SW17 Surveyors Ltd

RICS Condition 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 survey information including the contact details 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. 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. Our Aim – In line with the above policy, the surveyor who provides the RICS Condition Report aims to tell you about:
  2. The construction and condition of the property on the date of inspection
  3. any defects that need urgent attention or are serious;
  4. things that need further investigation to prevent serious damage to the fabric of the building; and
  5. defects or issues that may be hazardous to safety and
  6. where further enquiries are needed.
  7. The service – The RICS Condition Report Service includes: an inspection of the property and a report based on the inspection, unless you and the surveyor agree in writing before the inspection that the surveyor will provide extra services. Any extra service will require separate terms of engagement to be entered into with the surveyor.

Examples of extra services include:

  1. costing of repairs;
  2. schedules of works;
  3. supervision of works;
  4. reinspection;
  5. detailed specific issue reports; and
  6. market valuation and reinstatement cost.
  7. 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 and report on the property.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. The Inspection – The surveyor inspects the inside and outside of the main building and all permanent outbuildings, but does not force or open up the fabric. This means that the surveyor does not take up carpets, floor coverings or floorboards, move furniture, remove the contents of cupboards, roof spaces, etc., remove secured panels and/or hatches or undo electrical fittings. If necessary, the surveyor carries out parts of the inspection when standing at ground level from public property next door where accessible.
  11. The surveyor may use equipment such as a dampmeter, binoculars and torch, and may use a ladder for flat roofs and for hatches no more than 3 metres above level ground (outside) or floor surfaces (inside) if it is safe to do so. The surveyor may inspect the roof space from the access hatch but will not go into the roof space itself. Cellars are inspected if they are reasonably accessible, but underfloor voids are not inspected.
  12. When inspecting flats, the surveyor assesses the general condition of outside surfaces of the building, as well as its access areas (for example, shared hallways and staircases). The surveyor inspects roof spaces only from the access hatch only if they are accessible from within the property and it is safe to do so. The surveyor does not inspect drains, lifts, fire alarms and security systems.
  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 provides you with an objective assessment on the general condition of the main elements of a property.
  14. The report will be ready approximately five working dates 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. The report will only be released to clients, once payment has been made. Please note point ‘8’ below. 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.
  15. Cancelling this contract – you are entitled to cancel this contract by giving notice to the surveyor’s office at any time before the day of the inspection. The surveyor does not provide the service (and reports this to you as soon as possible) if, after arriving at the property, the surveyor decides that:
  16. he or she lacks enough specialist knowledge of the method of construction used to build the property; or
  17. If you cancel this contract, the surveyor will refund any money you have paid for the service, except for any reasonable expenses. If the surveyor cancels this contract, he or she will explain the reason to you.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.