tank whatsoever so that it cannot be pumped out or even tested to see what level its at.

According to the service engineer, we will need to dig out the whole area above it to even find which orientation the tank is in and then expose the tank cover. We will then have to rebuild the chamber above the tank to allow for pumping/servicing and then replant all the bushes around the area once again.

As you can imagine I was fuming, and according to the service engineer the engineer we had during purchasing should have spotted this or at least asked for service history. If any type of service had been performed prior to this then this problem would have been highlighted and would have to had to be fixed.

The purpose of this thread is really to see if I have any leg to stand on in terms of the engineer not performing his duty and would in turn be liable to fix this mess and also to see if anyone else has had this problem and how it turned out.

Thanks!!

D3PO

if you had an engineer with specific instruction to check this he should have given you a copy of their professional indemnity insurance. In which case you could make a claim against them for not identifying this.

That said a lot of people mistake having an engineer and a surveyor which are two very different things, if its the latter you may find that they have no liability at all.

CorkFeen10

I would assume it was an engineers report as that is what was required for the mortgage? Surely a survey is not sufficient for that purpose?

I never got any copy of his indemnity insurance.

Would the solicitor route be the wrong way to go? I could end up with just a bigger bill.

Doubt the engineer in question will just get the insurance company to hand over the cash for the fix (approx 1.5k), cant be that easy.

I suppose what im getting at is, is there a specific list of items that the engineer is obliged to check on these inspections?

D3PO

CorkFeen10 wrote: »

I would assume it was an engineers report as that is what was required for the mortgage? Surely a survey is not sufficient for that purpose?

You do not require an engineers report to get a mortgage.

I never got any copy of his indemnity insurance.

Would the solicitor route be the wrong way to go? I could end up with just a bigger bill.

First things first. Did you hire an engineer or a surveyor ? Then call them. Sounds to me you had a surveyor and in that case they have no question to answer here.

Doubt the engineer in question will just get the insurance company to hand over the cash for the fix (approx 1.5k), cant be that easy.

I suppose what im getting at is, is there a specific list of items that the engineer is obliged to check on these inspections?

I don't think you had an engineer and if you did then you would have to have set the paramaters of what you wanted them to look at. What paperwork did they give you regarding the Bio Cycle ?

CorkFeen10

You could be right, I was looking on www.propertyhealthcheck.ie and they have a document showing exactly what the engineer/surveyor will be looking for when they complete the survey of a house prior to sale.

The document has a checklist including items like ventilation, access to tank, distance from well, percolation area and service history.

In the report i got back it merely states that "the foul system connects to a treatment plant in the front garden".

Thats it....

Being a first time buyer I wasnt aware of what should be in these reports but the more I ask around it should be a damn sight more than that.

We have had other issues with the house that i reckon should have been caught but have been discounted due to lack of access from the engineer at the time of survey and we have had to suck up the financial hits.

This one is surely more clear cut though....?

D3PO

id be 99% sure you only had a surveyor out then. They are very different and the problem is many people mistakenly believe that this is an engineer who will do an in depth review of the property which isn't the case.

A bank will ask for a surveyor to go out and check the basics but for a detailed report on something a buyer would need an engineer which is completely separate.

If my suspicions are correct then that will unfortunately leave you on the hook for this.

CorkFeen10

Thanks D3PO, that might be the case alright. I will have to enquire to find out which one it was.

Would still be interested to know if anyone had a similar case and what the outcome was....

D3PO

CorkFeen10 wrote: »

Thanks D3PO, that might be the case alright. I will have to enquire to find out which one it was.

Would still be interested to know if anyone had a similar case and what the outcome was....

certainly worth a call to the person who did the report and see how it goes down. Nothing ventured nothing gained.