Understanding Structural Surveys

Let’s face it; buying a house is easily one of the most expensive and important purchases of our lives, and the last thing anyone wants is to move into a new home that’s riddled with endless issues, structural defects and desperate need of maintenance. This is why it’s so important to hire the expertise of a building survey consultant, to provide a professional opinion you can trust. In this post, we take a closer look at structural surveys, their importance and why you should have one carried out, long before you purchase a property.

What’s A Structural Survey?

Designed to provide expert analysis of the condition of a property, a structural survey is carried out on all visible and accessible parts of a building, including roofs, floors, windows, doors, chimneys, basements, garages and more. A surveyor will inspect your property, checking for considerable issues with your property, informing you of any issues that are causing issues, or may cause severe problems in the future.

Typically a full building survey will include the following:

●     Thorough building inspection

●     Completed survey report

●     Property valuation

Structural surveys are especially effective for older properties, listed buildings, renovated homes, or homes you are considering renovating yourself, to ensure the stability, structure and safety of your project, as well as highlighting any issues that will have to be addressed before moving forward with the process.

Who Needs One?

In short, anyone planning on purchasing a property that is old, listed, recently renovated or in need of renovation should consider having a structural survey carried out by a professional. Structural surveys are essential, not only for the confirmation that your building type is strong, secure and without issues, but also to confirm plans for potential renovations or structural redesign. Moving forward with a project or renovation on your home without a survey report demonstrating the issues at hand could easily land you in hot water, as you waltz into a world of trouble that could so easily have been avoided.

How It Works

Usually taking most of the day to complete, a building structural survey will be carried out by the surveyor, before they file a report, making notes of potential issues, hazards or recommendations. The final report will identify and describe these issues in great detail, providing advice moving forward and offering up a rough estimate of cost. The cost of the survey will depend on the property type, size and location, as well as the possibility of further costs, spending on the severity of damage reported.  

As one of the best building survey consultants across Hertfordshire, at Simon Levy Associates we deliver comprehensive, professional advice on all building-related matters to our clients. We manage the business with integrity and honesty to the high ethical and professional standards expected of chartered architects and chartered surveyors. Contact us today.