Structural Inspection and Structural Survey - Term Paper Example

Structural Survey Introduction A building surveyor conducts the structural and the building survey to find out the condition of the property or the structure, with regard to any defects in the same. The survey is also conducted to evaluate the building in terms of mortgage or for the purpose of borrowing money from lending institutions. The inspection of the property is conducted to find the minute details of any major or minor defects that may have any impact on the future evaluation of the property and any expenses that may be required to carry out repairs to the relevant structure. While the surveyor should be a qualified and licensed one, being a certified member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, he must carry out the inspection of the material and construction fabrics used in the building, and analyze the results to provide a comprehensive guideline for the buyer of the property. Accordingly, the survey will comprise of the following important tasks, among other things. 1. To advise on the technical characteristics of the property with regard to any defects found in the structure. 2. To analyze and advise about the material used in the building, with the details on the form of fabric used. 3. To identify the major and minor defects in the structure with the cost implications for repair and removal of such defects. 4. To advise on the design of the structure, its shortcomings, and the hidden faults that may occur over a period. 5. To give an appraisal on the overall condition of the building, with emphasize on the major and long-term minor defects found in the structure. While this report will discuss on the two aspects of the structural survey---building survey and the structure survey, it is essential that the authorised surveyors who provide ISO 2009 service quality should do the survey. (Pat McGovern Staff, “Building Surveys”) Building surveys While most of the reputed property consultants and developers make an offer for their various products accompanied by a survey report from their own surveyors on the condition of the property in question, it is advisable that the authorized RICS members, for the buildings that are more than ten years old, should do a proper building survey. In addition, this also helps the prospective buyer to make a hard bargain on the price of the property, if any hidden defects are found, whose information the seller may have withheld....( Valuation and Surveys para 1-3) Inspection of the property Depending on the condition and the age of the building, the inspection can be categorized in three parts. Te first is the valuation report. It gives the buyer information on the actual valuation of the property as per the prevailing market rate. This type of inspection is done usually for the new buildings. The second is a homebuyer’s report, which will include all the relevant facts on the concerned property like its demarcation, location disputes, if any. In addition, this will also provide the buyer a summary on the technical and other aesthetic condition of the building. However, a full-fledged report is essential if the building is a resale property and that too an old one. The third, a survey report will comprise about the condition of plumbing, wiring and other utilities in the building. Nevertheless, it is essential that the buyer engage a surveyor who has experience in the particular field only. For example, an expert in doing such jobs only, should be engaged, while a different expert surveyor will do a cottage survey. (Valuation and Surveys, para 4-7) In addition, the valuation of the fresh property can also be done for the purpose of mortgage. Although the lenders have their own system of getting the concerned building surveyed, yet the mortgage valuations will not cover the other technical areas in the report as it may touch the points relevant to the building structure like the apparent defects in same without going into its details.....( Pat McGovern Staff, “Building Surveys”, para 4-5) Location disputes These will include the investigation into the dimensions of the plot on which the building is standing, as well as the building dimensions.. The report will highlight all the four boundaries of the building, thereby giving the actual position on the location and position of the building boundary, while emphasizing on the right to way as well as the obstruction caused by the neighbors’ trees and other such plantation that may affect the buyer’s legal rights for the building. While identification of boundary lines remains the important part of the survey report, it must inform the buyer on the damage, caused by any work being carried out at the site adjoining to the building or its boundary..... (Pat McGovern Staff, “Building Surveys”, para 8-11) Structural surveys A structural survey report will be in the form of an inspection report that will identify the problems related to the structure of the building, its condition at present and the cost implications for the repairs to be done to rectify the structural and technical defects. The report usually filed by a certified chartered structural engineer, will relate to all the technical details for rooms, roof, balconies and other areas of the building......(Structural Inspection) A qualified engineer who is a member of the Insatitue of structural engineers or institute of civil engineers usually files the structural report. The engineer’s report will comprise of a specific structural inspection and a general inspection, as detailed below: General structural inspection The inspection will be a general investigation into all the structural members of the constructed property, including the report on the accessible load bearing structural members of the property. This will include the general inspection of the roof, floors, walls, lintels and all the beams and columns of the structure. While identifying the defects in any of these structural members, the report will also highlight on the cost of repairs to be done to rectify these defects and their long-term affect on the building....(Structural report) Specific Structural Inspection This will relate to the inspection of the part of the property which has a certain structural problem, The specific report will look into all the minute details of the portion to be inspected that has the problem, while ignoring the other parts of the structure. Since, the report thus prepared will relate to the concerned portion of the building it needs to evaluate the errors, in detail. A view of the structural inspection involving a simple brick wall is given below to emphasize the fact that a small error like a single brick displacement can cause serious structural fault in any building. (Source: http://www.surveyorsreports.co.uk/structural_engineer_report.htm ) List of defects The general inspection report on the structure will comprise of identifying all the major and minor defects in the structure. While the report will investigate into all the shortcomings and technical snags in the buildings, it will inspect all the floors, walls and the roof along with the lintels, beams and columns of the building and then prepare a snag list. This is more important for the newly built properties as the list will provide all the necessary regulations for health and other building by-laws that the seller or the developer should comply with. Thus, the buyer will have the assurance that legal and other regulations have been properly followed....( Pat McGovern Staff, “Building Surveys”, para 6-7) Analysis of defects While the report will identify the defects, the analysis of the same will investigate into the causes of such defects. This will also include the inspection of the building material and the method of its use during the construction process, the floor laying process as well as the methods adopted for roof construction. As chartered building engineers are trained for this specialized job, they will provide the report for the remedial action to be taken to remove the causes of the defect and the cost implication towards the same. The report will also include the process of construction and the material to be used for same, in case the repair or remedial operations are to be undertaken...( Pat McGovern Staff, “Building Surveys”, para 9-11) Survey of the roof As the roof will shelter the structure from all the calamities of weather, its proper design and building process will ensure that the whole property is well-protected. The roofs should overhang to give protection to the outer walls and windows from rain and snow. In addition, a roof with slanting pitch can cause the snow to slip down easily. As there are a number of ways to construct a roof, the same can be made of slates, tiles or concrete or thatched roof material. However, the laying of tiles is a specialized job and it takes lot of skilled effort to construct a roof with the tiles or slates. Therefore, the job of the surveyor becomes quite tough to report on the roof construction, particularly in the wet and snow bound areas of the world. The picture below can give the idea on the importance of laying the tiles during a roof construction:..(Quirke,2008, para 1-5) (source: http://www.lost-in-france.com/french-property/buying-selling/728-building-surveys) While the property with roofs constructed from slates is costly in the long run, as the replacing cost of slates is huge, the cost of roof made from shingles, concrete tiles and other tiles would be cheaper. The slates have the longest life of around 80 to 100 years; the Chinese slates are the cheapest of the lot. Spanish slates are a bit costly but are attractive, at the same time. However, most of the village homes will have clay tiles like terra-cotta tiles. While they are light and last longer, clay tiles can come up in all sizes and shapes, unlike the slates. The clay tiles are cheaper also. Although concrete tiles are also cheap and come in varying sizes, they require the building design to be suitable to bear the load of these roof tiles. Hence, the load bearing structural members of the building should be upgraded to bear the load of these tiles, which are smooth and attractive also........(Quirke,2008, para 6-7) Conclusion A structural survey using the building survey route is the most viable method of ascertaining the condition of the building and the process involved in construction of the same. While most of the new buildings will have an inspection or the engineers report on the property involved, displayed by the developer or the concerned property consultant, the old buildings must be surveyed according to the relevant survey regulations. This is more important as the hidden defects crop up during the lifetime of the building. Most of the buildings have a regular checkup and survey process in line to detect any defects, particularly in the areas where plumbing and wiring work is concentrated. However, it is essential that only the certified chartered engineers from Institute of Structural Engineers or from Institute of Civil Engineers be engaged for this job. The RICS members are the qualified surveyors who can ensure the buyer about the best quality of the survey report. As some of these surveyors have ISO 2009 certification as well, the prospective buyers, for knowing the factual position of the structure involved, can depend upon them. Most of the lending institutions insist on a certified report for giving mortgage loans on any old property, while they have a system to prepare the building survey report for the newly developed properties. The structural designs and defects are not apparent in the beginning, as they come up over a period. Therefore, a structural report on the relevant property and its construction is essential to detect the shortcomings and defects, that may come up in due time. An estimate towards the cost involved for taking the remedial action, with regard to the same, can also be ascertained based on the structural engineers report. However, in the colder regions, and rain as well as snow bound areas, it is essential that the survey devotes a considerable time and effort on the construction and laying procedure for the roof the concerned structure. _______________________________________________________________ Works-cited In-text citation references Pat McGovern Staff, “Building Surveys” http://www.patmcgovern.ie/residential-surveys.asp#toc1 (accessed on 2nd Aug 2009) Quirke Martin, FRICS Chartered Building Surveyor, Building Surveys - A roof over your head, available at: http://www.lost-in-france.com/french-property/buying-selling/728-building-surveys (accessed on 3rd Aug 2009) Structural Inspection, available at: http://www.structuralsurveysdirect.com/index2.php?page=96&redirect=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zdHJ1Y3R1cmFsc3VydmV5c2RpcmVjdC5jb20vaW5kZXgyLnBocD9wYWdlPTIz (accessed on 3rd Aug 2009) Structural report, available at: http://www.surveyorsreports.co.uk/structural_engineer_report.htm (accessed on 3rd Aug 2009) Valuation and Surveys—UK, available at: http://www.justlanded.com/english/UK/UK-Guide/Property/Valuations-Surveys (accessed on 2nd Aug 2009) Read More