Building survey

[TheMouseInMyPocket]

We have one booked for the house we're buying, didn't bother with one last time and I don't think our buyers had one when we sold our house a couple of months ago, so I am quite curious about what it involves.
The reason we are doing the survey this time is because of the history of the house - it burnt down and was rebuilt a few years ago, so want to be sure all is sound.
I haven't told the surveyor this, so I'm wondering - do they just go by what they see when they do the site visit, or do they try and find out a bit about the house as well?

I didn't know they drilled holes etc.! House is empty so hopefully the vendor won't mind... I am quite tempted to tag along on the day of the survey, but I don't want to get in the way

The full structural is now known as s Building Survey as opposed to less detailed reports such as the Homebuyers Report. No surveyors reports do anything invasive such as drilling or digging! They are largely visual but they will test for damp with a meter and where possible lift parts of carpets to check floorboards, drain covers to check drains etc. You definitely should get the more expensive Building Survey in this instance, unless the whole house is completely rebuilt so it is effectively a brand new house. Your insurer may well insist on a Building Survey as they do with houses that have had previous subsidence.

Thank you, Whose, Building Survey is whathe I've booked. Tbh I don't know exactly to what extent the house was damaged, but from what I understand it was bad. Do I need to tell the surveyor about it or will it not make any difference to them?

You want the surveyor to do a thorough job so why wouldn't you point out potential problem areas?

I have heard people say that if you can attend the survey (assuming that the surveyor is OK with this) then the surveyor might tell you little things verbally that they wouldn't commit to paper. They can be more nuanced and you can ask questions.

It's not that I don't want to point out problem areas, but at the moment I don't actually know what they are, as I don't know what got destroyed and rebuilt (well, I do know that the roof is new, but that's it). Survey is not for another two weeks though, so if I find anything useful out in the meantime I will let the surveyor know.

We asked our surveyor to look at certain things that we were concerned about when he did a full structural survey for us. It turned out that the upper floor of the place was bulging in numerous places so we withdrew our offer. £1000 well spent (it was a 1930s bungalow that had been recently extended into the roof space.)

As others have said the surveyor cannot lift anything, go anywhere that is locked etc. so they can only go on what they see and the information they have. They don't do any research so won't know it's been damaged unless you say.

Give them as much information as you can to get the best out of it. Also don't assume that they will spot things you want them to check on so point those out.