Building surveyor damaged property

[Iamthedom]

My buyers arranged for a building survey yesterday
I’ve just gone to the property to collect any mail and he’s done the following
Tried to remove a period tile and had broken it in half
Didn’t leave the tile anywhere
Ripped up laminate flooring under the bay window - obviously to check for damp but the flooring can’t be replaced
Removed a kicker and not replaced it
Ripped wallpaper of the bedroom wall to check a crack
Removed a floorboard didn’t put it back and left nails sticking up
No idea if he has done in
I’m furious and upset .Yes the house is old and is a dooer upper but it’s being sold as such

The period tile in the entrance hall can’t be replaced its been there since 1870s so can’t exactly get it from B & Q
What do I do
Im sending a email to my estate agent with photos and I have spoken to them and they were really shocked and said this should not have done this

I am just beyond gobsmacked at the actions of a professional surveyor.

Classic MN, I have never heard the like of it.

I would be so upset at tiles that age being randomly damaged.

Pure vandalism.

Irrespective of whether the sale goes through, his vandalism of your property is disgraceful.

I would want clarification from the buyers as to EXACTLY what he was told as to the status of the purchase, BEFORE you contact the company he works for and his professional body.

Update

Spoke to the surveyor initially he lied said there was no flooring
Then he denied ripped up any flooring
Then he did admit to taking up the laminate flooring to gain access to the floorboards underneath .
When I asked him who gave him permission to remove my floor covering
He was extremely evasive saying he “ kind of had permission “ to do that
Then he did admit to not having my permission to do this.

He denied removing the tile but obviously if he lied about the removing the flooring then I have to assume that he lied about the tile

Tried to bluster me about upstairs and how much work needs doing but I just kept asking him who gave him permission to remove the flooring
I now have to put in a complaint to his company and take it from there
Any advice on what to put in my complaint

[quote Iamthedom]@Kshhuxnxk
There is damp in the bay window it’s easily identified and it wasn’t hidden
I think he ripped up the laminate to check if the floorboards underneath were damaged by the damp - they aren’t
But even so he had absolutely no right to do that -he didn’t have my permission[/quote]
The surveyor should've used a damp meter, although it looks like a physical visual inspection has been carried out instead.

Tbf that bay window damp looks shocking.

@Iamthedom

Update Spoke to the surveyor initially he lied said there was no flooring Then he denied ripped up any flooring Then he did admit to taking up the laminate flooring to gain access to the floorboards underneath . When I asked him who gave him permission to remove my floor covering He was extremely evasive saying he “ kind of had permission “ to do that Then he did admit to not having my permission to do this. He denied removing the tile but obviously if he lied about the removing the flooring then I have to assume that he lied about the tile

Tried to bluster me about upstairs and how much work needs doing but I just kept asking him who gave him permission to remove the flooring
I now have to put in a complaint to his company and take it from there
Any advice on what to put in my complaint

I would refer back to that RICS guidance, say that he has contravened sections 2.1, 2.5, and 3.2 or whatever, enclose photographic evidence and also send it to RICS

He did not have your permission to do any of that. He has damaged your property and I would say you want it repaired and compensation

Ouch. Sounds like they will more than likely use the survey to negotiate on price. To be fair to the surveyor I absolutely would want to have seen the state of the floorboards underneath, and I think any prospective buyers will. It looks like the perfect environment for dry rot. I’ve never understood the point of surveys if they come with so many caveats that they ‘couldn’t inspect this or that’. Breaking the tiles though, how unnecessary.

Well he clearly took up the tile...it didn't magically remove itself with that huge accompanying chisel gouge did it. I'm actually embarrassed for him on the basis of that phone call.

I would send the company a copy of the pictures the estate agent used, and the pictures of the damage, plus a brief description of the phone call where he lied about the damage (unless you happened to have recorded it, if so send a copy) along with a deadline of when you expect to hear back, and what you want done, plus I would state clearly that if you do not feel satisfied you will complain to the RICS.

I help at a sort of drop in and we have a serial complainer who comes, and who is always in the middle of a massive complaint about some company or other. A couple of years ago he complained to the RICS about a surveyor. His problem was that someone else had paid for a survey years previously on a property next door do to him, the results of which did not effect his property at all and the surveyor did not at the time give him a copy. The surveyor very politely explained several times in writing that he was not a party to the survey and then ignored him. He then made a formal complaint to RICS about how being ignored was unprofessional...and this went on for MONTHS! Rather than the RICS saying, look you are completely batshit, go away, they allowed him to send in reams of documents and angst ridden letters and they then convened a group of 3 people to oversee the complaint.....He was clearly bonkers and the surveyor had done nothing wrong, so I should imagine they would take this very seriously indeed.

@DingleyDel

Ouch. Sounds like they will more than likely use the survey to negotiate on price. To be fair to the surveyor I absolutely would want to have seen the state of the floorboards underneath, and I think any prospective buyers will. It looks like the perfect environment for dry rot. I’ve never understood the point of surveys if they come with so many caveats that they ‘couldn’t inspect this or that’. Breaking the tiles though, how unnecessary.

There is nothing about being fair to the surveyor. He has blatantly ignored the professional standards he's supposed to adhere to

@DingleyDel the buyers are aware that there is a huge amount of work that needs doing to the property
Its empty so they were able to see everything
The damp is obvious and not hidden behind anything

The house was priced accordingly house in the area that have been refurbished sale for sale 100k - 120 k more
Plus seeing as he’s obviously lied and did damage to the property how am I supposed to believe anything in the survey should the buyers try to negotiate

So he's actually a RICS surveyor then? I'm astonished!

The firm the surveyor works for should have a complaints handling procedure on their website. It’s a RICS requirement. That should tell you who to complain to, and the timescales in which they must reply etc. If it’s not clear on their website, then call them and ask for it. If they don’t have one then report them to RICS. The surveyor sounds a complete liability.

Oh wow. I was not expecting it to be the surveyor. And he admitted to it. For the RICS complaint you might want to ask on the Property/DIY section as the specialists are there.

I am guessing that his 2 hours in the property were spent with him trying to unsuccessfully stick the broken bit of tile back in place. You said it was missing so I wonder if he has taken it away to try and hide the evidence.

I agree with soontobe60 they have had a structural survey done and there is very bad damp in that bay window which is extremely visible.

The surveyor has pulled up the flooring (which I agree they should have had permission to do so) to see whether the floor boards are badly affected as well.

I don't think your buyer is necessarily going to try and renegotiate etc but wanted the full structural survey to understand the problems of the house.

Keep calm. You've done the right thing by reporting this but I don't think any of this is going to cause a devalue of the house as it is clear that there is a lot of work to be done and the fact it's a doer upper as you say.

I hope you recorded the phone call?

@friendlycat I agree , the buyers went in with a builder friend a few weeks ago to see what needs doing

They wanted the structural building survey to get an approx of what else needed to be done which I didn’t have an issue with as I knew there was a lot of work to be done
The price it was up for reflected the work that needs doing even if they did the work that the surveyor puts in his report they will still be up by 30k-40k on the house value and they paid loads over the asking price as houses rarely come up in this street and when they do it’s because someone has died so generally needs a lot of work on it .

They had a in person mortgage valuation one where the valuer goes into the house to value it and they agreed that the house was worth the mortgage

Also as the surveyor has lied to me with regards to the flooring how am I supposed to believe anything in the survey .

He was in the property around 2hrs to do a full structural survey

Personally i'd be peeved with the estate agent as well for allowing this person un supervised access to your property

It’s the tile that annoys me the most about this especially if he's disposed of it when you can’t replace it

That tile is indefensible - period features add money to the property.

A structural survey is worthless if the surveyor is unable to survey the underlying structure.
With the state of the bay window i am not surprised he wanted to check whether the damp extended into the floor boards - and if it had i'd not have been surprised to have them lifted to inspect whether the floor joists were compromised or not.

Ultimately no real damage has been done to that floor - anyone coming in is going to have to deal with the damp/plumbing/heating/wiring/decades of diy bodges etc and will be lifting & binning that old laminate in pretty quickly.
The antique tile in the hall is another story though. I believe there are specialist architectural salvage companies who can sometimes turn up old odd tiles like these (for a cost of course).
Hopefully if the buyers decide to replace them with grey glittery shite they will offer them to such a salvage firm.

The best outcome is for your buyers to complete the sale (at the agreed price - subject to any reasonable horrors from the survey) and then any damage is a moot point so probably best to fume quietly & hope for the best

I'm so angry for you - particularly about the tile.

None of this digging up (and breaking) is what a building surveyor does.

@user1471447863

A structural survey is worthless if the surveyor is unable to survey the underlying structure. With the state of the bay window i am not surprised he wanted to check whether the damp extended into the floor boards - and if it had i'd not have been surprised to have them lifted to inspect whether the floor joists were compromised or not.

Ultimately no real damage has been done to that floor - anyone coming in is going to have to deal with the damp/plumbing/heating/wiring/decades of diy bodges etc and will be lifting & binning that old laminate in pretty quickly.
The antique tile in the hall is another story though. I believe there are specialist architectural salvage companies who can sometimes turn up old odd tiles like these (for a cost of course).
Hopefully if the buyers decide to replace them with grey glittery shite they will offer them to such a salvage firm.

The best outcome is for your buyers to complete the sale (at the agreed price - subject to any reasonable horrors from the survey) and then any damage is a moot point so probably best to fume quietly & hope for the best

A surveyor still needs permission to lift any flooring.

All that flooring will need to come up anyway.

The house looks like a mess.

@Hrpuffnstuff1

All that flooring will need to come up anyway.

The house looks like a mess.

As well as being rude, you have completely missed the point.

The house doesn’t belong to the buyers. They had no right to damage anything in a house they don’t own.

That is completely shocking. The actions, and then the bare faced lying.