Should I be complaining to my building surveyor?

[^woody^]

to be fair that's std surveyor speak, never over or under state anything, he hasn't lied

He's negligently commented on (is not commented on) a structural matter that is within the competence of a building surveyor and one which has significance for a client relying on such a report.

Any building survey, would be expected to include comment on a such a structural item, in plain view, and corroded as ****. Even if it is too say, as you allude to "the steel column has corroded to nothing, but it's alright as if it was doing anything, the reinforced slab would have come down by now"

 

[wessex101]

The key point here is were all the columns fully visible at the time of inspection. The OP stated it took them several weeks to notice it so it sounds like it was not that obvious.

It could be that the room was full of junk and only part of one of the columns was visible, and that part was only lightly corroded. Personally I would have expected the surveyor to follow the trail of evidence and either try to investigate the base of the columns or flag it up as being inaccessible and possibly requiring further investigation. However I suspect what they have included in their report is adequate for a "competent" surveyor if the columns were obscured at the time of the inspection.

Claiming it is on mains drainage when it is in fact on a septic tank is a bit of a howler, but it is unusual for a surveyor to make that claim so I suspect they were told that it was on mains drainage or used words like "assume" or "appears".

Having said that it is always worth talking to the firm and possibly following their formal complaints procedure and maybe going to the ombudsman if you think you are due some compensation.

Out of curiosity how much was the survey?

 

[Nakajo]

Experience has taught me to hold no such expectations of building surveyors.

 

[^woody^]

Experience has taught me to hold no such expectations of building surveyors.

No one expects the unexpected! Our chief weapon is surprise, fear and surprise; two chief weapons, fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency.

 

[d000hg]

To clarify on the "not that accessible" point, they are pretty obvious features of the room... one is right in the middle! What I meant is that it's not a space we regularly use, it's effectively a cellar so we simply didn't go in there for some time after moving in.
When we looked round there was some stuff in there but it was by no means full to the ceiling. We didn't notice the problem so probably a box was in front of the base of that pillar, but the moment I noticed there was some rust I spent 30s looking at all 3 and it was very obviously a problem. That is surely within the scope of what a surveyor should do.

In terms of "they weren't exactly incorrect to say it is corroded", well sure. But this was labelled on the survey report in the same severity as about 100 other things including "the wooden windows need painting periodically".
Crucially, it did not say "this should be inspected more thoroughly" which is what the survey says for anything they deem even slightly at risk, it's their go-to cop-out clause in case something more serious is hidden

It seems there is a variety of opinion but putting that to one side, IF I do feel aggrieved should I start by simply emailing my contact to raise it, or should I go straight in via a solicitor, or something in-between? I'm not litigious by nature but the fact is I would not have paid what I did knowing this problem existed. If they had even said "you need to have this checked out" I would've been forewarned.

 

[Stingray13]

Wrong comment - What I was going to say is contact the company tell them your issues (in writing) and then they may provide you with evidence they couldn't get access to see what you can see maybe the previous owners had it full up... Don't assume the worse but I would complain and ask for clarification

 

[Doggit]

It seems there is a variety of opinion but putting that to one side, IF I do feel aggrieved should I start by simply emailing my contact to raise it, or should I go straight in via a solicitor, or something in-between? I'm not litigious by nature but the fact is I would not have paid what I did knowing this problem existed. If they had even said "you need to have this checked out" I would've been forewarned.

You haven't mentione whether it was full survey, in which case he's failed, or it was a general survey, and he couldn't be bothered to move things. Start by contacting the surveyors you hired for the job to raise your concerns, because if nothing else, they need to know the quality of those they subcontract to. Litigation can come later if there's no satisfactory resolution to their response.

 

[wessex101]

Just to clarify, accessibility/visibility at the time of the inspection, not once you moved in. You would be surprised at the piles of clutter that surveyors have to face when doing their survey, some of it probably placed deliberately to hide defects.

Generally the standard of building surveys have plummeted over the last 20 years or so, especially if you use the large national firms, so it would not surprise me if the surveyor did in fact just miss it, but giving them the benefit of the doubt it could have been hidden at the time of his visit.

If it is an RICS firm the complaints procedure is very simple. Initially just contact the firm to discuss your concerns. If you are not satisfied with the outcome then you escalate to their formal complaints procedure. Every RICS firm must have a written formal complaints procedure, one where complaints are investigated internally. If you are still not satisfied with the outcome you can escalate it to the relevant ombudsman scheme that the firm is a member of, again all RICS firms must be in an ombudsman scheme. This is free and again very simple. No need for solicitors or any nonsense like that.

 

[chappers]

To clarify on the "not that accessible" point, they are pretty obvious features of the room... one is right in the middle! What I meant is that it's not a space we regularly use, it's effectively a cellar so we simply didn't go in there for some time after moving in.
When we looked round there was some stuff in there but it was by no means full to the ceiling. We didn't notice the problem so probably a box was in front of the base of that pillar, but the moment I noticed there was some rust I spent 30s looking at all 3 and it was very obviously a problem. That is surely within the scope of what a surveyor should do.

.

Again as others have asked, what type of survey did you pay for, unless a full structural survey, then the surveyor won't go moving furniture or possessions, lifting carpets etc and as such, just like you probably couldn't see the base of the piers.
You need to go back and check your contract.

However moving on what do you hope to achieve; are you after your money back or further compensation against a possible lower offer you may have made or against the fact you might not have bought the property etc.

 

[d000hg]

None of the types of survey offered included moving stuff or climbing under floorboards... Having checked the RICS templates this seems to be the case, a home buyer and building survey are seemingly similar in terms of inspection but differ in the report one gets.

Either way, if he saw one was corroded and that there were two others he couldn't inspect, that warrants "we recommend further inspection" not "requires maintenance"... They are by nature very conservative people.

 

[^woody^]

the property has a side-conservatory with an under-room (like a cellar but not underground). We understand this was a conversion from a large greenhouse, with a rather old reinforced concrete floor supported by ancient steel girders. These girders are exposed and the survey report simply says in passing:

Is this a room with access, or some sort of hidden cubby hole accessed by a secret labyrinth?

If the former, its part of the survey.

 

[d000hg]

Definitely a room albeit with external access i.e. you have to go outside and in through its own door. It also has the house above it so it's fairly important in terms of support!

 

[chappers]

you are basically coming to understand the uselessness of most of these surveys, they are always so ambiguous , non committal and full of get out clauses.

 

[d000hg]

Well to an extent, but the surveyor did ring me up to point out two or three areas he though were particularly worth further inspection. If he'd included the fact an I been holding up a floor was rusted through, this would've been most helpful.

Anyway it seems I should in the first instance simply write to the firm, politely but clearly pointing out a possible problem, rather than getting all pushy? Should I give details or ask them to send their chap out to see first hand?

 

[^woody^]

The complaints procedure is written in the standard T&C's that you agreed to - either in the report or on a separate sheet.