Engineer report

cathalsmom

Anyone has idea how much it will cost for property survey when you purchase a property. And any engineer you might recommend? Thanks.

Milly33

would you not get the survey done before buying? I would recommend this unless it is a renovation place get the survey done before signing... Not sure is it aroun €500- €800

cathalsmom

Thanks a mill.

Do you know if the house survey is necessary to carry on?

Balmed Out

I paid 250 twice and 300 once but in West cork

Outkast_IRE

For a competent engineer who will give you a real report and carry out proper checks and not just a generic tickbox report it will cost about €600+ in the city.

I just got this done for a property im purchasing at the moment, i work in a consulting engineering company and about 20 of our staff have used the same guy and all only have good things to say.

If you want the reccomendation feel free to PM me.

With regards is it required, depends on the age and location of the house in my instance the bank only needed the valuers report which is for insurance purposes mostly. The engineers report was our own decision but i think you would be incredibly stupid not to get an engineer to check a house you are buying.

He will spot things and perform checks you will never even think of doing or be able to make a judgement on.

Milly33

I would have thought you had to get one, but I suppose maybe not.. Like Outkast says though it would be daft not to get one before buying.. I have heard of horror stories about people buying and then finding out they had to do a lot more than they thought. If again it is a shell of a house or something that would be knocked anyway fine, but if not. go get one

Roger Hassenforder

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

For a competent engineer who will give you a real report and carry out proper checks and not just a generic tickbox report it will cost about €600+ in the city.

I just got this done for a property im purchasing at the moment, i work in a consulting engineering company and about 20 of our staff have used the same guy and all only have good things to say.

If you want the reccomendation feel free to PM me.

With regards is it required, depends on the age and location of the house in my instance the bank only needed the valuers report which is for insurance purposes mostly. The engineers report was our own decision but i think you would be incredibly stupid not to get an engineer to check a house you are buying.

He will spot things and perform checks you will never even think of doing or be able to make a judgement on.

While I agree you'd be a fool not to get one, out of curiosity what checks did your engineer do?

Mine rocked up, shown a torch in the attic, up the chimneys, tapped a few walls, opened an AJ, and fcuked off. 1/2 hour max.
Left a bill for €350.


(Got a guy to do a BER on a house I was trying to sell. He rocked up. First question from him was whether it was detached or semi. It didn't inspire confidence in him).

Outkast_IRE

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

While I agree you'd be a fool not to get one, out of curiosity what checks did your engineer do?

Mine rocked up, shown a torch in the attic, up the chimneys, tapped a few walls, opened an AJ, and fcuked off. 1/2 hour max.
Left a bill for €350.


(Got a guy to do a BER on a house I was trying to sell. He rocked up. First question from him was whether it was detached or semi. It didn't inspire confidence in him).

He did the following and more and spent 2-3hrs at the property.

1. Checked copies of the land registry drawings against the boundary lines to ensure they matched.

2. Visual Survey of all External Walls & Footpaths. Report includes a good desciption of the makeup of the wall construction & offers opinion on if they were structurally sound or not.

3. Internal Walls & Ceilings Inspections - Checking for cracks etc on all internal walls. Checking for staining and cracks on the ceilings

4. Floors - Inspection of the floors for defects both ground floor and 1st floor.

5. Roof- Good description of the roof constuction, notes the insulation and any defects are identified and opinion offered on structural soundness.

6. Drains & Gutters - Flushing toilets, checking AJs while water is running. Checking drainage from kitchen and rain water etc. Any defects noted.

7.Facias, Soffits - Description and opinion offered on condition.

8. Insulation - Simple description of the amount that was visible without opening up works. Opinion offered on how to improve.

8. Ventilation & Dampness - Checked for compliance with building regs and checked for any signs of dampness etc in the building.

9. Windows and Doors - All window and doors checked on ensure they open, close & Lock correctly. - How well the windows and doors are sealing is also checked and noted on the report. In my example he insisted they were serviced as they were not closing flush all around.

10. M&E - Only visual inspection carried out to verify no damaged sockets or boiler isues.


11. Conclusion Offered - Including main items he would reccomend getting the seller to sort out before you progress.


For each one of the items above you can tell the report is only about this property, its not copy and pasted for the most part like other reports i have seen & most importantly it actually offers an opinion. I have seen too many of these reports that will just list 100 simple problems but not actually offer an opinion.

The man himself is a chartered engineer with Engineers Ireland, his background is with one of the largest engineering consultancy companies in the world his education is in structural engineering & he has been doing this type of survey work for about 10 years, with around another 10 years experience in consultancy.

Roger Hassenforder

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

He did the following and more and spent 2-3hrs at the property.

1. Checked copies of the land registry drawings against the boundary lines to ensure they matched.

2. Visual Survey of all External Walls & Footpaths. Report includes a good desciption of the makeup of the wall construction & offers opinion on if they were structurally sound or not.

3. Internal Walls & Ceilings Inspections - Checking for cracks etc on all internal walls. Checking for staining and cracks on the ceilings

4. Floors - Inspection of the floors for defects both ground floor and 1st floor.

5. Roof- Good description of the roof constuction, notes the insulation and any defects are identified and opinion offered on structural soundness.

6. Drains & Gutters - Flushing toilets, checking AJs while water is running. Checking drainage from kitchen and rain water etc. Any defects noted.

7.Facias, Soffits - Description and opinion offered on condition.

8. Insulation - Simple description of the amount that was visible without opening up works. Opinion offered on how to improve.

8. Ventilation & Dampness - Checked for compliance with building regs and checked for any signs of dampness etc in the building.

9. Windows and Doors - All window and doors checked on ensure they open, close & Lock correctly. - How well the windows and doors are sealing is also checked and noted on the report. In my example he insisted they were serviced as they were not closing flush all around.

10. M&E - Only visual inspection carried out to verify no damaged sockets or boiler isues.


11. Conclusion Offered - Including main items he would reccomend getting the seller to sort out before you progress.


For each one of the items above you can tell the report is only about this property, its not copy and pasted for the most part like other reports i have seen & most importantly it actually offers an opinion. I have seen too many of these reports that will just list 100 simple problems but not actually offer an opinion.

The man himself is a chartered engineer with Engineers Ireland, his background is with one of the largest engineering consultancy companies in the world his education is in structural engineering & he has been doing this type of survey work for about 10 years, with around another 10 years experience in consultancy.

Sounds like a proper inspection !

Outkast_IRE

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Sounds like a proper inspection !

It was, to be fair there when you cant perform opening up works all you can comment on is any visual signs of issues, and he makes damn sure to try and catch anything.

A colleague of mine used him, and the house he was inspecting had previously had subsidence work. He identifed a small hairline crack in an exterior wall that should of been repaired as part of the subsidence works if it was visible at the time. He obtained the original report by the engineer who overseen the subsidence work for the insurer and there was no mention of said hairline crack. On that basis he recommeded not pursuing the house unless the cost of potential repairs was taken off the cost of the property.

TheDriver

My guy did approx 3 hours, gave verbal and subsequent written. Obviously cant find all faults unless they drill holes but it was comprehensive. Dare I say even a bit scary /over cautious

cudsy1

hi guys, along with outkasts recommendation, does anyone else know a good engineer whos not busy out the gap around cork city? thanks

TheChizler

Sent you a PM there.

timmyjimmy

Hello all, again, can someone recommend a good engineer to survey a house that i'm thinking of buying. Cheers!