Inspection, Surveying and Condition Assessment
Choosing the right survey
You must know the levels of survey and their scope: condition survey, dilapidations survey, pre-acquisition (building) survey, structural survey, and measured survey. Match the survey type to the client's purpose - a mortgage valuation is not a condition survey.
Core skills:
- Systematic inspection: external, roof, internal, services, with a consistent record (photographs, sketches, notes, dates).
- Measurement and setting out: levels, datums, total stations, laser distance meters, and the importance of a fixed datum.
- Condition assessment: severity ratings, remaining life, and prioritisation (e.g., RICS-style condition ratings 1–3).
- Non-destructive and intrusive testing: moisture meters (and their limitations), thermal imaging, cover meters, endoscopes, sampling.
Traps in questions
- Moisture meters read conductivity and can give false highs on salts, foil-backed plaster or certain timbers - always corroborate.
- A valuation is not a survey; conflating the two is a common distractor.
- Failing to record limitations and exclusions (e.g., no access to voids) undermines the report's defensibility.
- Confusing accuracy (closeness to true value) with precision (repeatability).
Worked rule of thumb
Apply the datum discipline: establish a fixed, documented datum before taking levels; all subsequent readings reference it. For condition ratings use a simple 1–3 scale (1 = good, 2 = fair/monitor, 3 = poor/action required) and justify each with evidence.
Example: A high moisture reading near a chimney breast on foil-backed plaster should be cross-checked with a carbide or gravimetric test before concluding a leak.