We receive literally thousands of requests from folk who have had a RICS building survey, usually a Level 3 – and come to us with questions afterwards.
Often you’ll say “Wish we had found you first”.
Many of these RICS surveys tell you, the client, to get ‘another survey’ – usually a timber and damp survey.
This is unprofessional, and shows that the surveyor is clueless, negligent, unprofessional. 98 percent of building defects are due to water. If the RICS surveyor doesn’t understand the science of water and has to refer the majority part of his survey to an unqualified chemical salesman, what are you paying for?
The Heritage Survey team ALWAYS understand damp problems and NEVER have to refer to anyone else. Nearly all damp issues are easily diagnosed pre-purchase. The only exception is timber frames that are totally covered with cement render inside and out.
If they are pushing you to a PCA damp survey they are feeding you to a chemical sales organisation that exists by fraudulently mis-selling damp proofing. This is proof positive the surveyor doesn’t have the basic knowledge to survey a dolls house.
It is also against RICS professional standards rules of Level 3 surveys to recommend secondary surveys. You just paid for their expertise – if they don’t understand the building, they should not take on the survey.
Complain To RICS!
If you found your survey was lacking, either for recommending a damp survey, or for just sheer negligence and missing things, can we suggest the following:
1: Complain to the RICS surveyor and demand answers.
Why is the surveyor, with a Degree level education, recommended a PCA idiot with zero qualifications to wave a damp meter around and sell damp proofing?
Document with photos, your problem with them if they have missed something. Remember that you will need to prove that the fault was easily visible - and that they should have seen it with reasonable care during their survey. The surveyor is going to try to claim that the fault was not visible, or covered with furniture, or underneath the floorboards. So your approach needs to be to show that anyone with reasonable care and knowledge should have seen it. Dont forget you are employing someone who claims to have the required skills to 'survey' a house - and claims to be a RICS member, and therefore 'qualified and experienced'.
If unseen damp problems appear - for example a suspended floor turns out to have rampant damp and wood rot - the RICS surveyor should have the equipment to identify this. First they do the 'heel drop' test - sounding the timber floor to see if it is loose or soft. Then they SHOULD use a thermo-hygrometer to probe under the floor (we probe through air vents and down the side of central heating pipes, behind skirtings etc) to find excessive moisture. The trail of evidence should also tell them - blocked drains, blocked air vents, high ground levels - all of these are evidence that a suitably 'experienced and qualified' RICS chartered surveyor SHOULD BE EXPECTED to observe and make appropriate investigations or recommendations.
Demand details of their Professional Indemnity insurance - this is essential - you MUST get this. INSIST on their insurance details. RICS tells the public their surveyors are insured. We are now finding significant evidence that many are NOT insured, and there is no oversight by RICS to check if their surveyors or companies are actually covered.
2: If you are not completely satisfied, demand your money back – AND – tell surveyor that you are filing a formal complaint with RICS, and want to know the identity of their independent arbitration service – usually CEDR (Who we know are useless – but this tactic will probably get your money back).
CEDR are useless - but going through their process will upset both RICS and the surveyor - who you paid a lot of money to. These are the Trustpilot reviews:
Common Trustpilot Complaints about RICS
Corruption & Cover-ups: Allegations that RICS ignores evidence of members (surveyors, managing agents) failing to meet standards, with users calling them "corrupt".
Lack of Accountability: Complaints about MRICS members engaging in misconduct (e.g., property surveying failures, expulsions from redress schemes) that RICS seems unwilling to address.
Unreliable Standards: Users feel RICS fails to provide reassurance and that their members don't adhere to the "highest professional and ethical standards" they claim.
Key Themes
Power Imbalance: Both organizations are perceived as favoring large corporations over individual consumers.
Lack of Trust: A recurring theme is that neither CEDR nor RICS can be trusted to provide a fair or effective resolution.
3: RICS will do nothing, CEDR will do nothing – they nearly always either ignore complaints or find for the surveyor.
Ignore the bit about having to complain to the firm first – you did that and were not happy. Have a look at Google reviews for RICS and Trustpilot – they are both shocking:
4: File a negative review with Google about RICS and the firm concerned.
4: File a negative review with Trustpilot.
Let us have a copy of any rubbish RICS surveys. We maintain a database of thousands of incompetent surveys here, which build the case generally for their lack of expertise and professionalism.
If all else fails – ensure you have legal cover on your house insurance, you may be able to issue proceedings against the surveyor.
This is a very good property barrister we've come across:
If you still have questions, the best place to start is to read Petes book – The Warm Dry Home. Most questions about houses, construction, problems related to dampness etc are covered in the book.
Most of our clients have a copy as part of their survey.
If you still have questions after reading this, we will be happy to arrange a telephone consultation (We change £200/hour, payable in advance) to discuss the issue, and can usually help find a solution if we are given enough information to work with.
We hope this helps with your enquiry! We will update this page with more help in time.
Stephen Boniface, former chairman of the construction arm of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS ), has told the institute’s 40,000 members that ‘true...
Ian Rock has written another of his great books. This one is even better - We've helped Ian with this one and there's loads of photos of our guys doing timber frame work. A great book, with lots of practical information you need if you have an old home. Treat yourself and buy this - you won't regret it!
