Our Building Surveyors create surveys that will allow you to make informed decisions relating to your property, helping you to move forward with confidence. Our reports are clear and written in a manner that will allow you to understand your building. We are happy to discuss a bespoke service if none of the following meets your requirements.
A building survey is a comprehensive and holistic visual inspection of as much of the building as possible; all elements of the building are inspected by our building surveyors and reported upon. As we are not services engineers we provide a first stage inspection of services and the report will advise what further inspection, tests or checks might be necessary and appropriate. The report aims to provide full and detailed advice with regard to the issues that we find usually concern clients, being: structural movement, timber infestations and rot, and dampness. With the report will be a lengthy appendix including supplementary generic technical advice included guidance on priorities for any works identified as requiring attention at some future date and will include initial guidance on likely costs. The surveys are equivalent to a Level 3 RICS survey report.
Elements Report
We sometimes find that clients do not want a report on the whole building but on specific elements. The result is a comprehensive report but on the pre-agreed elements of the building. The most common version of this would be a report that only addresses the walls, roofs, and floors (together with timber and damp). The elements that we include or exclude would be discussed with the client in advance and the report tailored to the client’s requirement. The generic appendices would be included in the report.
Highlights Report
For a highlights report the inspection is the same as for a building survey. The primary difference here is that the written report is less comprehensive and focuses on providing a summary of recommendations without any detailed discussion of the various elements, et cetera. This form of report is probably more appropriate for those who have had a building survey report in the past and/or do not require the detailed discussion aspect of the full building survey. It is in a different format to a building survey but we include the standard generic appendices with the report.
Condition Surveys
A condition report will involve a comprehensive inspection of the property but the report format will be tailored to the client’s requirements. The report may be on only certain elements or aspects of the property or it can address the whole building. Condition surveys are often commissioned where a client wants a general overview of the property without too much detail or where there are a series of properties for which the client requires a general overview of the condition. This type of report can sometimes accompany a schedule of condition; in commercial situations, this may relate to the granting of a lease whereby the schedule may be attached to the lease as a record of the building’s condition at the commencement.
Defect Analysis
Where an owner of the building or potential purchaser of the building requires a report considering only one specific defect, we can provide a bespoke report dealing with that one issue. We are often called upon to provide such a service where a client has experienced a specific problem that needs to be analysed and a remedial solution identified. Sometimes, we are called upon to provide a report following a mortgage valuation where a specific defect has been mentioned and the purchaser requires a report on that specific matter. These reports will be created as bespoke reports to suit the client’s requirements.
Maintenance & Works Planning
We are often approached by clients who want to plan ahead. In such situations, our building surveyors can provide a programme for maintenance and works over perhaps a 5 or 10 year period to give the client some guidance as to how to prioritise matters and to assist in budgeting. In preparation of such, we would work closely with the client and/or their contractors to prepare a document that will provide a useful reference in future years.
Party Wall Surveyors
Our surveyors are trained to deal with party wall matters with the surveyors being members of the Pyramus & Thisbe Club. Whitworth Partner and Building Surveyor Stephen Boniface is a member of The Academy of Experts and The Society of Expert Witnesses. We can provide early advice on whether the Party Wall Act will apply and what notices might need to be served. If the matter has progressed and a formal appointment of party wall surveyors is needed, we can accept appointments for the building owner, the adjoining owner or jointly.
Our building surveyors have a great many years of service. They’ve seen it all and done it all, so they know what to expect when going into a project. That means you can be confident that the information relayed in their surveys will be accurate and reliable.