Help! QQ re: house survey etc

[TheSortingCat]

Also posted in chat for traffic.

Just hoping for a bit of advice really. We had a survey on a house we are buying and it suggested we get a cctv drain survey. That was scheduled for this morning, but the plumber just rang and he can't open the lids on the drains because they are old style concrete ones, and they are really badly cracked. He is worried that if he tries to jimmy them open, they will shatter.

Replacing the covers on the drains would cost a couple of hundred pounds.

Should we put some pressure on the vendor to pay for this work to be done so that we can get the drains survey, or should we press ahead with the purchase (exchange is supposed to happen next week)? According to the survey, there are no signs that the foundations have shifted or anything like that.

We are ftb so this is all new and scary to us!

Was there a reason given that the drains survey was recommended? Unless you think there's a likely issue I wouldn't do it - many surveys will recommend extra reports just to cover themselves if there is a problem in the future.

We had a drains survey because of a tree near the drain, to check for roots. Came back clear.

Maybe consider asking for some money from the vendor to replace the drains covers when you move in (share the quote), as they should have been maintained as upkeep.

Like you, there is a large tree which may have roots which affect the drains.

The fact that the plumber said to me that they haven't been opened in 20+ years suggests to me that there haven't been any functional problems with the drains, but obviously, there is no way to know about the roots until the survey has been done.

You may "put pressure on the vendor" however it will probably backfire on you. The surveyor is looking to the Professional Indemnity Insurance policy (assuming your surveyor is Chartered) and therefore exercising caution.

If there are no signs of distress to the house, you should be OK.