# Structural Survey..cost?



## réaltín09 (21 Nov 2009)

Just put a deposit down on a house..estate agent has recommended a structural surveyor who does it cash in hand for 250 euro.. 
sound dodgy or is this a reasonable price? I heard u can pay up to 500!


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## LDFerguson (21 Nov 2009)

You want your structural surveyor to be someone who is meticulous and won't miss anything.  You want someone who will give you a detailed written report and will talk to you about any issues needing resolution.  If you're unlucky, you want someone who can be relied on to fight your corner.  

Do you want some character who may be put out of business tomorrow for blatant tax fraud?


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## huskerdu (21 Nov 2009)

I agree with LDFerguson, the survey is done for your peace of mind, so that you are confident in thr quality of the house that you buy. It could save you 1000s of euros now and in the future.  Ask people who bought houses in the last few years. Find out how much they paid and get a personal recommendation. It is money well spent.


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## mathepac (21 Nov 2009)

réaltín09 said:


> ,..estate agent has recommended a structural surveyor who does it cash in hand for 250 euro...


The estate agent is supposed to be working for the seller - you want a structural survey done from a purchaser's perspective. This is more of the greed-derived corruption that has this country ruined and sees consumers left without recourse time and time again, frequently contributing to their own powerlessness.

I cannot get over the gombeen-man mentality that says "I'll save 200 / 300 euro on the structural survey fee (which the EA and the surveyor will undoubtedly split between them tax-free as its cash) and perhaps compromise the integrity of a purchase costing me 200k / 300k."


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## onq (21 Nov 2009)

A standard walk through visual inspection by a building professional [not necessarily a surveyor] will fall within the range of €250-500, depending on who is doing it and the length of time they take 1-4 hours.
On a second purchase of an older building normally this is

a snag list coupled with 
visually apparent building defect list
any non-compliant items in the original house or that have arisen
damage/settlement/shrinkage defects that have arisen in the life of a building.
Normally this doesn't involve opening up works but should involve an attic inspection covering the water tanks and overflow, service cabling routing and labelling as well as a look in the drains for apparent blocking up.
Visual inspection of the interior and exterior of the house and the estate is usually done as part of the inspection.

The inspection of a new house is similar without the defects arising over time.
The person inspecting may also ask to see any details, plans etc. that are available to allow them to comment on possible future issues arising due to work covered up that could give problems.

I'm not sure what a structural surveyor does, not the relevance thereof if the survey is limited to visually apparent structural defects only - unless its a dreaded pyrite problem, but even there a structural specialist may not cover the whole range of issue arising.
This is because pyrite stems from a structural problem <please do not lt us go off topic on this for goodness sake, there are other threads dealing with it - oh I'm sorry I mentioned it now...> but the effects aer likely to affect a lot of other regulations. There are twelve Building Regulations, but Structure is only covered by Part A.

Someone specialising in Part A may not have a clue about the effect of building movement of services or fire separation, insulation or infiltration. A fuller survey on a building with problems may involve an initial inspection by a structural engineer or architect and then the one may bring in the other as other issues arise. We have been involved in houses with difficulties and a full design team went in, because there were difficulties with services also and so a Mechanical and Electrical Engineer became involved.

That cost the client a lot more than €500 but in the end the house was brought into compliance with the building regulations to a standard acceptable to the Building Control Officer, potentially huge liability to the developer was avoided, while the purchaser got the house they wanted at a good price.

ONQ

[broken link removed]


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## mystry4all (21 Nov 2009)

i have 2 websites...they were recommended by my sollicitor if you want i can give you


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## WaterSprite (21 Nov 2009)

There were numerous surveryors recommended on AAM over the years - I used McGoverns and found them v good.  It cost about €600 and I think that's money well spent, esp. if you are buying an old house.


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## réaltín09 (22 Nov 2009)

all advice very much appreciated..the house is only 7 years old if that helps in the arguement..!


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