Inspections and reports on dwellings: Assessing age

摘要

A building surveyor's lot may not always be a happy one. The task of producing a report for a client will often require specialist knowledge and experience in many fields that must be brought to bear on a number of different matters. The evidence relating to some of these matters may be tricky to establish and assess. The penalty for going wrong can be an unhappy client and the possibility of a negligence claim. Whether the report is for a mortgage valuation, or for insurance replacement cost purposes, or to assess the likely scale of work necessary to bring a building up to an acceptable standard of condition, there is invariably one factor that has to be assessed with as much accuracy as possible from the start. This is the age of the building. Without that evidence it is not possible to assess, for example, the likely method of construction (although knowledge of the latter is often a guide to age) or the cost of replacement where expensive specialist materials and trades may have to be used. Age is also a guide to possible defects in construction, and will also assist in pinpointing problems with the building that are a product of its age and type; eg, the lack of an effective damp course, or post-war system built methods that may make the property unmortgageable.