Can anyone recommend a surveyor in West Berkshire? I want to get a structural survey done as the house we’re doing has had (fixed) subsidence in the past.

Any recommendations or advice on how to find one are welcomed!

https://www.ricsfirms.com/

Thanks Jakester- hard to work out from that list which companies specialise in structual surveys. Guess i’ll trawl the websites.

Well, you can narrow down once you’ve put in your area, and I would have thought most building surveyors should be able to do a building survey and identify subsidence where present – select subsidence as a speciality.

Unless you want a structural engineer? That’s a different thing to a surveyor though.

Hmmm, not sure what i want then! Basically the house had a tree in the front garden that caused subsidence – this resulted in an insurance claim and the house was fixed with a certificate of structual adequacy. I now want someone independent to go and look at it and say yes looks fine (ideally with some insurance that if it turns out not to be fine, I can claim against).

Get a building surveyor to do the initial investigation – they will be mostly useless but you wont pay much.

I doubt you will get anyone to say its fine now. Why would anyone put their head on the block for something they know nothing about?

If you think you might want a structural engineer, look on https://www.findanengineer.com

Pick Domestic: Tree/vegetation safety from the Structural Specialisms list and type West Berkshire in the location.

Get a building surveyor to do the initial investigation – they will be mostly useless but you wont pay much.

My understanding was that there were three levels of survey – the basic valuation (what the mortgage company does anyway), the homebuyers report (the useless one full of caveats), and a full building survey. It was the last one I was assuming I need – I was expecting to pay 1500 quid or so?

Really I want someone to look at the house, look at the reports from the subsidence work, and say – “yep that looks about right subject to x y and z”.

Why would anyone put their head on the block for something they know nothing about?

I assumed because they’d be able to look at the documentation, look at the current condition, and then take the risk on after i’ve paid them 1500 quid.

Is this a house you own or one you are looking at buying?

How did you find out about the subsidence, via solicitor? If so did they see any paperwork confirming that it was rectified to the building insurers requirements?

It’s a house i’m buying. I found out because i spotted they’d removed a willow tree from their front garden (looked at sat view before i viewed) and there is only one reason people remove willow trees! Once i asked, the estate agent was up front and supplied documents.

In that case I’d say find a building surveyor through ricsfirms.com and ask for a full structural survey for a house you are considering purchasing. Explain to them what you have explained to us and they will take it from there. Make sure the surveyor you use is RICS registered as they then have the required professional indemnity insurances.

Whatever you do, understand that even a rectified and signed off structural repair is not risk free. Building insurance will likely be more expensive and problems with the repair measures can take years to become apparent by which point you’ll be left having to make a claim in some form.

Thanks airvent – yes understood that it’s not risk free. To be honest we’re going into it with our eyes open and semi expecting to pay something substantial down the way – just trying to minimise that risk.

It does get me back to my original question of identifying a good RCIS surveyor tho 🙂

I’m a surveyor but not from that area so couldnt give any recommendations really, but any firm that is RICS registered is held to the very high standards of the institution and in theory should all be highly competent at what they do. Perhaps give a few of them a ring and chat about what you’re after, you should get a good gut feeling from the right one and I always think if the chartered surveyor or director is the person who picks up the phone and speaks to you rather than a receptionist, you are in good hands. Make sure they have an RICS Home Surveys License – this is a specific license from the RICS that firms must have if they offer HomeBuyer surveys.

Ask them to request copies of certificates and sign off from the original structural works probably from the sellers estate agent. They should provide these because if they can’t or won’t that is a dead giveaway not to proceed any further!

They may charge an additional fee for investigating this as a specific defect in addition to the overall report for the building – that is normal and your report should still come in under your 1500 quid.

Thanks airvent, that is very helpful advice – esp in regards to who answers the phone!

@Ewan, I’m a building surveyor so, yes, probably useless. Agree with Airvent. I’d just say that I think the best you can expect is a comment like “no visible evidence of current subsidence”. Intrusive investigation (ie digging holes to inspect the underpinning etc) would be necessary to enable a more specific report.

@Squirrel – sorry I wasn’t implying surveyors were useless! Just that the homebuyers report thing was (based on my experience) useless for this purpose.

@Ewan. No worries mate, I would have added a winking emoji if I knew how to! I can give you the details of a Structural Engineer in Sandhurst if you want to try that option.

@Squirrel – not sure which way to go yet, but if you could ping me their details on PM that would be very helpful.

PM sent…….hopefully!