GENERAL QUESTIONS

WHAT TYPE OF SURVEY DO I NEED?

STRUCTURAL SURVEY

If the property that you are buying either cash or with a mortgage is freehold then we will carry out a structural survey. A structural survey looks in depth at the property and identifies any problems and recommends solutions as well as giving cost estimates on work. All this information is summarised in the Executive Summary on the property at the start of our report.

A structural survey will allow you to negotiate on the property price and purchase the building at the right price with the repairs and defects being taken into consideration. You no doubt will be surprised with the cost of work as well as the inconvenience it can cause.

Phone us on free phone 0800 298 5424 and we will be more than happy to email you an example of one of our surveys. As all surveys are not the same we do believe that our surveys are the best pound for pound that money can buy.

BUYING A LEASEHOLD PROPERTY

PROPERTY REPORT

If you are buying a leasehold property which is where you are letting the property for a number of years from anything from three to five to ten years or older leases of twenty or twenty five years or even more than this we can provide you with a Property Report which is also known as a Pre-Lease Report or Structural Survey. This document can be used to negotiate the price of the lease where often reductions can be achieved.

Call us on free phone 0800 298 5424 to learn more about how we can help.

Schedule of Condition

We can provide a Schedule of Condition, which is a detailed record of the condition of the property and should be legally appended to the lease to limit your future liabilities as most leases are Full Repairing and Insuring (FRI) leases which means you are responsible for everything.

Free phone 0800 298 5424 and we will be happy to talk through how important having a Schedule of Condition is to protect you.

HOW MUCH WILL A SURVEY COST?

It will depend upon how much time it takes, we budget for both the Surveyors time and also a secretaries time. Both are experienced in this type of work and therefore will work quickly, efficiently and accurately. It is always best to phone us to get our best prices. We do have to add that we do believe our surveys are of a high standard and of course we have many unique areas that we cover that other Surveyors simply do not.

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DO YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE OF CARRYING OUT SURVEYS ON WAREHOUSES WITH OFFICES?

Yes, free phone us on 0800 298 5424 and we will send you examples of warehouses we have carried out surveys on with offices.

DO YOU LOOK AT THE ROOFS OF THE PROPERTY?

We always recommend looking at the roofs as this can be the major problem area and after all if you think about it the surface area of the roof can be twenty percent plus of the entire building. As the roof is an area that is hidden from view we would always recommend using a cherrypicker to view. We have used many sorts of cherrypickers over the years; if you call us on free phone 0800 298 5424 with the height of the building we can recommend which cherrypicker to use and also usually where you can hire one from.

THE PAINT IS FADING ON THE METAL PROFILE SHEETS AND AROUND THE WINDOWS AND DOORS ON THE PROPERTY WHAT CAN I DO?

We have frequently come across this problem particularly where the warehouse and offices are old and dated with little maintenance or where they are subject to a lot of sunlight. You can if you are not careful end up re-decorating and repairing badly maintained parts of the property for the landlord which can be a costly experience but is in our experience the norm on a Full Repairing and Insuring lease unless you protect yourself against this by having a survey carried out.

CAN YOU TELL IF THERE ARE PROBLEMS WITH THE FOUNDATIONS?

A good Surveyor should be able to spot if there are problems with subsidence on the foundations or heave or any sort of structural defect by viewing the property. This is a type of problem that you need to be made aware of before you take on a Full Repairing and Insuring lease otherwise you will be the one that has to carry out or pay for the repair. A good building Surveyor will be able to identify not only where the problem is but also give an indication as to what caused the problem.

Structural problems can be identified in a warehouse or industrial building in all sorts of ways from everything from visual indication where cladding materials are deformed to identifying how a building has been built differently to what we typically see. What is known as following the trial is where we see one piece of evidence which then leads us to another piece of evidence until we identify there is a property problem or find that whatever has been carried out may not be structurally sound.

If you want advice regarding foundation problems call us on free phone 0800 298 5424.

WILL YOU IDENTIFY IF THERE IS DAMPNESS IN THE WAREHOUSE?

Yes we use all types of ways of looking for dampness from a visual inspection to very good quality damp resistance meter readers which allow us to look at the density of nearly every material and ascertain from this based upon our knowledge whether the resistance levels are correct and if there is an element of dampness present. We are also well aware that each building has character and as such will have weak areas, which we will particularly inspect.

WILL YOU BE ABLE TO ADVISE IF ASBESTOS IS PRESENT IN YOUR SURVEY?

We do not carry out a specific Asbestos Report but we will certainly advise if we see what we believe to be asbestos and recommend the best way forward.

CAN I SEE AN EXAMPLE SURVEY?

Yes, just call us on free phone 0800 298 5424 we have surveyed every type of property over the years and are certain we can send you an example similar to the property you wish us to survey.

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WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR SURVEYS ARE BETTER THAN OTHER BUILDING SURVEYORS SURVEYS?

We have spent many years looking at different types of properties. We have a unique database that analyses typical property problems for the age, type and style of building, which we have developed for over decade.

Call us on freephone 0800 298 5424 for independent Specialist Surveyors to help with your property.

WHAT IS A DILAPIDATION STRATEGIC ADVICE REPORT?

The aim of a Strategic Dilapidation Report is to minimize our client’s future dilapidation costs. If a Schedule of Dilapidation has been served to the leaseholder we would comment on this and put our client in the best possible position should the claim end up in court.

ON A DILAPIDATION’S STRATEGIC ADVICE REPORT WOULD THE SURVEYOR LIAISE WITH THE LANDLORD IF REQUIRED?

Yes of course, we have negotiated successfully with landlords on many different size projects over many years.

DO THE SURVEYORS USE EVASIVE TECHNIQUES SUCH AS TAKING PLASTER OR BRICK SAMPLES?

Yes we can do but we require written permission from the owners of the building first before we take samples.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SCHEDULE OF CONDITION AND A SCHEDULE OF DILAPS?

A Schedule of Condition is a detailed record of the condition of the property when is leased and helps to protect you and limit your liabilities and responsibilities if a dilapidations claim is issued to you when you come to leave the property.

A Schedule of Dilaps is usually issued by the landlord to the tenant at the end of a lease and from the landlords point is aimed to bring the property up to the condition as set out in the lease.

WHICH USE CLASSES APPLY TO WAREHOUSES?

B1 and B2 are Town and County Planning Act (TPCA) Classes Order

B1 Use/Description is;

Offices, other than a use within class A2 (Financial Services)
Research and development of products or processes
Light industry

General Industry: use for the carrying out of an industrial process other than falling in class B1

RICS WAREHOUSE BUILDING SURVEYORS