SW17 Surveyors Ltd

New-Build “Snagging” Report Terms and Conditions

 

SW17 Surveyors – GDPR Consent Statement: SW17 Surveyors require your consent to hold data about you as our client. By the law of contract, we are required to hold your data for six years as this is the length of time that our professional indemnity insurance requires us know who may make a claim against us as a service provider. Your signature of the Survey Instruction Form and our Terms and Condition, is deemed to be consent to save and keep the information you have provided for six years. SW17 Surveyors only hold such information which is required to identify you as our client in order to enter a contract, in order to send you an invoice for payment for the services which we deliver and to deliver any completed work to you. We also take photographs at the subject property which our clients require us to inspect, in order to support our findings and support our recommendations. None of this information gather about you as our clients or the property is shared with any other parties, except where we have entered into a contractual or sub-contractual relationship, such as we will declare to you as the client. You will, be permitted access to the information held about you and the property of you have contracted us to inspect, subject to submission of the appropriate application which must be in compliance with GDPR Policy.

The surveyor who provides the New-Build Snagging Report aims to give you professional advice to help you to:

  • make an informed decision on what works are outstanding at the time of inspection;
  • have a report to facilitate discussion with property developer, to ascertain if outstanding works will be completed and by when;
  • the extent of any New-Build warranties or guarantees to be provided to the client by the property developer;
  • whether to go ahead with buying the property;
  • make an informed decision on what is a reasonable price to pay for the property;
  • take account of any repairs or replacements the property needs; and
  • consider what further advice you should take before committing to purchase the property.
  1. The service – the surveyor provides the standard New Build Snagging Report (an inspection and report), unless you and the surveyor agree in writing before the inspection that the surveyor will also provide extra services. Any extra service will require separate terms of engagement to be entered into with the surveyor.

Examples of extra services include:

  • valuation of the property;
  • costing of repairs;
  • schedules of works;
  • supervision of works;
  • re-inspection;
  • detailed specific issue reports; and
  • market valuation (after repairs).
  1. The surveyor – the service is to be provided by an AssocRICS, MRICS or FRICS member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, who has the skills, knowledge and experience to survey, value and report on the property.
  2. Before the inspection – Clients are asked to fill out our Instruction Sheet (seen above on page one), to make clear any concerns that you have about the property. The Surveyor will rely upon information provided by the client or client’s legal or other professional advisers relating to the tenure, tenancies or other relevant matters. The client should tell the surveyor if there is already an agreed or proposed price for the property.
  3. Terms of payment – Before the survey, the Client will pay to SW17 Surveyors Ltd the full agreed fee, which will cover the cost of carrying out the survey, and the writing up of the report. In addition, the Client will pay the amount of any Value Added Tax on the fee, at the appropriate prevailing rate. The survey will not be undertaken until full payment has been made by the client to SW17 Surveyors Ltd.
  4. The Inspection – The inspection will include the main structure of the property and main outbuildings, any principal garage if applicable, and grounds and boundaries. Outbuildings of a prefabricated or temporary nature and specialist leisure facilities such as swimming pools are excluded. If there are extensive grounds or outbuildings these will not be inspected unless agreed beforehand.
  5. We will inspect all reasonably accessible parts of the structure from ground level and other visible areas up to 3 metres in height from ladders, or with the aid of binoculars, where appropriate. The inspection will be undertaken from within the property or within the grounds of the property. Other private property or grounds will not be entered to facilitate the inspection. Where necessary, parts of the inspection can be made from the adjoining public property/grounds. No furniture, nor floor coverings or floor boards will be lifted or removed. No parts of the property will be forced or laid open to make it accessible.
  6. We will inspect the roof spaces if there are available hatches within the subject property. We will have a ladder of sufficient height to gain access to a roof hatch or to a single storey roof, not more than 3.0m (10’0”) above the floor or adjacent ground. It might therefore not be possible to inspect roofs above this level; in such cases, pitched roofs will be inspected by binoculars. The surveyor will follow the guidance given in Surveying Safely issued by the RICS in April 1991, which incorporates the guidance given in Guidance note GS31 on the safe use of ladders and step ladders issued by the Health and Safety Executive.
  7. The presence of very thick insulation in the loft space, may also make it unsafe to walk in the roof space and in such cases we would not be able to stand or walk safely in the roof space. In such cases, we would undertake a “head and shoulders inspection only.
  8. We will carry out a visual inspection of the service installations where accessible. Manhole covers will be lifted where accessible and practicable. No tests will be applied. The surveyor will report if, as a result of the inspection, tests are considered advisable, and, if considered necessary, a test and report from a specialist would be recommended.
  9. We will identify any areas which would normally be inspected which it was not possible to inspect and indicate where it is considered that access should be obtained or formed and furthermore we will advise on possible or probable defects based on evidence from what we have been able to see.
  10. Parts of the structure, such as foundations, wall ties and woodwork which are covered, unexposed or inaccessible will not be inspected. No site investigations or environmental survey will be carried out and we can give no assurance that the property is unaffected by mineral extraction, land-fill or noxious substances. The Surveyor will not carry out an asbestos inspection or test.
  11. Joint inspections between the surveyor and the client – Generally, such joint inspections are not acceptable to vendors and estate agents. In our experience, we find that it can slow down the survey also. Nevertheless, we aim to provide a comprehensive service, so If you are purchasing the property and wish to carry out a joint inspection with the surveyor, you must provide us with evidence in writing that this has been approved by the vendor and the estate agent. However, if such an agreement is received, SW17 Surveyors will meet with the client for 10 minutes at the start of the surveys for you to show us any concerns that you have. Following that, we politely request that you would allow us to proceed unencumbered, to undertake a truly independent survey of the property.
  12. Post inspection – the client can contact the surveyor (if they wish), to discuss the surveyor’s initial findings;
  13. The Report – The surveyor produces a report of the inspection for you to use, but cannot accept any liability if it is used by anyone else. If you decide not to act on the advice in the report, you do this at your own risk. The report is aimed at providing you with a detailed understanding of the condition of the property to allow you to make an informed decision on serious or urgent repairs, and on maintenance of a wide range of issues reported. Purely cosmetic and minor maintenance defects that have no effect on performance might not be reported. The report is not a warranty. Unless otherwise expressly agreed or stated the Surveyor will, in carrying out the report of the property, assume; that
  14. the property has/is sold with vacant possession;
  15. that all required valid planning permissions and statutory approvals for the buildings and for their use, including any extensions or alterations, have been obtained and complied with;
  16. that no damaging or hazardous materials or techniques have been used, that here is no contamination in or from the ground, and it is not landfilled ground;
  17. that the property is not subject to any unusual or especially onerous restrictions, encumbrances, or outgoings and that good title can be shown;
  18. that the property and its value are unaffected by any matters which would be revealed by a Local-Search (or equivalent in Scotland) and replies to the usual legal enquiries, or by a Statutory Notice and that neither the property, nor its condition, its use, or its intended use, is or will be unlawful;
  19. that an inspection of those parts which have not been inspected, would not reveal material defects or cause the surveyor to alter any valuation materially;
  20. that the property is connected to and there is the right to use the reported main services on normal terms;
  21. that sewers, main services and the roads giving access to the property have been adopted, and that any lease provides rights of access and egress over all communal estate roadways, pathways, corridors, stairways and to use communal grounds, parking areas and other facilities; 
  22. that in the case of a newly constructed property, the builder is a registered member of the NHBC, the Zurich Municipal Mutual, or equivalent and will construct the property to obtain its cover.
  23. The report will be ready approximately five working days after the date of survey (with the date of survey, being Day 0). If, there is a delay in getting this to you, you will be contacted on Day 4, with a new date of delivery.
  24. The report will include maps, pictures, estimates or comparables where these will highlight specific issues raised in the report. It will not include plans, drawings or specifications.
  25. Flats Only – The Surveyor will inspect only the subject flat and garage (if any), the related internal and external common parts and the structure of the building in which the subject flat is situated; other flats or properties will not be inspected. The Surveyor will state in the report any restrictions on accessibility to the common parts or visibility of the structure. The Surveyor will state whether a copy of the lease has been inspected and, if not, the assumptions as to repairing obligations. The Client is reminded that, particularly in the case of large blocks, the object of the inspection is to give guidance on the general standard of construction and maintenance, pointing out those items which will require attention within, say, the next decade and not to list those minor points which would normally be taken care of in the course of routine maintenance, (many flats form part of large developments consisting of several blocks. In such cases the Surveyor will be inspecting only the one block in which the flat is situated).
  26. Cancelling this contract – The contract between SW17 Surveyors and yourself as client may be cancelled in the following circumstances: –
    1. You are entitled to cancel this contract by giving notice to the surveyor’s office at any time before the day of the inspection. If you cancel this contract, the surveyor will refund any money you have paid for the service, except for any reasonable expenses.
    2. The surveyor may cancel the contract and reports this to you as soon as possible if, after arriving at the property, the surveyor decides that they lack the specialist knowledge of the method of construction used to build the property or that the survey chosen is inappropriate for the property concerned. The surveyor will attempt to contact you immediately this decision is made on the contact numbers which you have provided. If the surveyor cancels this contract, they will refund all monies to you and a written explanation to you of the specific issues which prevented the survey from proceeding.
  27. Liability – the report is provided for use by yourself and your legal team in relation to this property transaction, therefore the surveyor cannot accept responsibility if it is used, or relied upon, by anyone else.
  28. Complaints – In the event of the client being dissatisfied with any aspect of the service provided, a copy of SW17 Surveyors Limited complaints procedure is available on request.