What happens if a surveyor doesn't pick up on a problem?

[Celia1978]

We moved house last autumn. The house we bought is a Victorian terrace and we had a full structural survey done before we bought it. The surveyor identified a few issues - bit of damp etc - but nothing major. We're now having some building work done and our builder has just called to say there's a crack in the back wall of the house. Needs a structural engineer to look at it but phrases he used were "significant problem", "not cheap" and "back of the house might come down".
Obviously I'm very upset and shocked that the original survey didn't pick up the problem - is there anything we can do? Can we claim compensation or anything from the surveyor for not picking up on the problem?

our full survey didn't pick up a major internal problem, we sued, but it took 4 years. it was something we still live in the house with though, obviously you can't wait that long

get more info and contact surveyors and your insurance company
good luck

Let you building insurer handle it.

I suppose the first question to ask is whether the crack was there last autumn? Then review the survey - any exclusions listed ("couldn't access X so couldn't inspect it).

But ultimately, if it was something that should have been evident, that he was able to inspect and it was within the scope of his instructions you can claim. Not easy but yes.

Have pmd you

Don't forget that the builder might be touting for work here- get an independent surveyor but don't take your builder's word that the whole side may need rebuilding.

Don't get another surveyor!!! Get a structural engineer as the builder says. Also, if the crack is so obvious, why didn't anyone notice it before now? You must have lived there for months. Was the crack covered up and the builder has now exposed it? If this is the case, then you cannot blame the original surveyor.

Deal with it via your insurance but you need a diagnosis as to what has caused it and a remedy before you do any more building work. Can you be sure the builder has not removed something to cause the crack? Possibly unlikely, but there are not usually sudden cracks, unless you are over a swallow hole of course!

Thanks everyone - the structural engineer is coming tomorrow so hopefully we'll have some answers then! I've never noticed the crack before (it's 'hairline' apparently) but the builder was looking closely at the brickwork this morning and found it then. So really hard to know if it's new (and possibly caused by the building work?) or if it's been there for a while. It seems like there might be some other problems too - but we won't know until tomorrow how serious they are.

Will definitely be waiting for the engineer's take on it - to be fair, the builders aren't pushing us in a particular direction and seem fairly horrified by the whole thing. I don't think they're touting for extra work - but we'll see!

Thanks again.

Hi, hairline cracks are so common in Victorian houses. I live in one and we have quite a few but the house is still standing!

Let us know what the engineer says!!

Just to update - not as bad as it could have been. Basically the problem is above the back door - the lintel has degraded, causing the brickwork above it to collapse down, which has destabalised the wall above that. Annoyingly the (pretty obvious!) cracks that reveal the problem were until recently hidden behind a massive overgrown shrub so that's why nobody had noticed.
The structural engineer suggested a pretty simple fix though, so it's not going to add too much money or time to the overall project. Very relieved.
Thanks for your suggestions and interest everyone.