Case Studies

Not everyone wants a fully detailed survey report and, instead, some folks might prefer to have only a second opinion about a property, with a face to face discussion about its indicative condition; hence our Joint Inspection Service. In this particular case, our clients knew that they were buying an old, complex and historic building [1] and were expecting to have to undertake both repairs and improvements to the building upon moving in.

What they wanted was to spend half a day carrying out a joint inspection so that they could see the property through the surveyor’s eyes and understand the scope of any potential building problems whilst seeing them in context. This forum provides an opportunity for the commissioning client to ask questions and record their own notes and, to some extent therefore, to influence the focus of the inspection by requesting to spend more time on certain parts of the building and its fabric.

The limitations of this service are agreed up front and it certainly wouldn’t suit all people. For this property, our clients wanted reassurance, at a much more affordable cost than that of a full building survey, that there were no fundamental reasons why they should not proceed with the property acquisition; and what a fabulous property it was! Home to a well known artist, the property possessed an underground tunnel which connected the main house with an historic barn, fully equipped with vaulted space and northern light [5], [6].

The property spanned several centuries and had a very substantial 20^th century extension involving a clever weld of old and new [2]. Familiar problems were identified, necessitating strategies for damp, ventilation and fire safety amongst others [3], [4]. Nonetheless, this was a wonderful property, full of intrigue and rich heritage.