1 General Principles
and Responsibilities
1.1 What is a building survey?
1.1.1 Definitions
In 1997 the Construction Industry Council (CIC) published a leaflet entitled Definitions of Inspections and Surveys of Buildings (see Appendix I). Although the definitions specifically apply to England and Wales, they are also relevant to the rest of the UK. The CIC is the organisation representing the main professional bodies in construction and property, such as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Chartered Institute of Building, the Association of Building Engineers, the Architecture and Surveying Institute, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Structural Engineers.
One of the most significant consequences of the CIC list of definitions was the scrapping of the term âstructural surveyâ. Up until 1997 âstructural surveyâ was the commonly accepted term for a Scheme 3 survey â the full building survey (Staveley, 1998). Although surveyors and lawyers in the UK had been using the term âstructural surveyâ for decades, many professionals, particularly consulting engineers, felt that it was misleading. It implied that the survey focused on structural issues relating to the property being surveyed â in other words, that it would only deal with the loadbearing characteristics of the building. This of course was not the case, as âstructural surveysâ assessed the propertyâs fabric and services as well as addressed its stability. Any major âstructuralâ findings were then referred to an engineer for more detailed analysis.
Nowadays, therefore, either âstructural inspectionâ or âstructural assessmentâ is the more accurate term to describe a building-related investigation undertaken by consulting engineers (IstructE, 1991). It is essentially a specialist investigation that often follows a condition/building survey, to assess in more detail a problem or requirement relating to the propertyâs loadbearing elements â such as foundations, walls, floors, beams and columns and roofs â and other structural problems such as subsidence.
See Appendix VIII for the definition of âbuilding surveyâ and other related terms.
1.1.2 Categories of property survey
As indicated in the CIC list, there is a wide range of property surveys. Table 1.1 categorises property surveys into five main groups and shows their relationship to one another.
Table 1.1 Types of property survey
Acquisition surveys(b) | Mortgage valuation (1) HomeBuyer report (2) Home condition report (2)(c) Building survey (3) | 1 2 2 3 |
Lease-related surveys(d) | Schedule of dilapidations survey (9) Schedule of condition survey (8) | 2(e) 2(e, f) |
Record surveys(g) | Schedule of condition survey (8) Measurement/dimensional survey (10) Inspection of building prior to alteration (5) Conservation plan inspection (5) Inspection of buildings under construction (11) Stock condition survey (7) Maintenance survey (7) | 2(e) 2(e) 2(e) 3(e) 2(e) 2(e) 2(e) |
Reinstatement surveys(h) | Fire damage survey (6) Flood damage survey (6) Other damage/insurance-related survey (e.g. following a burglary)(6) | 2(e) 2(e) 2(e) |
Specialist surveys(i) | Access audit (4) Defect assessment or diagnostic survey (4) Elemental investigation (4) Sanitary survey (4)(j) Housing health and safety risk assessment (4) Structural inspection/assessment (4) Post-occupancy evaluation (4)(k) | 2 or 3(e) 2 or 3(e) 2 or 3(e) 2 or 3(e) 2 or 3(e) 2 or 3(e) 2 or 3(e) |
1.1.3 Synchronic and diachronic surveys
Another way of categorising property surveys is to consider them either synchronically or diachronically (Brand, 1994). A synchronic survey is a snapshot assessment of a building and the way it all fits together at a particular moment in time. This usually means the present, but buildings can be studied as regards how they worked at one time in the past. In other words, it is about studying buildings in terms of immediacy and is the preference of building surveyors as well as âcity planners and architects looking for design ideasâ (Brand, 1994). Building surveys, condition surveys and dilapidation surveys are typical examples of this kind of appraisal.
A diachronic survey, on the other hand, is a way of studying buildings in terms of how they change or evolve over time. This is the way architectural historians (and building maintenance surveyors) appraise buildings (Brand, 1994). Maintenance surveys as well as conservation plan inspections and other record surveys of older properties are typical methods of studying buildings diachronically (Douglas, 2006).
1.1.4 Stock condition surveys
These are surveys that are undertaken on a large number of properties one after the other, or simultaneously if more than one surveyor is being used. They are most common for determining the state of repair of housing. However, the same approach can be used when assessing the condition of other large property stock such as warehouses and other industrial or commercial buildings.
The reader is referred to the relevant RICS guidance note on these types of surveys (RICS, 1995). They are usually carried on a regular (e.g. quinquennial) basis on ecclesiastical buildings as well as housing stocks. Data on the most recent English and Scottish house condition surveys undertaken between 2008/2009 can be obtained from Communities and Local Government (2010) and the Scottish House Condition Survey Team (2009) respectively.
1.2 Housing quality initiatives
1.2.1 Home information packs
The Housing Act 2004, which applies to England and Wales, required sellers of dwellings to supply a standard set of information referred to as a âHome Information Packâ (HIP). This was required before marketing a property for sale and made available to prospective purchasers (Melville & Gordon, 2004).
HIPs were introduced in August 2007 to provide more information about a property at the start of the buying and selling process. However, the UKâs new coalition government suspended the need for HIPs soon after it took power in May 2010. Home sellers, though, still need to provide an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
1.2.2 Home condition reports
A HIP, to be complete, required a condition report based on a professional survey of domestic properties, including an assessment of their energy efficiency (ODPM, 2003a). This comes in the form of a Home Condition Report (HCR). Its statutory basis is Section 134 of the Housing Act 2004. Initially the HCR was meant to be mandatory but the UK government in 2006 reversed its decision to facilitate the schemeâs launch in June 2007. HCRs were optional.
A similar scheme to the HIP was implemented in Scotland in December 2008. It is called the Home Report (HR), and comprises three elements: a single survey (SS), an energy report, and a property questionnaire. With the demise of the ill-fated HIPs in England and Wales, however, the future of HCRs/SSs remains uncertain.
The HCR is analogous to a âhome sellersâ report. Some of the HCRâs features have been incorporated into the RICSâs HomeBuyer Report (HBR) (see Parnham, 2009). The differences between these types of surveys are summarised in Table 1.2.
Table 1.2 Comparison between HBR and HCR (adapted from Callaghan, 2006)
Surveys are optional | Optional â sellers are only advised to have an HCR prepared. (Originally the intention was to make the HCR mandatory, but this was r... |