How king to get a full structural survey report?

[Anderson78]

As above really! I'm getting increasingly impatient (as are our buyers) as the survey on the property we are hoping to purchase was carried out 3 1/2 weeks ago. The surveyor had promised it to us last Monday at the very latest (after already promising it the week before) We still do not have it! He has been ignoring our calls, until yesterday I called from my friends house and the surveyor answered as he didn't recognise the number. He didn't apologise and said 'oh yes I really need to that, I'll email it to you tonight' which of course he hasn't. We have already paid the £850 upfront, so we have no bargaining power. Our buyers are understandably putting pressure on us too, but as it's an older property we really want to see the report before proceeding any further. Is this how long full surveys take?

Sorry HOW long, not king!

Our full survey report on a period property took 7 working days after the visit to be written, and our surveyor was really clear on the timeline - did yours give any indication as to likely timings? We paid £900 so not much more than you. Also this was over Christmas. 3.5 weeks is too long - keep calling.

Also when you have him on the phone he might be willing to give a brief verbal synopsis of the findings (we did this - the surveyor called us from inside the property). You might find there isn't much wrong, in which case you can start working on the next steps of the purchase before getting the full report, to keep things moving.

Waaaay too long. DH met the surveyor at the property when he had finished and spent an hour going over the major items, this was a Thursday - report emailed Monday, hard copy arrived Tuesday. £900 for ours.

Tell him the report needs to arrive in 2 days or you will instruct another one and take him to small claims court for not providing yours in a timely manner as needed in the buying process.

Thank you, after many calls today, I have just had a copy emailed to me. Although it seems less comprehensive than a home buyers survey we had on a previous property, so I hope it wasn't a rush job! Should full surveys have the colour coded conditions ratings?

dont know what you mean by colour coded conditions ratings.

Our report was 70 pages long - roof, chimney, walls, garden walls, outbuildings, then inside lifting carpets to look at floors, electrics, running water pressures, boiler, damp and loads more then another 20 pages with advice about how to look after old houses and a maintenance plan for painitng windows, re-rendering, looking after roof etc.

Ours (on a 4 bed stone-built Victorian Money Pit) was 30 typed pages with 200 photos on a separate disc (not emailed but sent with hard copy). Things were rated 1 (urgent repairs required) - 2 (non-urgent repairs) - FI (Further Investigation needed) or Good.

It came back within a week.

70 pages?! This was 14 pages, and it's a 5 bedroom cottage built in 1800, so we were expecting issues! Slightly worried that we have chosen an inadequate surveyor...
Emwithme that's what I was expecting, some sort of ratings. (Our previous home buyers report had a colour system -red for urgent, yellow for needing non-urgent repairs, and green for ok!

Do you think he has lost his notes from the visit and is attempting to cover it up?

Oh dear, maybe? It's really basic. The vendor told me more by pointing out the damp herself. I could've saved a lot of money!

Our last full structural survey was about 90 pages, prob about 30 of them were photographs. It was very detailed and comprehensive and went over every inch of the property.
I really would be complaining strongly to him if I were you.

Thanks for your advice. I will be complaining. To be honest I just want our money back and to get another company to do it now. Although I doubt we will get It back? It's so frustrating we love the house, but I just want to buy it with open eyes, so we know how to factor in costs etc.