Pete recently did an interview on BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours - which investigated a case history of failed cavity wall insulation.
We are seeing a lot of very similar examples of RICS incompetence at the moment. Almost every valuation survey has a standard 'You need a PCA timber and Damp survey' requirement. This has led to a rash of fraudulent mis-selling of damp proofing, which in the case of Listed buildings, is criminal damage. Clients are now getting so called 'independent' damp surveys, from - you guessed it - PCA members, who recommend PCA damp proofing anyway.
In one case, a company called Dampco turned up at a house owned by our client, did a ten minute survey and pronounced the place riddled with rising damp. The buyers pulled out on the basis the house was damp. Dampco were asked by our client to explain why an apparently dry building was riddled with rising damp. Their bloke turned up and was aggressive and abusive, insisting the place WAS damp. A subsequent 'independent' PCA damp wally turned up, and wrote a long report full of the most incomprehensible bollocks, clearly aimed at selling his 'technical' know how - and despite actually doing carbide tests that proved the wall was dry, recommended damp proofing. Apparently a 'nitrates test' proved rising damp. I've never heard such claptrap in my life - the wall he tested was a chimney! Full of salts from coal and wood combustion. This assertion that nitrates indicate rising damp is the biggest load of rubbish I've ever heard in my life - apparently it stems from the fact that we dump fertiliser on the ground and therefore nitrates get into the ground water and rise in the walls. Nitrates are incredibly volatile - they are 'there today and gone tomorrow' - notoriously hard to track and reproduce, which is why in agricultural soil testing, nitrates are not measured directly, but from 'organic carbon' in the soil, which locks onto nitrates and holds them. I know - I ran the largest agricultural soil testing laboratory group in Australia, and did extensive research into soil testing. Our clients house is actually bone dry.
The 'independent PCA damp wally surveyor' wdas a joke. His 'report' has PCA logo, ISSE logo ( The ISSE is a sham organisation owned and run by damp operatives, claiming to train people - have a look at their website and the scambles of their training courses..I think it was set up by other damp wallies to try and beat the pca at their own game) and the Expert Witness Institute - we logged in and he's not a member. All that's missing is a big logo on the bottom saying 'I'm a fraud'..
This criminal and fraudulent bollocks from the PCA needs to stop - their lies, their mis quotes, their constant bullshit, are causing British homeowners to spend millions in totally unwarranted damp proofing - not only this, but having the effect of overturning many house sales in the process.
We have a burgeoning case file of fraud and criminal damage by PCA members - please let us know if you have examples we can document for a Class Action that is being put together to stop this criminal activity.