Surveyor that "do the extra" in north Dublin

evase

Hi,
We are looking for a Surveyor for a house we are thinking about buying north of Dublin.
I know there is a lot of threads about surveyors here in the forum but I haven't found one that seems to fulfill my requirements so I am starting a new thread.

I am looking for a surveyor who:
1) Knows about constructions and knows if the building complies with all current building regulations, if there is any subsidence or risk thereof, is the building materials used are good (i.e. no pyrite), what would be a load bearing wall, etc.
2) Will investigate (or being able to see) if there is a risk that the house is built using building materials that might be hazardous to one's health.
3) Will look at the drainage and plumbing and if possible film the parts that isn't visible.
4) Will look at/in small spaces, like attics with only crawling hight to make sure there is no moisture problems or fungi.
5) Will look at the electric wiering verifying if it is done in accordance with building regulations.
6) Will look at the heating system verifying if it is upp to scratch and done in accordance with building regulations.

I don't need one who will only look at the superficial stuff like paintingwoorks, floors, age of the utilitys etc. Those I can judge myself.

Any tip of a Surveyor who will do all of the above or at least a major part of it would be gratly appriciated. And I think that the tips has to be done by a PM so that we don't break the rules of Boards.ie.

Thanks!

Evase

ted1

evase wrote: »

Hi,
We are looking for a Surveyor for a house we are thinking about buying north of Dublin.
I know there is a lot of threads about surveyors here in the forum but I haven't found one that seems to fulfill my requirements so I am starting a new thread.

I am looking for a surveyor who:
1) Knows about constructions and knows if the building complies with all current building regulations, if there is any subsidence or risk thereof, is the building materials used are good (i.e. no pyrite), what would be a load bearing wall, etc.
2) Will investigate (or being able to see) if there is a risk that the house is built using building materials that might be hazardous to one's health.
3) Will look at the drainage and plumbing and if possible film the parts that isn't visible.
4) Will look at/in small spaces, like attics with only crawling hight to make sure there is no moisture problems or fungi.
5) Will look at the electric wiering verifying if it is done in accordance with building regulations.
6) Will look at the heating system verifying if it is upp to scratch and done in accordance with building regulations.

I don't need one who will only look at the superficial stuff like paintingwoorks, floors, age of the utilitys etc. Those I can judge myself.

Any tip of a Surveyor who will do all of the above or at least a major part of it would be gratly appriciated. And I think that the tips has to be done by a PM so that we don't break the rules of Boards.ie.

Thanks!

Evase

If your looking for that Mitch detail you should add a radon test to the list.

mikeyjames9

Electrical work must comply with ET101:2008, not building regs

A surveyor wouldn't be competent to give a definitive answer ime

cpoh1

evase wrote: »

Hi,
We are looking for a Surveyor for a house we are thinking about buying north of Dublin.
I know there is a lot of threads about surveyors here in the forum but I haven't found one that seems to fulfill my requirements so I am starting a new thread.

I am looking for a surveyor who:
1) Knows about constructions and knows if the building complies with all current building regulations, if there is any subsidence or risk thereof, is the building materials used are good (i.e. no pyrite), what would be a load bearing wall, etc.
2) Will investigate (or being able to see) if there is a risk that the house is built using building materials that might be hazardous to one's health.
3) Will look at the drainage and plumbing and if possible film the parts that isn't visible.
4) Will look at/in small spaces, like attics with only crawling hight to make sure there is no moisture problems or fungi.
5) Will look at the electric wiering verifying if it is done in accordance with building regulations.
6) Will look at the heating system verifying if it is upp to scratch and done in accordance with building regulations.

I don't need one who will only look at the superficial stuff like paintingwoorks, floors, age of the utilitys etc. Those I can judge myself.

Any tip of a Surveyor who will do all of the above or at least a major part of it would be gratly appriciated. And I think that the tips has to be done by a PM so that we don't break the rules of Boards.ie.

Thanks!

Evase

Hi Evase,

All good surveyors will cover all the above except for electrical and plumbing/heating. They will need to get specialists to review the above for you with additional reports.

evase

Hi,
My experience so far is that the surveyros will not do most of these. They all have restrictions in the line of "I will not crawl in to tight spaces, lift a lidd or open a door".

So if you have one you can recomend cpho1 I would greatly appriciate a PM with name of the Surveyor.

And to pay a bit extra to know the electrical and heating part, fine. Rather that than having an unplessant suprise.

Thanks,

Evase

cpoh1

evase wrote: »

Hi,
My experience so far is that the surveyros will not do most of these. They all have restrictions in the line of "I will not crawl in to tight spaces, lift a lidd or open a door".

So if you have one you can recomend cpho1 I would greatly appriciate a PM with name of the Surveyor.

And to pay a bit extra to know the electrical and heating part, fine. Rather that than having an unplessant suprise.

Thanks,

Evase

Im based in Cork unfortunately Evase, sorry i cant help more. For reference I had someone survey my foul and storm drains, and pressure test the heating and water systems and it cost me ~€250 from memory. Electrics will be a €100 job, I had a mate look after me.

evase

cpoh1 wrote: »

Im based in Cork unfortunately Evase, sorry i cant help more. For reference I had someone survey my foul and storm drains, and pressure test the heating and water systems and it cost me ~€250 from memory. Electrics will be a €100 job, I had a mate look after me.

That's to bad. Cork is a bit to far for it to be easy to "import" him/her do Dublin...

That is realy well spent money and not much considiering what we spend on the house itself. Would you be willing to ask him/her if he/she can recomend someone in the Dublin area?

evase

Ted1: Thank you for the tip. I kind of included that in "building materials that might be hazardous to one's health" but offcourse you can also get that from the ground the house stands on and that is not a part of the building materials.

Mikeyjames9: Do you have any person with such competence and experience for that kind of an inspection that you could recomend?

Anyone who konws where to find a surveyor for the heating system? Googeling it I only find jobb adds.

RORY O CONNOR

I think you are expecting too much.


A typical survey would cover the following areas:

Structural inspection
Condition survey
Check for damp and leaking plumbing (only possible above ground)
Circuit testing of plug sockets for faults.
Loft is entered to check roof timbers for rot/woodworm and evidence of roof leaks, intact party wall, water tank, insulation levels.
Checking heating system for function.
Advice on energy improvements.
Advise on any planning or boundary issues in the property.
Lift manhole covers.
If practical to do so lifting small areas of carpet in older houses.

A survey is a visual inspection only and some of the things on your list are in closed off areas and impossible to view such as the wiring, the drains-a CCTV inspection is the only way to do that and that would be €400 on it own.

As for compliance with current building regs the property can only comply with those regs in force at the time of construction not applied retrospectively.

As for building material hazardous to health that might be asbestos roofing and flues-not used for some time.

You cannot reasonable expect someone to enter a small space to see if there is damp or fungus!A loft space should be entered but not small confined spaces where they may be a deficiency of oxygen.

evase

Thank you all for your input. The survey took place yesterday.

Kind regards,

Evase

kkelliher

the main reason for limitations on surveys is the fact they are a merely visual inspection because they take place on a property that is not owned by the person who instructs the survey. alot of cause for concern would be hidden and require opening up which cant be done without permission of the owner.
there is also no market for this level of service in ireland as most people base the decision on cost of survey so its limited what you get for these standard fees

Doop

Definitely expecting to much....

The only way to find out for definite about pyrite would be to dig up the floor and take a sample of the hardcore to send for testing..