Who do I need for a pre purchase survey

3littlefish

Registered User
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Hi,

I'm looking at buying my next house. On previous purchases we used a family friend to do our survey. I believe he was a Quantity Surveyor and always did a good job for us.

He is no longer available and I'm not sure what type of professional we need to do a survey. The word Surveyor seems to be somewhat non specific as there appear to be a number of different types. Also whats the difference in using an "Surveyor" vs an "Engineer"


Is there a general rule of thumb on what type of professional you need for the type of property you are looking at buying?

> Surveyor (Chartered, Quantity, etc? )
> Engineer (Civil, Building, Structural etc?)
> Architect etc

Any advice is appreciated

Thanks
 
Is there a general rule of thumb on what type of professional you need for the type of property you are looking at buying?

> Surveyor (Chartered, Quantity, etc? )
> Engineer (Civil, Building, Structural etc?)
> Architect etc

What you're looking for is a snag list. All of these professionals are capable of preparing one for you.
 
What you're looking for is a snag list. All of these professionals are capable of preparing one for you.
Not necessarily.
A snag list might do if it's a new build.
If not then a more detailed structural survey might be in order.
But it really depends on the specific property, age, condition etc.
 
As Clubman says
plus it depends on what any lender might want as the ante is going up all the time.
In addition, any structural survey theses days requires invasive examination so you need to determine what your survey requires and if the seller will allow such invasive activities such as cutting out plasterboard to look at the bearings for steel beams etc.
The drive-by surveys are well gone
 
I thought that lenders still did their own valuation survey (which, at least in the past, wasn't exactly detailed in most cases)?
Have things changed?
Do they require the borrower to do more detailed surveys in some or all cases?
I agree with you about the possibly need for invasive surveys in some cases (especially older properties) and it perhaps being difficult to get seller/EA agreement to same for obvious reasons...
 
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