Beware of free damp surveys

If you're experiencing issues with dampness in your property, it's important to get it addressed as soon as possible to avoid further damage. But before you hire just anyone claiming to be a damp surveyor, it's important to understand the risks and benefits of hiring a qualified professional.

Everyone is a damp surveyor, after all, you are able to establish you have a problem affecting your property, this may be due to?mould, staining,?lifting paint to the walls, musty smells, decaying timbers as you can see or sense there is a problem.??

With some simple investigation, you may well be able to establish the source of the problem ie a leaking gutter or waterpipe, however, sometimes the source is unclear or you would like confirmation.

A qualified or experienced builder may be able to identify a structural defect which is resulting in direct water ingress ie a defect to the roof.?

Anyone can claim to be a surveyor.?

Unfortunately, in the UK anyone can claim to be a surveyor it is not a legally protected title like the term ‘Architect’ is.

What is illegal is to claim you have a qualification which you do not have, as this is ‘fraud by false representation’.

The free survey?

?When considering a ‘free survey’ any intelligent person would have to consider how and why would a qualified professional surveyor be willing to spend their own money and time, travel from their office to your property, undertake a survey accepting liability, and provide you with a written report ?.?

When they could be getting paid to undertake the same work from a paying client.??

The qualified surveyor?

A qualified surveyor will be happy to inform and provide you with proof of their qualifications, a paid logo or a website is not a qualification.

A legitimate company will be registered on Companies House, they will advertise the company registration number on their website, so you can see how long they have been trading and who the registered officers are. Check?for bonified?customer reviews.

The survey?

A qualified surveyor should interact with you, before starting the survey, they should be asking you what issues you have noticed or are concerned about, you are a source of information, you live in the property and have reported the problem, so it is only logical, you form part of the survey.

The survey should establish:

• The environment within the property at the time of the inspection, they surveyor should be able to establish and clearly explain the purpose of establishing the environment and surface temperatures.?
• The heating/ventilation within the property and how it is used.
• The property orientation and construction of the inspected and neighbouring properties.
• The external ground levels and structural ventilation and insulation.
• A moisture meter should be used to profile the affected areas, the profiling and inspection should not be limited to the affected area, as the cause/source of the moisture may be located or due to a different area of the building.
• The surveyor should understand the full nature of the problem and be able to provide you with a clear jargon free explanation of why the issues have occurred, as something has changed within the use or conditions within the property for the dampness to have occurred.?
• The surveyor should be able to provide you with a detailed verbal explanation of the remedial work or changes or alternative methods of addressing the problem where they are available.
• All the information collected both verbally and from the findings should be provided in a clear written report, not just a quotation for work.?

Where to find a qualified surveyor:

Olympic Construction Chartered Building Engineers

The Property Care Association

Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors

Chartered Association of Building Engineers??