Structural surveyor/seri rural engineer - which one do we need please??

[notagenius8]

In the process of buying a house in Lewisham, London, and we need to instruct a surveyor to make sure there are no structural problems with the inside and outside of house. We thought we would need a structural surveyor to do this, but just been told by the estate agent that we should get a structural engineer?

Could someone enlighten me as to the difference and which one would be fit for purpose? Further if anyone knows of a good surveyor/engineer in the lewisham area, I would be v grateful for recommendations, there seem to be many of various costs, how do you choose! Given it is likely to cost 1k and how important the report is, I would like to spend it wisely. Thanks

Title should say structural engineer, annoying auto correct

A Structural Engineer is MIStructE and a surveyor is RICS. They are different qualifications and have a different level of expertise with regard to structures, ie buildings. For a general structural survey, a building surveyor (RICS) is fine. However, if the building has question marks eg cracks, subsidence, heave, walls out of alignment, a sagging roof or other contentious issues, a surveyor will usually pass this onto a structural engineer for a detailed expert report. You do not want to pay for two reports, so I suggest you go straight to a Structural Engineer if there is a problem. Are you aware of any structural problems? It seems odd the agent has said have a Structural Engineer and not a surveyor if this is just a general survey. Hope this explanation helps.

Structural engineer or building surveyor. If you have a building survey done, the building surveyor would highlight any potential issues and if they were serious refer you to a structural engineer.

Personally I would start with the building surveyor who will note the general condition of the property and list any items requiring repair etc and highlight major issues.

Thank you millymollymama and Mrs florrick! Nothing we have seen has caused us concern so I am also slightly confused that the agent has suggested a structural engineer. A part of me thinks perhaps the structural engineer he has referred us to is a friend and he is bringing business to a friend. Presumably a structural engineer is much more expensive than 1k?

As long as a building surveyor is capable of highlighting the major structural issues (if any) then I think that would be a good starting point, I would still be grateful for any recommendations in the lewisham/southeast London area!

Unless you are aware of a risk or presence of a structural issue like subsidence I can't imagine why you would need an engineer rather than just a surveyor.

Is the area prone to subsidence or something?

Hi woozlebear, I don't think so! It is in hither green, not sure if others on here have had problems?