What type of survey would you go for?

[zizu73]

Hi. We are in the process of buying a Victorian semi. What type of survey would you go for? We were thinking the Building survey as it’s a period property but are there any benefits of having the Home buyers? Do these both cover the state of electrics, boiler, windows, insulation etc?

Thanks.

I had a survey done a couple of months ago and wanted the full shabang, but was advised that a home buyers survey is adequate and that a building survey is best saved for if you have concerns about the property or its atypical - e.g. barn conversion, or somesuch.

Both cover all of those things but in more/less detail. E.g. mine said that floors looked fine but as they could not see or access underneath the floorboards they could not guarantee that the joists were free of issues. Whereas I think with a builders survey they would get access to that somehow

Best of luck!

You need to ask the company doing the survey what extra information you would receive from having the building survey rather than the standard home-buyers report.
However they may not include electrics (other than a brief look at the fusebox/switches) and they won't test gas (other than a general look at the model no of the boiler and it's age). They may recommend a specialist electrical safety check or gas safety check in addition to the homebuyers report.
They would look at the roof (from outside) and inside (for the areas with a lost access), check for signs of damp/subsidence and examine accessible woodwork and walls and make recommendations about their condition.

Thanks. That's the issue, I think all they would say is 'get an electrical engineer' or 'get a heating engineer' etc. Is it going to be a lot of 'maybe' issues? The house we are buying has old electrics, old boiler (10 year +) and had a small extension done a while back in the kitchen. Would it be better to get a qualified electrician, structural engineer, heating engineer etc instead a building/home buyer survey or is there any benefit of having one such as insurance in case they miss something big?

I will ask about the difference in detail. Would the Building survey uncover any movement/structural things or would it just recommend to get a structural engineer?

They are both one of the same, apart from a full survey goes more in depth on the report and the issues/costs involved.

Get a survey done and then look at getting a specialist to look at anything that gets flagged up.

Though generally you shouldn't need to get specialist engineers in for things like electrics or heating, your major concerns are structural.

Provided there is documentation that the boiler has been serviced regularly then you shouldn't need a specialist gas engineer. There is an average lifetime for a gas boiler and so you need an idea about how old it is which may depend on the make and type.
You may need an electrician to check whether you really need a rewire or if you just need to replace the fuse box and a few fittings. A new fuse box may cost £500 whereas a rewire would be much more than that so it could pay for itself.
hope that helps

With old electrics, old boiler etc I would just account for the fact that I’ll need to have to replace in the next few years.

Generally the survey will look for damp, subsidence, roof integrity etc.

If you’re really worried about any one aspect see if you can get a trusted tradesman to come and have a look.

Thanks all. This is helpful. I think you are right, I should probably focus on the more serious issues like movement, damp, roof etc. which should be flagged up in the report. I think given the state of the electrics and the boiler, it's likely that we will have to re-wire/replace it but the question is when. Probably just need to see the paperwork first of all which will hopefully shed a light on how urgent it is.