Surveys
Residential
Home Condition Survey
Buying a house is a major investment - one that you really need to make an informed decision about. That’s exactly what the Home Condition Survey (HCS) allows you to do.
It’s been developed exclusively for homebuyers, and offers comprehensive benefits that other surveys just don’t offer – and does it much quicker than in the usual timeframe, and at a fraction of the usual cost of a full structural survey.
Delivered by specially trained and fully accredited residential property surveyors, your HCS gives you a plain English, jargon-free report on the condition of the property using a simple 1,2,3 rating guide so you will understand any risks or unforeseen expenditure that could crop up when you are settled in.
Your HCS tells you about any aspects of the property that need urgent attention or which present serious faults, and it tells you about ongoing maintenance that you might have to plan for.
Home Condition Report
Similar to the HCS, the Home Condition Report (HCR) is an optional element of the Home Information Pack, including advice about the condition of the property, and with an Energy Performance Certificate incorporated.
Commercial
Asbestos Survey
There are now 2 types of Asbestos Survey, replacing the previous Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3 Surveys:
A Management Survey replaces the Type 1 & 2 surveys and is used to locate any asbestos containing materials (ACM) using both presumptive & sampling techniques. The survey will confirm whether building materials contain white or brown asbestos, so they can each be dealt with appropriately;
A Refurbishment or Demolition Survey is a more invasive survey of all areas of the building, including those that may be difficult to access. Full sampling is used to estimate the extent of any ACM. The survey is then used as a basis for tendering for the removal of ACMs prior to refurbishment or demolition. The survey is destructive and will involve damage to elements of the building that do not contain ACMs.
Air Conditioning Surveys
Having an air-conditioning system inspected by an Energy Assessor is designed to improve efficiency and reduce the electricity consumption, operating costs and carbon emissions for the system. Energy inspections will highlight improvements to the operation of existing systems or opportunities to replace older, less energy efficient systems or oversized systems with new energy efficient systems.
When air-conditioning inspections are required
All air-conditioning systems with an effective rated output of more than 12kw must be regularly inspected by an Energy Assessor. The inspections must be a maximum of five years apart. The regulations require the first inspection of the affected air-conditioning systems to be carried out as follows:
- For all systems first put into service on or after 1 January 2008, the first inspection must have taken place within five years of the date when it was first put into service
- For other air-conditioning systems, where the effective rated output is more than 250kW the first inspection must happen by 4 January 2009
- For other air-conditioning systems, where the effective rated output is more than 12kW the first inspection must happen by 4 January 2011
From 4 January 2011, if the person in control of the air-conditioning system changes and the new person in control is not given an inspection report, the new person in control of the system must ensure the air-conditioning system is inspected within three months of the day that person assumes control of the system.