Audi Partem Alteram (Hear the other side)
Around one thousand six hundred years ago, St Augustine spent time talking about how we interact with neighbours and disputes. This principle of a fair hearing has passed into natural justice. It is also the lead principle for Party Wall Surveyors. The Party Wall etc Act 1996 was created so that a neighbour affected by building works would be heard.
Yes, we are at it again, starting the search to recruit more of the very best Chartered Surveyors for our clients. We offer £500 to anyone who directly introduces us to a successful candidate, so it might be worth asking around!
Our Surveyors see a lot of strange things when doing Building Surveys for home buyers, but look at the photo and wonder how on earth did the builder manage this?
When a Chartered Surveyor (member of the RICS) inspects a property for a home buyer, maybe a Building Survey (sometimes referred to as a Full Structural Survey) or a House Purchase Survey, one of the many possible defects the surveyor is on the hunt for is any signs of rot in timbers, for instance those that hold up the floors, staircases or roof.
Rot causes wood timbers to lose their structural integrity, that is their ability to carry the load placed upon them, when supporting the floor or roof.
Woodward Chartered Surveyors invite all their customers who book and pay for their survey on line (we are one of the few surveyors to take credit card payments) to provide feedback on all aspects of their exerience.
Rising damp – does it exist?
In a recent case review Stephen Cornish MA BSc FRICS FFPWS challenged the conventional reporting style of surveyors and asked the question “Does rising damp actually exist?”.
Surveyors need to be well versed in the different types of space and water heating systems, up to date with modern trends, and advise their customers how this will impact their home ownership. Chartered Surveyor Daniel Stephens reports on the return of the Communal Heating System.
I recently completed a snagging inspection at a new build apartment in Hackney, London, E8, which had a central communal heating system. Unlike the old pre-war communal heating systems, this modern system comprises a central gas fired boiler, which pumps hot water to each property, via very well insulated pipework.
Woodward Chartered Surveyors get cheaper Freehold for Lessees
Leaseholders buying their freehold (known as Lease Enfranchisement) in Harrow had the cost slashed by around half by asking Chartered Surveyor Stephen Cornish MA BSc (Hons) FRICS FFPWS to act for them.
With spring approaching Stephen Woodward of Woodward Chartered Surveyors, which has an office in London, takes a look at how the property market is shaping up as we approach what is traditionally the busiest time of the property year.
The nation, albeit reluctantly sometimes, looks to London for its lead in so many areas of our lives. And property is certainly one of them. What happens in London influences what might happen in the rest of the country - given time. It is the ripple effect.
Rotten floors, roof joists, window frames and even asthma are some of the extreme results of the silent house destroyer; condensation.
More Home Buyer advice from Woodward Chartered Surveyors
When completing a Building Survey (particularly a Flat Purchase Survey) for our customers, one of the many things our Chartered Surveyors look out for is where the gas flue (the pipe that carries exhaust gases from a gas boiler) is situated.
Singing praise from the (fibreglass) roof-tops.
Woodward Chartered Surveyors recently hosted a meeting at Harrow on the Hill Head Office with Martin Shave of Topseal, specialists in GRP or fibreglass flat (or pitched) roofs.