Our Surveys

Did you know that as human beings we spend up to 90% of our time inside? Either in our vehicles or in buildings – much of this, we spend in our homes. This means that our homes are likely to be having a significant impact on our comfort, health and wellbeing.
But how aware of this do you think people are generally?

When asked to select features of their ideal home, homeowners and renters most want a home with the following attributes:
# a place where I feel safe and secure  # a home I can afford to run and maintain# without damp and mould # with good natural light and nice views.
Each of these factors is valued as 3 times more important than a home that will improve in value or have desirability when sold

Condition Report

This is our entry level survey (best comparable to RICS Level 1 survey) which is suitable for newer homes (1980 and later).
We will carry out a thorough, but limited inspection without causing any damage. Service installations will be visually inspected, but not tested.

Our report will include a description of the property’s condition, identifying main risks and will highlight urgent defects. We use a simple rating to identify the condition of key elements of the property.

No pictures, no valuation.

Building Survey

The Building Survey Report is a detailed survey suitable for properties of all ages and types, except larger period properties.

We undertake a thorough and detailed survey of all areas of the property whilst remaining sensitive to the occupants, and of course, without causing damage. Service installations will be visually inspected, but not tested.

Our written report follows the Dutch NEN6727-system which rates condition in 6 levels, from excellent to very poor, clearly indicating areas of concern and includes a limited number of photographs.

The Building Survey Report is best comparable to a RICS Level 3 survey, as described in the RICS Guidance Note: Surveys of Residential Property 3rd edition.
This type of survey does not include a market valuation or reinstatement cost assessment.

Specific defects survey

The scope of this survey involves the forensic examination of particular structural defects. 

Typical issues this will uncover include structural movement, settlement, cracking, damp penetration and roof failures. 

Our report will identify the cause of the problems, their importance, and what needs to be done to remedy the defects.

Project Management and Site supervision

We are regularly appointed to provide full project management services for new built, extensions, conversions, refurbishments, planned maintenance and restoration works to existing buildings, through to new-build schemes.

Project management services range from the initial preparation of drawings, to preparing detailed Specification documents, managing the procurement process, to carrying out final defect inspections on site when work is completed by a contractor.

We are independant and will not provide you a list with contractors. But we will carry out a competitive tender exercise before awarding work and putting a contract in place.

Through the duration of the project, we  will oversee construction standards on site through regular site visits, monitoring timescales and budgets and providing regular progress reports to the client throughout.

ppm survey

In Dutch MJOP (=Meer Jaren Onderhouds Programma) 
Essential for appartments.

Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) surveys are an essential tool that enable building owners to proactively maintain, manage and improve their properties over a period of years.
PPM Reports involve a detailed survey inspection of a property, along with a schedule with recommendations for the coming years, to provide a planned maintenance strategy. Our reports will identify repair projects and provide recommended timescales for undertaking repair works over coming years, and we also provide budget costs so that our clients are able to budget accordingly.

As well as considering disrepair and long-term maintenance requirements, we can also consider health and safety issues, matters of statutory compliance, thermal performance issues and suitability/fitness for purpose, etc. 

valuation

If you are purchasing a new home with a mortgage or re-mortgaging your current home, you will need a Valuation to be conducted. This is to satisfy the lender that the value of the property provides suitable security for the loan they are providing.

Most major mortgage lenders only accept reports from official, independent NWWI (Dutch Housing Evaluation Institute) appraisers. This means the report conforms to the conditions laid down by the NWWI, and being independent means not being involved with the sale of the property.

Valuations required as part of securing a mortgage are also useful as they can highlight any significant issues that would affect the lending, assess the current market value of the property and provide assurance to both the lender and purchaser that the house is worth what they are paying.

The same applies in re-mortgaging situations where an existing home owner/mortgagee wishes to re-mortgage to free up funds, accept a new mortgage deal or transfer to a different lender to get a cheaper borrowing rate.

Approximately one third of all home loans are re-mortgages by people who already own the house but who wish to accept a better deal and replace their existing mortgage. In all cases they require a Valuation.

F.A.Q.

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If you have commissioned a Building Survey then you can request this. We can only offer this by prior arrangement as we have to make sure the vendor is content for this to happen — sometimes they say no — and we also ask for payment before the survey. Please ask when you book your survey. We will give you a time to meet us, which will usually be towards the end of our survey. Any earlier and we won’t be able to tell you anything substantive — please note that we cannot do our job properly if you stay for the whole inspection as it is distracting and prevents us from giving you the best service. We find that usually around 20 minutes is enough for us to explain our findings to you.

The length of time the inspection takes is dependent on the size of the property and the extent of any defects that may be identified. For guidance, an inspection of a typical three-bedroom house in reasonable order may take several hours. Larger properties and properties with multiple defects will take more time. For very big houses two surveyors may work together.

We try, wherever possible, to dispatch our report a day or so after the inspection. Building surveys in particular are often 40 or 50 pages long and are all individually written so this takes time. If required, a brief verbal report can be made available upon receipt of payment.

We are confident in our abilities.

However, our surveys do have ‘get out’ clauses, but we do not hide behind them. Our surveys are always definitive. Basically, we’ll report on what we can see and not on what we can’t. We can’t guess, but we can give a considered opinion.

Our small print will be written clearly, is easy to understand and we stick by our quoted fee.

Check our Survey Terms and Conditions.

Absolutely not! A mortgage valuation is just that, a valuation of the property commissioned by your mortgage or loan lender, and written purely for their benefit to assess the risk of their loan against the resale value of the property.
A survey is written for you as the prospective buyer (or home owner), to give you the best possible assessment of the property’s condition, required repairs and maintenance, etc.