Surveyor got construction type wrong, what rights do I have?

[phatboy]

I will try to keep this short and emotion-free, as I tend to get angry about it as it's an expensive issue!

A RICS member surveyor performed a Mortgage Valuation Report on the property we have since purchased. On this report, the building is noted as being of cavity blockwork construction.

Since purchasing and beginning improvements, we have discovered that in fact the building is solid blockwork - 9" blocks laid on their sides.

The surveyor has said it was an easy mistake to make as the walls were quite thick, and that it doesn't effect the value of the property. They are basically not interested in any further discussion.

I now need to remediate this, as we are suffering from damp walls and mould that I regularly have to clean up with bleach. The solution seems to be external wall insulation of 90mm to achieve the current required U value.

Is it reasonable for me to expect the surveyor to pay for this work, as his report was incorrect? Can I reasonably argue that he was negligent? If we had known this, we would have offered less for the property so that we could afford the insulation, or more likely decided against the purchase.

Any and all opinions appreciated!

 

[phatboy]

I should also add, I paid for the report, not the bank. And I was given a choice of surveyors to use.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You will not get anywhere and furthermore there are thousands of houses with solid walls without any damp issues and thousands of houses with cavity walls that do have damp issues. Your problem is not fundamentally caused by wall construction.

 

[phatboy]

You will not get anywhere and furthermore there are thousands of houses with solid walls without any damp issues and thousands of houses with cavity walls that do have damp issues. Your problem is not fundamentally caused by wall construction.

Could you explain a bit more? I thought that a house with solid walls must suffer from condensation related damp, as the walls will always be cold in the winter so moist air in the house will stick to it. Even with ventilation it will be an issue.

So the surveyor can reasonably say they were wrong, but it's OK to be wrong even though I paid for a service?

Thanks
Tim

 

[^woody^]

The solution to your condensation is not just external wall insulation. Other remedies are available.

You paid for and got a valuation. If the valuation is correct, the contract has been performed without negligence.

If you wanted a cavity walled house, then you should have specifically instructed a survey for that, not just a valuation.

 

[Millwright]

If this is the 'valuation' which the mortgage company require before deciding that they will lend on it, then you're not going to get anywhere with this. If that's the case, then it's easy to get hung up on what they say in their report.

If it's a 'survey' you've paid in good faith that the surveyor knows what they are talking about (which is very rare), then that's another matter. But as you've said it's a valuation, then this is simply for the mortgage company to base whether or not they are prepared to lend on the property, which is something that has to be paid for whether we like it or not.

 

[phatboy]

The solution to your condensation is not just external wall insulation. Other remedies are available.

What other solutions are available to me? Internal insulation I guess, any others?

It very much annoys me that the construction type is incorrectly noted. If the report is just to see if the property is worth the sale price, couldn't it just be a big tick box they complete, saying 'Yes' or 'No' ? Why bother including the other fields such as 'construction type', and '% flat roof' etc. etc. if they may be wrong, and if they are it doesn't matter?

I suppose as the person feeling angry and let down with the quality of the report, I still feel I employed a professional who wrote in their expert opinion what the construction was, and they were wrong. If they didn't know, they should have noted that it was uncertain. I would have then conducted further research. I seem to have mistakenly thought that the qualified professional would check that the building construction was.

And we aren't talking about a £100 report, it was considerably more than that!

 

[phatboy]

If this is the 'valuation' which the mortgage company require before deciding that they will lend on it, then you're not going to get anywhere with this. If that's the case, then it's easy to get hung up on what they say in their report.

If it's a 'survey' you've paid in good faith that the surveyor knows what they are talking about (which is very rare), then that's another matter. But as you've said it's a valuation, then this is simply for the mortgage company to base whether or not they are prepared to lend on the property, which is something that has to be paid for whether we like it or not.

It is a valuation, but maybe unusually with my lender, I instructed the surveyor and paid them directly. So it is my report, for the benefit of the lender, if that makes any difference?

 

[^woody^]

No. A valuation survey is just that, to provide a valuation. The mistake about the walls is insignificant, and if it does not affect the valuation then it makes no difference. You are not paying for a description of the walls, you are paying for an opinion of cost to buy the walls

 

[Millwright]

If this is the 'valuation' which the mortgage company require before deciding that they will lend on it, then you're not going to get anywhere with this. If that's the case, then it's easy to get hung up on what they say in their report.

If it's a 'survey' you've paid in good faith that the surveyor knows what they are talking about (which is very rare), then that's another matter. But as you've said it's a valuation, then this is simply for the mortgage company to base whether or not they are prepared to lend on the property, which is something that has to be paid for whether we like it or not.

It is a valuation, but maybe unusually with my lender, I instructed the surveyor and paid them directly. So it is my report, for the benefit of the lender, if that makes any difference?

It's a valuation and no more, not a report as such and not a survey.