This is a copy of a survey recently seen which came from Advanced Preservation Specialists Ltd. We have the original of course. The property is solid walled, stone, and dry as a bone. The RICS valuation surveyor asked for a PCA timber and damp survey - this is what the client got:
Advanced Preservation Specialists Ltd
SURVEYOR: Mr Jonathan Boyd
Property Description: Ground Floor Flat
We thank you for your instruction to inspect the accessible walls for apparent rising dampness. We have pleasure in submitting our report.
Advanced Preservation Specialists Ltd are members of the Property Care Association (PCA) and we confirm that a fully qualified building preservation surveyor (our emphasis) has carried out this inspection.
Our inspection was restricted to the areas designated below, if you feel we have misinterpreted your survey instruction please contact us immediately for clarification. If you require an inspection of any other areas, we shall be pleased to carry out this upon receipt of your further instructions.
All directions given in this report were taken from outside the property facing the front elevation wall. At the time of inspection weather conditions were dry & overcast. (our comment: dry? What was the Relative Humidity and Absolute? How did this relate to internal conditions?)
AREA INSPECTED: ********
OBSERVATIONS:
Inspection was restricted due to feature wall finishes, fittings, and appliances.
Our initial diagnosis of apparent rising dampness takes into consideration the basic construction of the building, the visual defects noted, and the distribution of moisture patterns obtained by non-destructive testing using a Protimeter Surveymaster Electric Moisture Meter.
At the time of our inspection, moisture meter readings suggested the presence of rising damp in the walls as designated on our enclosed sketch plan. - 2 -
Rising dampness appears to be due to the apparent absence of an effective damp proof course. In conjunction with our damp proof course, we recommend the application of a John Newton Newlath Membrane to the affected wall areas as per our enclosed sketch
Legal implications of this survey:
There then follows a diagram and 'quote' for fraudulent work to the building which if done, would have trapped large amounts of moisture into the stone walls, making them sopping wet, and ultimately to disintegrate as the binder in the stone is carbonate based. Naturally this work will not take place.
We want to make sure that people are aware that Advanced Preservation Specialists Ltd are issuing fraudulent 'quotes' for damp proofing works that are not needed, and attempting to claim that they have some form of 'qualification' – which they do not have. The letters CSRT after the so called surveyors name have no academic standing. The use of the statement 'Fully qualified preservation surveyor' and letters after the name, amounts to misleading the public, and the 'quote' is thus “Fraudulent Mis-Selling” of products or services which are not required.
The use of a protimeter damp meter to 'diagnose' damp is fraudulent mis use of a piece of equipment which is not designed to measure damp – both BS 6576 and BS 5250 say that protimeters cannot be used to diagnose dampness in building materials.They are ONLY suitable for measuring moisture content of freshly felled timber.
The entire 'Survey' is a very cleverly concocted attempt at fraud, backed by using various logos – those of GPI, PCA, Trustmark, Constructionline in an attempt to give it credibility. None of these organisations know anything about the causes or solutions to damp problems in solid walled buildings, and all have a web of interconnected ownerships and management involvements.
