Rebuild Insurance Valuation Based On BCIS 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.

  1. The Client will pay to SW17 Surveyors Ltd the agreed fee in respect of this professional advice, after we have agreed terms and condition but before the surveyor undertakes the survey. In addition the Client will pay the amount of any Value Added Tax on the fee, at the appropriate prevailing rate. The survey report will not be undertaken until full payment has been made by the client to SW17 Surveyors Ltd. Following the survey, the surveyor will prepare valuation report and release it to the client within three working days.
  2. 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.
  3. 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. 
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. We will use all reasonable skill, care and diligence expected of a reasonably competent Surveyor in carrying out the survey and preparing the report. The report will not include plans, drawings or specifications. We will include maps, pictures, estimates or comparables where these will highlight specific issues raised in the report.
  6. 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.
  7. It is not always possible in the time available to obtain authoritative information from Local and Statutory Authorities concerning such matters as Planning, road widening proposals or charges, sewers or services and although the Surveyor will comment to the extent of their current knowledge, a written enquiry should be made by the Client’s legal adviser to the relevant Authority to confirm the latest position on matters.
  8. Unless otherwise expressly agreed or stated the Surveyor will, in carrying out the report of the property, assume;
  • that the property has/is sold with vacant possession;
  • 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;
  • 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;
  • that the property is not subject to any unusual or especially onerous restrictions, encumbrances, or outgoings and that good title can be shown;
  • 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;
  • 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;
  • that the property is connected to and there is the right to use the reported main services on normal terms;
  • 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; and
  • 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.
  1. Where specifically agreed any valuation will be on the basis of market value defined as:- The estimated amount for which a property should exchange on the date of valuation between a willing buyer and a willing seller in an arm’s-length transaction after proper marketing wherein parties had each acted knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion. The interpretative commentary as set out in the RICS Valuation Standards has been applied to the above definition.
  2. 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.
  3. Unless expressly agreed otherwise 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.
  4. 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.)
  5. The report will be provided in writing as soon as reasonably possible after completing the inspection and investigations. Any verbal comments given to the client prior to the receipt of the full written report are given in good faith but, in order to avoid any possible misinterpretations or misunderstanding, the Client should not act upon these verbal comments until the full written report has been received and studied.
  6. This report will be confidential to the Client. It may be disclosed to other professional advisers assisting the Client in respect of that purpose, but the Client shall not disclose the report to any other person. The report should not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.