Unprofessional Surveyor (Deeply Worried) :(

[SurveyorProblems]

Hi lovely Mumsnetters,
First-time poster, but long-term lurker :)

Sorry to bother you all just before Christmas, but I am desperate for some wisdom and advice and I thought AIBU might be the best place for support. :(

A few weeks ago, we asked a surveyor to do a Level 3 Building Survey for a property we would like to purchase. We have just received the completed report from him and the quality of the report is shocking.

As first-time buyers we didn't know what to expect really. So we spoke to friends and looked at examples of Level 3 surveys online.
Unfortunately, the quality of the report he has sent to us is shocking.

For example, he has misspelt our names (not a big issue in itself), but also there are numerous spelling errors across the whole report (including sections/descriptions which do not make any grammatical sense at all).

More concerningly, he boasted of taking lots of photographs.
However, the attached photos are of very low quality. The images are extremely blurry and sometimes it is impossible to determine what exact issue is being highlighted here. (Think taking a picture of the boiler from a weird angle and in bad lighting - so bad it is impossible to read the model).

He has requested that we pay him £700 for this report.
We are not sure if we are being unreasonable with our concerns. So any advice is really appreciated.

I would be happy to attach some sections which highlight the poor quality.

Aw OP, deep breath - it’s going to be ok, you are fine and no don’t pay him. I am really sorry this has messed up your Christmas. It didn’t need to because you are completely within your rights and he will need to resolve this - not you.

He appears to have misrepresented his professional qualifications to you and undertaken work he was not suited to or qualified for. If so this was fraudulent. RIBA membership acts as a guarantee and provides safeguards in terms of professional negligence insurance. Right now you cannot rely on that report because it is not underwritten by professional standards. It is likely you would not get a mortgage based on that report and in any case you should not send it to the mortgage company as you now suspect it may be unsuitable.

So don’t pay him. Give him 7 days to provide you with details of his current professional regulators/professional bodies and insurance. If he fails to provide details within that time, start again (and note it with RIBA - who will be very unhappy).

He sounds dodgy but assuming you then go ahead and get another survey done, are you fully aware of that a survey doesn't cover?

They aren't structural engineers so can say nothing about structural issues.
They aren't electrician/electrical engineers so can say little about the electrics. Equally the plumbing - they cannot judge whether it meets gas safety standards.
They don't climb on the roof or into loft spaces or anywhere not immediately accessible.

So if you have specific structural concerns or issues around the roof etc, even a proper survey will not tell you much about those.

That's not to say you should not get one but to make sure your expectations are correctly aligned to what you should get.

I would refuse to pay and tell him you will be happy to defend that position in small claims court.

@MojoMoon
Thanks a lot for your very comprehensive guidance.
The property is in excellent condition - it is less than 20 years old and the estate agent actually felt a Home Buyers Report would suffice - I believe it was previously rented out.
I have asked for a gas safety check certificate from the vendor (I think he has recently paid for one).
If he hasn't got one, should I get in touch with British Gas myself to arrange one? I am assuming I would be covering the costs.

Should I pay an electrician and plumber for any checks?
I am sorry about all of these questions.

I'm really confused why you got a level 3 survey for a new property. A home buyers report will be fine and I wouldn't bother getting an electrical check either. Gas appliances will have had to have annual checks if the property was rented out.

I've only ever paid for Level 2 surveys and have never bought a property less than 100 years old.

Agree I would not get an expensive survey for a new house in excellent condition

(Not necessarily recommending this approach but we are buying a 2007 house and not getting a survey at all)

Agree with everything @MojoMoon said. We've renovated a few properties and it's always surprised us how many of our buyers have paid £600 for someone to come into the property for 15 mins to look at all the things they could of looked at themselves during the viewing.

Ask for the boiler to be serviced if it hasn't in the past year.
Did you check out the fuse board? If you're worried about the electrics you can have a EICR carried out - should mote often things will be outdated but not dangerous.
Other things the survey will look at are the windows, presumably you checked them all out?
Did you notice any cracks?

On the other issue, don't pay the crook until you've had proper advice.

Please reassure us all that you haven't paid him a penny and don’t intend to!

He sounds unhinged. Cease all contact. Make the most of the remaining festive hols and start again after the new year

For a 20 year old house, I would not bother getting full survey done.
The standard valuation and home buyers report is fine.

If it's been rented out in the last year then it should have a gas safety certificate. This only tells you it was considered safe when the inspection was done - it does not tell you if the boiler might break down etc. It just won't kill you.
And the vast majority of homeowners don't have gas safety certificates - it is only legally required for rentals. So again, the absence of one is not particularly concerning - most properties don't have one.

The electrics won't meet today's standards but that is fine - no one goes around rewiring their house every few years. Unless you have a specific concern with the electrics, like there was no lights on at all when you viewed it, then I wouldn't get an electrical inspection for a 20 year old house.

Honestly when buying a property you can never be 100pc sure something won't break or need fixing. But in this case with a 20 year old house it seems very low risk that there would be massive works required in the next few years. Any inspection cannot predict the future, just report on what is there now.

I bought a 35 year old place this year and just got the valuation survey for the mortgage.
My buyers commissioned a full survey on the 40 year old flat I was selling - the surveyor was there for 10 minutes maximum. Total waste of their money.

[quote SurveyorProblems]@Frazzled2207
The sad part is that he has no clue how serious this is. :(
He calls himself an architect and isn't one :(
Another problem is that he is stating that he has being doing the reports for almost 40 years and so this means that he is fully qualified to complete building surveys...

I actually had the audacity to ask me what exactly was missing from the report. His actual words were "what expectations have I not met?"

Erm...your report is not a L3 Building Survey...[/quote]
Do be wary of what you are expecting in a survey if you do get another one. I've always found them to arse coverers at best (e.g "there is evidence of rising damp, you should get a damp specialist in" and "the downstairs is wall to wall carpet so I could not inspect the subfloor however expect it to be traditional floorboards in a house of this age, there may damp due to the type of construction, this should be inspected"). I bloody hate surveys and generally don't bother now, I've learnt what to look for.

@SummerWhisper
No thankfully I have not yet paid the gentleman.

@PersonaNonGarter
Thank you so much for your kind message. As you can probably tell from my posts, I am quite young and I still live at home with relative - I am not actually buying the property myself. :(

This supposed surveyor has asked if I intend on paying him at all - which actually really upset me. It was like he was making it sound like we were the ones being unreasonable when it is becoming increasingly obvious that he is with questionable morals...

@MojoMoon - thank you so much for your very detailed advice. I really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to share their wealth of knowledge with me.

In his email to me this gentleman explained that RIBA Surveyors are fully qualified to complete these types of surveyors. He explained that he had resigned his RIBA membership, but that he still had the full qualifications and insurance.

I didn't know what to say as his email was so contradictory.

I wrote back to him with reference to his statement that "RIBA Surveyors are fully qualified to complete these types of surveyors".

I asked him to explain to me how he can be fully qualified to complete this type of survey if his RIBA registration is no longer active...

@Thepineapplemystery
Thank you very much for your kind message.
As mentioned before, the property is in excellent condition.
I will take all of your kind comments/advice on board!
@MojoMoon
@roseblosssom

So far, I am thinking of asking for certificates or arranging a qualified person to help check the following:

• Gas Safety Certificate

Sorry to sound stupid, but how would I ensure that the boiler is functioning well?

• Fusebox & Electrics

Unfortunately when I was a teenager the fuse box exploded in our rented house. It set the entire building on fire and we lost pretty much everything in the fire. :( Do you think it is a good idea to ask a qualified electrician for a safety check?

I cannot thank you guys enough for your kindness and support.

Your solicitor/conveyancer should ask for a gas safety certificate from the vendor. Homeowners aren't required to have one but it's normal for one to be produced during the buying/selling process. They can of course say no but this hasn't happened to us yet. You won't know how well the boiler is functioning as such, just that it is safe. Things you can do to work this out yourself include looking at the boiler during a viewing and asking it's make and age.

For the electrics you would ask an electrician of your choosing to conduct an EICR (electrical installation conditioning report). These are normally under £100. They'll advise you whether the fuseboard needs updating and check there's no safety issues though I doubt there'd be many issues on a 20 year house. We've always had them done as part of a renovation and for the money they're always very in depth.

It can be very stressful buying houses, especially the first time.

Personally I would not bother with a electrical inspection on a 20 year old house but I can understand if your experience has made you wary. If you do want one, it is an EICR that you are looking for.
Whoever does the EICR should be a member of
National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation or the Electrical Contractors’ Association.

You can't really be sure if the boiler will function well, the gas safety certificate is just about safety.
You could ask how old the boiler is - if it is the original one installed 20 years ago then it would likely be more economical to replace it than fix it if it did break (since modern boilers will be much more efficient).
But it could go on working for another ten years yet.

You cannot be 100pc sure of anything when buying a property - always make sure you hold a bit of cash in an emergency fund for repairs if possible.

When I bought my place I didn’t have a full electrical check in advance - I’d grown up in old houses with bad wiring and could see at a glance this place was fine in comparison. I did have an electrician in soon after I moved in to do some minor jobs (updating smoke detectors mainly) and he checked it for me. That put my mind at rest.

Though I appreciate your terrible prior experience must really keep you on edge. So frightening!

I would ignore his chasing until you have the advice you are seeking. You probably won’t have that until after the New Year. These types of businesses tend to take off this time between Christmas and New Year.

Thought I'd give everyone an update...
This gentleman is really a gift that keeps on giving.
I have never met anyone so unprofessional in my entire life!

As mentioned before, I sent him an email and asked him to confirm whether the report he had completed for us was a RICS Level 3 survey (or at least the equivalent to one). He doesn't deny that he agreed to complete a comprehensive building survey.

In his reply, he then completely ignored my original question and kept insisting that he had RIBA qualifications and experience. This (according to him) of course means he is fully qualified to complete a survey for us.
However - whether that survey is worth the paper it is written on is clearly not important to him.

Thankfully, he admitted he had no longer an active RIBA registration, despite including "RIBA" in his email signature and paperwork.

So, I emailed him back and asked him how he could claim he was qualified to complete a RIBA survey when he wasn't even a RIBA surveyor.

He has now written back and accused us of not wanting to pay him for his work.

I just don't know how I can keep arguing with someone who has no understanding of the professional standards expected of his profession.

He literally calls himself an architect when it is a legally protected title which he is not qualified to use.

My biggest concern right now is whether he will insist on taking me to court. He keeps emailing me multiple one-line replies and I just don't know whether I should cease any communication with him or not.

I also am facing a moral dilemma because it is becoming quite apparent that I need to report him to professional bodies (certainly RIBA and ARB as what he is doing is legally and morally wrong).

I just feel bad about doing that to an elderly gentleman even if he has a dubious moral compass...

Yes, please report him!

It’s time the industry cracks down.

Please report him. The next people he does this to might be a family with young children who get a dangerous house because he isn't qualified to complete the survey.

You are not paying for his time but a report. He gets paid when you have this report. He cannot provide the report as he needs a registration to do that. What was sent was random words on a paper.
He has not met his end of the contract.

I would perhaps one line him like he has done.

“I am seeking legal advice and will be in touch”

You need to report him. Professional membership typically includes the requirement to undertake ongoing learning / development. If his membership has lapsed, it's highly unlikely he's doing that.

He is misrepresenting himself in order to secure work.

I'd send to all professional bodies:

• your initial ad
• his response to the ad
• the report - appears the terms and scope were only made apparent on his report not at the time of engaging for services
• your ongoing emails regarding his qualifications and membership status

I would also inform him that no, you won't be paying, as he has not submitted the report that you engaged him to complete. His lack of current qualifications means he is not able to complete this report. If you were aware if this, you would not have engaged him.

You need to follow this up with the ARB. This is outrageous behaviour from someone calling themselves an Architect and they would take it very seriously indeed. You will get the most help from them. Don’t pay this guy a Penny. I work in the profession and have never met an Architect who would offer an “Architect’s building survey”, that’s what surveyors are for.

Don't forget to also report him to local trading standards. You have done brilliantly to keep him at bay so far. He can threaten to take you to court all he likes. A judge will see right through his falsehoods.

@HiJenny35
Yes that was my primary concern too.
The house were are buying is relatively new so it is unlikely to have any major structural issues.
However, I fear what his bad decision making could do to more vulnerable people. :(

Now this is the really sad part - there is a huge shortage of emergency foster carers in our community. Relative wanted to help - so they sought advice and planned to build an extension for two extra bedrooms.

This 'supposed surveyor' and his unprofessionalism has had a bad impact on my relative - it has made them question their entire thought process and decision making skills.

It hurts to think there are people out there who want to take advantage of a prospective foster parent :(

The RIBA saga is something of a red herring. To carry out a building survey he must be a chartered buildings surveyor. and accredited by RICS.

It would be lovely if RIBA cracked down on non architects doing “architectural” stuff

It’s such a huge issue. Especially part qualified architectural technicians claiming to be fully qualified architects.