Buying property: scope of engineer's survey

Richards1983

Hi all,

I'm currently in the process of purchasing a property. I've paid my engineer for the survey but then my solicitor has said that we also need the engineer to say that the property is planing permission compliant, that it's compliant with building regulations, that the fire safety is fine etc. My engineer is charging extra for each of these, and charging quite a lot. Should these points not have been covered in the initial survey?

I sent my engineer all of these planning documents on day 1 and assumed that this was one piece of work, rather than receiving a series of invoices which are adding up to quite a steep fee.

Should these issues have been included in the survey, or are they actually extras?

Thanks,
Con

JoeySully

how much was the basic charge and how much were the extras?

I guess you asked for a structural survey and got that but the engineer should have asked if you needed the planning enquiry done.

Gumbo

Richards1983 wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm currently in the process of purchasing a property. I've paid my engineer for the survey but then my solicitor has said that we also need the engineer to say that the property is planing permission compliant, that it's compliant with building regulations, that the fire safety is fine etc. My engineer is charging extra for each of these, and charging quite a lot. Should these points not have been covered in the initial survey?

I sent my engineer all of these planning documents on day 1 and assumed that this was one piece of work, rather than receiving a series of invoices which are adding up to quite a steep fee.

Should these issues have been included in the survey, or are they actually extras?

Thanks,
Con

The seller should be providing these Certificates, not you.

Richards1983

Thanks Joey -- the extras were three certs at 160 Euro each.


Ah, thanks a lot for that kceire -- that makes good sense. He actually mentioned to me that some of this stuff is normally done by the seller -- but in my case, the seller doesn't care and is unwilling to do almost anything to make the sale happen -- so that's fine. I don't mind paying for work done, but was getting the feeling I was getting ripped off. Thanks again.

the_syco

Richards1983 wrote: »

the seller doesn't care and is unwilling to do almost anything to make the sale happen

kceire; would it be odd if the seller didn't have said documents - would it be a red flag that something is amiss, or would the lack of said documents be normal?

Cows Go µ

I agree with the_syco, it's very odd for the seller to not provide these documemts. The guy I'm buying off is as awkward as hell and even he gave me the planning stuff. My engineer got some of the planning things (there had been a biocycle installed so he investigated the planning for that) and had a note saying we should request the planning details for the extension. There was no planning for the extension as it was added from before there was a need to get planning but my seller is doing up an affidavit to confirm that.

Gumbo

the_syco wrote: »

kceire; would it be odd if the seller didn't have said documents - would it be a red flag that something is amiss, or would the lack of said documents be normal?

Normal for a seller to not have them as many extensions etc were done without sign off.

It would worry me as it effectively means no professional overseen the works, particularly drainage and structural alterations. And you cannot get a cert of compliance after the fact, it’s only an opinion based on visual survey.

The thing is, most buyers cannot buy without these certs as the lenders won’t release the funds so the seller is limiting who he can sell to.

Richards1983

Thanks for the feedback.

In my case, the vendor was unwilling to do anything to actually make the sale happen so I just bit the bullet and told my engineer to go ahead and do whatever would normally be done by the vendor.

Richards1983

Hi guys,

Quick follow-up question. Can I provide the documents to my engineer (e.g. floor plans, fire cert, etc.) for him to develop the certificates of compliance with building regulations, planning permission etc. -- or does the engineer have to go and source the documents themselves?

I ask as I'm being billed by my engineer for procuring these documents and he seems to be saying that he's professionally obliged to source them rather than receive them from me. And the bill is considerable; which is quite frustrating as I provided precisely the same documents by email already.

Thanks,
Con

Larsheen

This is starting to sound worse by the minute !!It seems you are the meat in the sandwich

Richards1983

Yeah, I'm keen to clarify the situation.

Larsheen

Well you must really want this house so best wishes.