foundation structural tests

gerryboom

Hi all
this is my first time posting here so hope I'm doing everything right.I need advice on what I can do to get my mortgage over the line,I have been building my house out of savings over the last 5 years,it is up to roof level with all windows and doors in and is weather tight.I have applied for a mortgage of 110000 to finish the rest of the build and there is no problem with the bank regarding being able to pay back this sum as the loan to value rate is 35%.the problem is that 5 years ago I employed a surveyor to inspect and sign off on the works that were being completed,however since new rules were brought in he can't sign off anymore and has retired.the new engineer I have employed has gotten all the paperwork from my previous surveyor and carried out a visual inspection of the house and confirmed all is good.The problem is that the bank are not happy that my new engineer has only carried out a visual inspection and want the foundations to be stress tested.they say they will not accept the previous surveyors work as he has retired and want the new engineer to be responsible for everything!the engineer has contacted a structural engineer to find out what can be done but they say the only test they can do is to excavate out numerous parts of the foundations and over the space of 2-3 months ,add weight to them and see if anything happens.he said this will cost in to the thousands(I'm still waiting on a confirmed price)and I am not willing to pay this much money when a qualified surveyor has already confirmed that everything was done to standard.I don't know if the previous surveyors insurance should cover any problems that might arise from foundation problems in the future as he has retired.from my searches it seems that his insurance stops the day he retires and he should have taken out run off cover for a number of years to protect himself if any claims came in.I don't know if he has done this as when I went to ring him yesterday I found out he just had heart surgery and I won't be able to get hold of him for a few weeks.so I need to know will I have to get these expensive tests done on the foundations to get the mortgage approved or have I other options.And does anybody know about a surveyors personal indemnity insurance cover and if it is still valid on work he did 5 years ago.Thanks for any help offered!

Johnnyhpipe

Nonsense. I'm a structural engineer and have never done this nor have i been asked to do this in all my years working.

All that needs to happen (IMHO) is:

1. Arrange specialist ground investigation to determine ground's allowable bearing pressure. Engineer can arrange this on your behalf.
2. Your engineer then designs (or in this case checks existing design) foundations to ensure that the anticipated design loads are adequately spread and result in pressures within the allowable.
3. Engineer can prepare report on same which should be good enough for the bank.

A static load test on a traditional foundation will be prohibitively costly, highly unusual and potentially destructive.

Johnnyhpipe

Also - highly unlikely a retired guy has some form of extra PI insurance to cover previous clients after he's gone out of business. Why would he? If he's gone - he's gone. Thats it. Your new engineer will need to stand over his work - if he can and is happy to do so. In that case, the above steps need to happen.

Metric Tensor

PI insurance works on an "as claimed"* basis.

When a claim is made it is dealt with by the insurance you have in place at that time. So if you don't have cover in place in any given year none of your previous work is covered.

For this reason retirees are advised to invest in "run-off" cover that covers you for a decreasing amount each year for a number of years after retirement. I think this usually lasts six years to match up with the statute of limitations.

So your previous professional may still have cover if he retired less than six years ago. I don't know of details of same would be sufficient for the bank though.

* I could be mistaken on the exact terminology here.

gerryboom

Thanks johnnyhpipe that sounds like a much more reasonable solution.is there a rough estimation on what a test like that might cost?and would my engineer be able to get a design for the foundation that went in?I'm pretty sure there wasn't a design plan drawn up for it before it went in!!