Engineer/Architect/Builder

from_atozinc

Hi,

I want to pre empt this by apologizing about the stupid question.

We are thinking of buying a house and before we buy we have the option of getting someone in to have a look at.

The "looking at it" would be to see if its structurally ok, that there is nothing wrong with the house etc and then also to give a very rough estimate as to how much it would cost to fix X or Y or rip out a kitchen and put in a new one. install a new bathroom etc

Who would be the best person to do this - an engineer, architect or builder?

Gumbo

Structurally - Engineer.
Price - Local builder.

have them both carry out a site inspection at the same time.

from_atozinc

kceire wrote: »

Structurally - Engineer.
Price - Local builder.

have them both carry out a site inspection at the same time.

Thank you.

Roughly how much would each charge for this work?

from_atozinc

And do they normally work in pairs.

i.e. If you rang an architect, could you ask him to bring his builder with him
Or
If you ring a builder, can you ask him to bring an architect along

Gumbo

from_atozinc wrote: »

And do they normally work in pairs.

i.e. If you rang an architect, could you ask him to bring his builder with him
Or
If you ring a builder, can you ask him to bring an architect along

You ring an Engineer, and you ring your builder.

The Engineer will have a set fee, probably about €500 for the inspection and report.

The builder will be harder to price, as he may just charge a nominal fee for his time, but depends on the builder.

from_atozinc

kceire wrote: »

from_atozinc wrote: »

And do they normally work in pairs.

i.e. If you rang an architect, could you ask him to bring his builder with him
Or
If you ring a builder, can you ask him to bring an architect along

You ring an Engineer, and you ring your builder.

The Engineer will have a set fee, probably about 500 for the inspection and report.

The builder will be harder to price, as he may just charge a nominal fee for his time, but depends on the builder.

Thanks.

Saucy enough so it is.

I know you said to get the 2 of them in at the same time - is there any particular reason behind this ?

Gumbo

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thanks.

Saucy enough so it is.

I know you said to get the 2 of them in at the same time - is there any particular reason behind this ?

Your buying the house so it's not yours. Just to cut down on the time that the owner/occupier has to leave to facilitate these inspections.

The structural inspection is standard enough, but getting quotes from builders to do the place to your standard would be out of the norm process, but to be honest if I was selling and you were the only bidder, then I'd facilitate.

You could ask if you can have 2 viewings though, they may not mind at all.

They say you should view the house at two different times in anyway to see it at different times in the day when buying.

DOCARCH

A building surveyor would be another option...one stop shop. They would usually inspect, write a report and estimate costs for any possible remedial works.