What should a property survey include?

Hi,

I recently had a Survey done of a 2 bedroom apartment and was very disappointed with the report I received.

By default should a survey include instrument measurements or in general is it only a visual inspection?

In total the report was three pages long and was very vague with recommendations and lacking detail. One of these pages was just "I recommend you have a professional plumber, electrician, boiler inspector review the apartment. We're not responsible for x y and z".

This cost me €400.

looksee

They are useless, you would figure more out standing outside and looking at the property. The only reason to get one done is that the bank demands them.

Gumbo

They check for any signs of planning irregularities too. In an apartment it's a simple survey in fairness, the big issue would be to check sire stopping and compartmentation but it's impossible without opening up works and they are not allowed do that.

But no, you would not get measured plans as part of a building survey unless agreed on before hand and paid for obviously.

€400 was quite expensive for an apartment imo

Zzippy

That's pretty poor for €400. I got a survey done on a large house before for not much more than that - very detailed comprehensive report covering structure, any damp problems, roof tiles and joists, all walls, floors, doors and windows, heating system, electrics, plumbing, waste water treatment, insulation, etc. For each category if there were any problems this was detailed with a recommendation on what needed to be done, although costs were not included. I wouldn't be happy with what you got for that money OP.

Geuze

looksee wrote: »

They are useless, you would figure more out standing outside and looking at the property. The only reason to get one done is that the bank demands them.

The bank typically demands a valuation, to protect the bank, typical charge 100-150.

The prospective buyer of an older house should get a structural survey, to protect the buyer, typical charge 300-400?

Gumbo

Geuze wrote: »

The bank typically demands a valuation, to protect the bank, typical charge 100-150.

The prospective buyer of an older house should get a structural survey, to protect the buyer, typical charge 300-400?

Just to clarify, it's not a structural survey. It's a visual conditional survey. We check formate usual things like signs of extensions, planning issues, items that would normally require planning.

Yes,,roof members are insp ct d and commented on, but no opening works take place so it's just a visual comment of roof rafters if visible. Looking for signs of damp, mould, maybe Jap knot weed etc

A structural survey is a separate survey and requires access to foundations, and will tak a patch from the walls to see their build up.

riclad

IF you want to buy an apartment ,find out when it was built,
the electrical wiring should be ok if its less than 20 years old .An apartment is part of a
large building ,its not possible for a surveyor to go up into an attic ,or
open walls as he might do in the survey of a house.Its not the job of a surveyor to inspect the boiler or the electrical system ,if you have acess you can look at the consumer unit,fusebox,
this will give you info on how old the wiring is .

Thanks for all the replies.

The bank had its own evaulation done and that was very focused on what will the property rent for, is demand high, is it worth the mortgague etc.

I called my surveyor and he clarified a lot of things in the report and confirmed he checked for damp etc using measurement tools, just didn't find anything so didn't include it in the report.

Really just surprised he doesn't have a template for this, especially as it's his primary job. I coudln't imagine giving any of my clients a report that was more like an essay dump than a structured document.

riclad

Maybe he could not find any serious issues with the apartment,
so the survey is very short and simple ,
my survey was 3 pages long,it
very detailed, my survey was on a 3bed house 90 years old.

intheclouds

riclad wrote: »

Maybe he could not find any serious issues with the apartment,
so the survey is very short and simple ,
my survey was 3 pages long,
very detailed, survey on house 90 years old.

3 pages?

I just received a 45 page document for a survey on a less than 20 year old semi d!

karenalot

I received a 50 page document for a house I had surveyed last year. It cost me €500 but the house was 3000 sq ft and very old and a project. While an apt wouldn't have the kind of issues my place had a 3 page document would barely tell you anything about a property.

I use my own report as a directory of whats wrong with the house and what needs to be repaired over time, I'd be lost without it. Below is the index of the report.


Table of Contents:

1: The Property:
1.1 Type and Age
1.2 Outbuildings and Parking
1.3 Location and Orientation
2: Circumstance of the inspection:
2.1 Weather
2.2 Limitations
2.3 Construction terms explained
3: The building exterior:
3.1 Roof construction and covering
3.2 Chimney stacks and flues
3.3 Rainwater gutters and downpipes
3.4 Main walls
3.5 External joinery and glazing
3.6 External decoration
4: The building interior:
4.1 Roof spaces
4.2 Ceilings
4.3 Floors
4.4 Internal walls and partitions
4.5 Fireplaces and flues
4.6 Internal joinery
4.7 Internal decoration
4.8 Cellars and vaults
4.9 Other
4.10 Dampness / Mould / Ventilation
4.11 Condensation and insulation
4.12 Timber decay and beetle infestation
4:13 Sanitary ware and bathrooms
5.0: The services
5.1 Electrical
5.2 Gas/Oil
5.3 Water supply
5.4 Heating
5.5 Drainage
6.0: The Site
6.1 Garage and outbuildings
6.2 Grounds and boundaries
6.3 Footpaths
7.0: Deleterious and problematic materials
7.1: Deleterious materials
8.0: Environmental hazards
8.1: Flooding risk
8.2: Tree proximity
8.3: Radon risk
8.4: Electromagnetic fields and microwave exposure
8.5 Vermin
8.6 Carbon Monoxide
8.7 Other
9.0: Legal matters
9.1 Legal
9.2 Managements services / charges
10.0: Summary of advice
10.1 Urgent repairs
10.2 Further investigations
10.3 Maintenance matters
11.0: Overall opinion
11.1 Recommendations
12.0: Photographs
13.0: Appendix

riclad

my survey was in 97 ,it was very detailed ,it listened all the repairs needed ,and cost of repairs ,
down to replace 2 windows , fix some roof tiles .

it did not mention
5.0: The services
5.1 Electrical
5.2 Gas/Oil
5.3 Water supply
5.4 Heating
5.5 Drainage
6.0: The Site
6.1 Garage and outbuildings
6.2 Grounds and boundaries
6.3 Footpaths
7.0: Deleterious and problematic materials
7.1: Deleterious materials
8.0: Environmental hazards
8.1: Flooding risk
8.2: Tree proximity
8.3: Radon risk
8.4: Electromagnetic fields and microwave exposure
8.5 Vermin
8.6 Carbon Monoxide
8.7 Other
9.0: Legal matters
9.1 Legal
9.2 Managements services / charges

a house has no service charges, usually.
it was obvious it needed a total rewiring. new decoration ,
new pvc windows .
it has no garage .
theres no trees near the house,
its surrounded by 3 walls .
i dont expect legal advice from a structural surveyor .
i have my own solicitor for legal advice .
the boundarys are clear, terraced house with 3 walls at the rear yard .
just a back yard ,theres no footpaths .

Many of the longer reports are produced by template programmes and end up being padded out by CYA statements and blah blah etc. Three pages sounds a bit amateur though, but it could be that you've found a surveyor who is an excellent surveyor but a poor writer.

Gumbo

Deleted User wrote: »

Many of the longer reports are produced by template programmes and end up being padded out by CYA statements and blah blah etc. Three pages sounds a bit amateur though, but it could be that you've found a surveyor who is an excellent surveyor but a poor writer.

+1

I've carried out dilapidation surveys on warehouse units that 3 pages were enough.

Turtle_

kceire wrote: »

+1

I've carried out dilapidation surveys on warehouse units that 3 pages were enough.

As have I. Long doesn't automatically mean good, it just means long. It also can mean real issues are buried in a heap of verbose waffle about non-essential stuff.

3 pages for an apartment sounds fine. Inspection reports I do draw attention to anything that may need fixing, but I see no need to spend pages and pages telling people what's fine. I'll mention that everything appears to be mostly in order, but here's what caught my attention... As for measurements, I'll check damp readings when I'm there but unless something is wrong I'm not putting in a string of readings, I'll just say there are no apparent problems with damp. Obviously in addition to visual signs. Anything I call up in a report is accompanied by a photo, included in the report. If something needs fixing I'll also give an outline of how it can be fixed. But I fail to see how a report can be 50 pages long without also being full of absolute waffle.

intheclouds

Turtle_ wrote: »

But I fail to see how a report can be 50 pages long without also being full of absolute waffle.

Full of photographs mine was. I'd say if you pulled out all the photos there was only abut 7-8 pages of text.

ted1

looksee wrote: »

They are useless, you would figure more out standing outside and looking at the property. The only reason to get one done is that the bank demands them.

Banks don't demand them. Banks require a valuation

Gumbo

intheclouds wrote: »

Full of photographs mine was. I'd say if you pulled out all the photos there was only abut 7-8 pages of text.

Makes mor sense now. I wouldn't include the photos in the number of pages I quoted above.

ted1

riclad wrote: »

my survey was in 97 ,it was very detailed ,it listened all the repairs needed ,and cost of repairs ,
down to replace 2 windows , fix some roof tiles .

it did not mention
5.0: The services
5.1 Electrical
5.2 Gas/Oil
5.3 Water supply
5.4 Heating
5.5 Drainage
6.0: The Site
6.1 Garage and outbuildings
6.2 Grounds and boundaries
6.3 Footpaths
7.0: Deleterious and problematic materials
7.1: Deleterious materials
8.0: Environmental hazards
8.1: Flooding risk
8.2: Tree proximity
8.3: Radon risk
8.4: Electromagnetic fields and microwave exposure
8.5 Vermin
8.6 Carbon Monoxide
8.7 Other
9.0: Legal matters
9.1 Legal
9.2 Managements services / charges

a house has no service charges, usually.
it was obvious it needed a total rewiring. new decoration ,
new pvc windows .
it has no garage .
theres no trees near the house,
its surrounded by 3 walls .
i dont expect legal advice from a structural surveyor .
i have my own solicitor for legal advice .
the boundarys are clear, terraced house with 3 walls at the rear yard .
just a back yard ,theres no footpaths .

I'd say you got a generic survey and very little was written after the survey was done

intheclouds

kceire wrote: »

Makes mor sense now. I wouldn't include the photos in the number of pages I quoted above.

Yeah I was surprised by the amount of pics, but no harm to illustrate what's being said about where.

riclad

I did not a generic survey, i got a list of all the issues and repairs needed and the cost to fix them in detail .in this particular house.
i did not expect to get legal advice ,or advice on trees, or garages ,footpaths that are not there .
So i have no idea why you are saying its generic.
theres no issues with the site ,no risk of flooding, its on top of a hill .
so why would a survey mention those things .
Theres probably a generic list of issues on every surveyors laptop that might need to be adressed In any building ,eg radon, risk of flooding.