A P.C.A. registered Independent Surveyor.

This P.C.A. registered Surveyor:

In the world of pre purchase Homebuyers reports one is often faced, at an advanced stage of the house buying process, with an instruction from the money lending institution, to obtain a ‘damp and timber’ report from a P.C.A. registered contractor / surveyor.

Like many commentators, on various forums that I have read, I can understand the concerns of having a contractor to undertake such an inspection as they may, most likely, be the beneficiary of their findings. You may imagine that such findings may be interpreted, ‘kindly’, towards their services. On occasion defects that don’t pertain to rising dampness are either, ignored, or the Customer is referred to a general builder / roofer contractors for their opinion.

Please don’t believe all that you read. One misconception, that I feel I have to correct, is that one can attain a C.S.R.T. qualification following a three day training course. This is simply not the case. The exams are undertaken over a three day period however the P.C.A. stipulate that one must be suitably experienced prior to sitting the exam.

As an independent surveyor, with over 30 years’ experience inspecting all types of properties, I do not profess to be all seeing / all-knowing and I gain new experience on a daily basis. My job is a vocation and I am often asked to conduct a damp and timber inspection and, to me, this means a holistic inspection of all aspects of a property, from the roof to the ground. Whilst I am not a Chartered Building Surveyor, I am often referred to by such and the best analogy that I can provide is to liken a Chartered Surveyor with a G.P. The Chartered Surveyor conducts a ‘medical’ on the property and then refers you to the relevant specialist / consultant whose job is to throw more light on the subject.

With the foregoing in mind I will usually provide my clients with an overall assessment of all things related to dampness and decay.

Of course, if I am asked to inspect an isolated issue I will do just that however it is fair to state that, in order to get to the nub of the issue, I endeavour to go as far as is reasonably practical to be confident in my findings in order that I can recommend an appropriate solution.

John Goble. CSRT – CSSW