Within the property we noted some smoke alarms/fire alarms. Every concern in multi occupied properties is that fire alarms are integrated with each apartment therefore if there is a fire in the adjoining apartment you will be aware of it. We are also concerned with this sort of arrangement that the alarms are regularly tested. We talked to a few of the residence who advised that they had never heard the alarms. However, it may not be unusual as usually the alarms are tested during work hours to disturb as few people as possible.

ACTION REQUIRED: Your Legal Advisor to confirm that the fire alarm system/smoke alarm system is integrated with the entire apartment block and that it is regularly tested. The best way to do this is to ask for a copy of the testing records.

DIY/Handyman Type Work

Normally, in this section we advise of DIY type work. As the property is leased most of these will be carried out by the Management Company and recharged to you in the form of a Service Contract.

Purchase Price

We have not been asked to comment upon the purchase price in this instance, we have however referred you to sources of general information on the housing market within the Information on the Property Market Section, which can be found in the Appendices at the end of the Report.

Every Business Transaction has a Risk

Every business transaction has a risk, only you can assess whether that risk is acceptable to you and your circumstances. You should now read the main body of the Report paying particular attention to any “ACTION REQUIRED” points.

Estimates of Costs

Where we have offered an estimate of building costs please remember we are not experts in this area. We always recommend you obtain quotations for the large jobs before purchasing the property (preferably three quotes). The cost of building work has many variables such as the cost of labour, we are currently using up to £75 per day for unskilled labour up to £200 per day (for an accredited, qualified, skilled tradesman. Other variations include the quality of materials used and how the work is carried out, for example off ladders or from scaffold.

If you obtain builders estimates that vary widely, we would advise the work is probably difficult or open to various interpretations and we would recommend a specification is prepared. It would probably be best to supervise the work if it is complex, both of which we can do if so required.

SUMMARY UPON REFLECTION

The Summary Upon Reflection is a second summary so to speak, which is carried out when we are doing the second or third draft a few days after the initial survey when we have had time to reflect upon our thoughts on the property. We would add the following in this instance:

We do feel further investigation is required, we still have not had a response from the Management Company and would specifically like to see a history of what has occurred at the property. This should be available from a good Management Company and just importantly they should have also looked at the future maintenance requirements of the property. This dictates the level of sinking fund.

We would ask that you read the Report and contact us on any issues that you require further clarification on.

MORE ABOUT THE REPORT FORMAT

Just a few more comments about the Report format before you read the actual main body of the Report.

TENURE – LEASEHOLD (OR AS GOOD AS)

We have assumed that the property is to be sold long leasehold, with no unusual or onerous clauses and that vacant possession will be available on completion. Your Legal Advisor should confirm that this is the case.

ESTATE AGENTS – FRIEND OR FOE?

It is important to remember that the estate agents are acting for the seller (usually known as the vendor) and not the purchaser and are therefore eager to sell the property (no sale – no fee!). We as your employed Independent Chartered Surveyor represent your interests only.

SOLICITOR/LEGAL ADVISOR

To carry out your legal work you can use a solicitor or a legal advisor. We have used both terms within the report.

TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT/LIMITATIONS

This report is being carried out under our terms of engagement for Residential Building Surveys, as agreed to and signed by you. If you have not seen and signed a copy of our terms of engagement please phone immediately.

OUR AIM IS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT SATISFACTION

Our aim is for you to be completely happy with the service we provide, and we will try and help you in whatever way possible with your house purchase - just phone us.

THE DETAILED PART OF THE REPORT FOLLOWS, WORKING FROM THE TOP OF THE PROPERTY DOWNWARDS

Front Elevation

EXTERNAL

ROOF COVERINGS,

PARAPET WALLS

AND ROOFLIGHTS

ROOF COVERINGS

The Roof Coverings and Underlayers section considers the condition of the outer covering of the roof. Such coverings usually endure the extremes of climate and temperatures. They are susceptible to deterioration, which ultimately leads to water penetration.

The underlayer’s function is to minimise wind and water damage. Dependent upon the age of your property this may or may not be present, please read on:

Roof

The property has a Mansard roof. From what we could view from the adjoining property there is a box gutter detail around the edge of it with a parapet wall, which effectively forms the edge of the terrace/balcony to the penthouse suites.

In our experience these parapet walls can be a problem depending upon how they are tied into the main structure of the property.

We dealt with a parapet wall problem literally a street away from this property that involved the entirety of the property being scaffolded to amend the parapet wall detail. From memory this property had been refurbished within the last ten years to!

Without accessing the roof we cannot categorically confirm whether this is in good condition or not.

From our viewpoint we were unable to establish what materials have been used but we would take an educated guess that asphalt has been used on the roof and that structurally insulated panels have been used on the walls. The same material that has been used on the main part of your property.

Unfortunately we were not able to see anything on the property on the roof directly above your apartment and approximately 60 percent of the roof to the apartments in front of yours. We have made our best conclusions based upon what we could see; however a closer inspection may reveal other defects.

These walls form the parapet walls An example of efflorescence. Please see to the roof structure although not to the Executive Summary for further your roof structure. From what we comments. could see.

In both cases, if you closely as the brickwork you can see efflorescence. This is normally due to dampness getting into the brick wall one way or another. We would comment, after four years the parapet wall really should have dried out by now and we suspect that there is some dampness getting into the structure.

Efflorescence Defined

This is where salts appear on the surface of the brickwork in a white dust or crystal formation

ACTION REQUIRED: Due to the efflorescence we would recommend that the Management Company is asked to provide details of the parapet walls and forward these to us for our comments together with their general comments about the future work on the parapet walls.

Please see our comments within the Executive Summary.

Roof Lights

The property has purpose made roof lights. We much prefer the dome variety of roof lights, as these do not allow water to sit on the roof light. As you can see our view was limited. We would add that it seems inevitable that the roof lights will sooner or later leak! If this doesn’t occur then they seem prone to condensation.

Apologies for using the same photo again but it shows the roof lights well. We much prefer the dome style of roof light, as this does not allow water to sit upon it. These are generally used on modern properties.

Finally, we have made our best assumptions on the overall condition of the roof coverings, parapet walls and roof lights from the parts we could see (Approximately 40 percent of the adjoining development roof and none of your roof!) The inspection was made from adjoining property’s fire escape using a x16 zoom lens on a digital camera. A closer inspection may reveal latent defects.

ROOF STRUCTURE AND LOFT

(ALSO KNOWN AS ROOF SPACE OR ATTIC SPACE)

The roof structure or framework must be built in a manner which is able to give adequate strength to carry its own weight together with that of the roof covering discussed in the previous section and any superimposed loads such as snow, wind, foot traffic etc.

Main Roof Structure

Unfortunately, we were unable to gain access to this roof despite our best efforts. We did literally ring everyone within the Enclave Court Development and were unable to gain access.

Having said that, from what we can see from the adjoining property this type of roof generally does not have access voids.

Taking an educated guess we would expect to see a steal frame construction. This is a relatively lightweight construction, which sits on top of the main property. Alternatively, there may have even been a timber construction with some of the main members being in steel.

BOX GUTTERS AND DOWNPIPES

The function of the box gutters and downpipes is to carry rainwater from the roof to the ground keeping the main structure as dry as possible.

Defective box gutters and downpipes are a common cause of dampness that can, in turn, lead to the development and deterioration in the structure. Regular inspection and adequate maintenance are therefore essential if serious problems are to be avoided.

We could see no obvious signs of gutters and downpipes to the front or the rear of the property and therefore assume that the gutters are in the form of box gutters and the downpipes are internal. Generally, internal downpipes are not a good idea as if they leak it is hard to locate where they are leaking and also you have to open up the structure to identify the area that is causing the problem. Often this can be quite some way away from the actual water staining!

We believe the reason why there is no visible guttering to this property is because the structural insulation panels do not allow gutters and downpipes to be fixed to it; therefore they have used a design using internal downpipes.

Finally, we have viewed the drainage from ground level. As it was not raining at the time of the inspection it is not possible to confirm 100 per cent that the rainwater installation is free from blockage, leakage etc. or that it is capable of coping with long periods of heavy rainfall. Our comments have therefore been based on our best assumptions.

WALLS

External walls need to perform a variety of functions. These include supporting upper floors and the roof structure, resisting dampness, providing adequate thermal and sound insulation, offering resistance to fire and being aesthetically presentable.

Structural Insulation Panels (SIPs)

From the outside of the property it looks to be a rendered property. However, upon closer inspection and tapping of the structure it was found that structural insulations panels have been used which has been coated with a render with a slight texture.

From our experience, this type of finish generally comes with some sort of warranty – usually a twenty-year warranty.

ACTION REQUIRED: Your Legal Advisor to investigate this further.

The reason why structural insulation panels are used is because the insulation board can be installed directly to the frame without any drying time as there is when you build with brickwork or render, it is quick to construct, and therefore the quicker return on any capital invested. Finally, it is cheaper to build with.

Within the Executive Summary we have discussed some of the disadvantages. The main one in our opinion is that this material is not tried and tested in the UK environment and also that the UK workforce has not been satisfactorily or suitably trained to install this product as yet (in our opinion).

The other area of concern we have touched upon within the parapet wall section is what we would term as detailing. Please see the parapet wall section.

Please see the Executive Summary.

This is the undersides of the floor as can been seen in the car park. It is insulation panel where it adjoins a

concrete floor is being utilised typical where there are problems on this type of property.

DETAILING

Another area of detailing is where the panels meet each other or different materials such as adjacent buildings. Here you need watertight mastic seal that does not perish in the heat or the cold weather. In our experience this seal needs to be checked periodically making sure it has not fowled and then allowing the water into the property.

Having said all of that in our experience the problems are normally highlighted relatively early in the life of a property, poor workmanship etc dampness gets in or later on in the property when due to the lack of maintenance (and sometimes lack of understanding of the premises) deterioration occurs.

ACTION REQUIRED: Your Legal Advisor to specifically ask the Management Company who they intend to maintain the structural insulation panel.

HIDDEN STRUCTURAL FRAME

You will appreciate that the structural frame of the property is hidden from our view and we therefore cannot comment on its condition or appropriateness.

Finally, the external walls have been inspected visually from ground level and/or randomly via a ladder. Where the structural insulation panels conceal the structural frame, the windows and the door lintels we cannot comment on their construction or condition. Even in buildings this new it is possible that the frame beneath it may be deteriorating unseen, particularly if in contact with dampness.

Our comments have been based upon how the structural insulation panels look and have been finished. We have made various assumptions based upon what we could see and how we think the structural insulation panels would be if it were opened up for this age, style and type of construction. We are however aware that all is not always at it seems in the building industry and often short cuts are taken. Without opening up the structure we have no way of establishing this.

FOUNDATIONS

The foundations function is, if suitably designed and constructed, to transfer the weight of the property through the soil. As a general comment, many properties prior to the 19th Century have little or no foundations, as we think of them today, and typically a two-storey property would have one metre deep foundations.

As the property is relatively new, it is reasonable to expect Building Regulations approval to have been gained. Over the past thirty or forty years a duty performed by the Local Authority is to check that the property is built to Building Regulations standards. Bearing in mind these factors, and that there are no visible signs to the walls to indicate any problems, we believe your foundations to be sound.

London Clay and your Environ Search Report

This property stands on London Clay as with the majority of properties in London. It is therefore more susceptible than most should drains leak or trees be allowed to overgrow etc. It is not unusual to have some settlement in London properties. However, from our inspection of the walls we have found nothing unusual. Please refer to our general discussion on Environ Search.

Building Insurance Policy

You should ensure that the Building Insurance Policy contains adequate provision against any possibility of damage arising through subsidence, landslip, heave etc.

Finally, we have not excavated the foundations but we have drawn conclusions from our inspection and our general knowledge of this type, age and style of property.

As no excavation has been carried out we cannot be 100 percent certain as to how the foundation has been constructed and we can only offer our best assumptions and an educated guess, which we have duly done.

www.1stAssociated.co.uk 0800 298 5424

TREES

Trees within influencing distance of a property can affect the foundations by affecting the moisture content of the soil.

None within influencing distance.

Influencing Distance

Defined

This is the distance in which a tree may be able to cause damage to the subject property.

Please also refer to the External Areas Section.

DAMP PROOF COURSE

The Building Act of 1878 required a damp proof course to be added to all newly built properties within the London area. It also required various other basic standards. These requirements were gradually taken up (or should that be grudgingly taken up) throughout London and then the country as a whole, although this took many for it to become standard practice.

On modern traditional built properties there should be a damp proof course (DPC) and good building practice dictates that a differential of 150mm (6 inches) should be maintained between the damp proof course and ground levels. In this case, the property is built partly underground, where the car park is located and above ground where the apartments are.

As we would expect, there are no obvious signs of damp proof course being visible in this instance due to the form of construction. However, we would only expect building control to only pass drawings with a damp proof course and also to have checked that it has been built in. The need for your attention is drawn to the section of the report specifically dealing with dampness.

ACTION REQUIRED: Your Legal Advisor to confirm that Building Control has signed off this entire property. This will mean that they have approved and inspected the drawing detail.

Underground Car Parking Area

We would however draw your attention to the underground car park where we noted areas of the walls have been rebuilt, may be due to poor drainage as some of them appear to be around drainage outlets. By poor drainage we mean leaking drainage or it may be due to water penetration in this area. In our experience the only way to prevent damp getting in to an underground area is to have a damp proof membrane on the outside of the structure. This means that any water pressure pushes the damp proof membrane against the structure and seals it.

You will appreciate that without literally digging up around the underground car park or seeing details of the original drawing we cannot see if there is a damp proof membrane in there. However, from what we could see the garages are not excessively damp and are suitable for there purpose.

Here you can see some rebuilding has been done to the block work or even repair work.

Finally, sometimes it is difficult for us to identify if there is a damp proof course in a property. We have made our best assumptions based upon our general knowledge of the age, type and style of this property.

EXTERNAL JOINERY

The external joinery part of this section covers the windows and doors. It is not strictly speaking external joinery in that it is not timber.

Windows and Doors

The property has tall double-glazed windows. The double-glazing that has been installed is fairly wide i.e. the gap between the front glass and the rear glass and therefore indicating that the glazing will give not only thermal properties but also sound insulation. We also noted a trickle vent to the outside, which again indicated that it is of a good quality. We would expect this type of double-glazing to last in the region of ten to twenty years, the main defect being the seal of the double-glazing unit.

Trickle Vents Defined

Small vents to the windows to allow air movement inside the property to stop a build up of fumes or humidity.

Solar Gain

You have particularly large areas of glazing to this property. With regard to solar gain it is very difficult to comment. We discussed that with yourself and neighbouring properties the aspect that this building faces and does enjoy the benefits of a lot of sun. This may in turn mean that there is considerable heat gain. The way around this is by adding full blinds. We did note a fan to the ceiling roof.

Finally, we have carried out a general and random inspection of the external joinery. With the windows and doors we have usually opened a random selection of these during the course of the survey. In this section we are aiming to give a general overview of the condition of the external joinery. Please also see the Internal Joinery section.

EXTERNAL DECORATION

The external decorations act as a protective coat for the building from the elements. Where this protective covering has failed, such as with flaking paintwork, the elements will infiltrate the structure. This is of particular concern as water is one of the major factors in damage to any structure.

This will be a matter for organisation by the Management Agency and recharged to your self.

ACTION REQUIRED: Your Legal Advisor to confirm when they anticipate external re-decoration and if an appropriate sinking fund is being built up to pay for this. If we get the information from the Management Company with regard to future works it should include for works to the external of the property, the costs associated to this should have been built up within the sinking fund.

Whilst we have referred to your Legal Advisor many times in gathering information, we are more than happy obtaining the information ourselves, it is just from our personal experience it seems that a formal enquiry from a Solicitor seems to be more appropriate in this case.

Finally, ideally external redecoration is recommended every four to five years dependent upon the original age of the paint, its exposure to the elements and the materials properties. Where painting takes place outside this maintenance cycle repairs should be expected. Ideally redecoration should be carried out during the better weather between mid-April and mid-September.

Please see our comments in the External Joinery section.

INTERNAL

CEILINGS, WALLS, PARTITIONS AND FINISHES

In this section we look at the finish applied to the structural elements such as the plasterwork applied to the ceiling joists, walls or partitions, together with the construction of the internal walls and partitions.

Ceilings

From our visual inspection of the ceilings and our general knowledge of this age and type of construction we believe that the ceilings are plasterboard. These looked in average condition.

Plasterboard Defined

The usual name for Gypsum plasterboard which is building board with a core of aerated gypsum, usually enclosed between two sheets of heavy paper, used as a dry lining.

Internal Walls and Partitions

We have carried out a tap test to the internal walls (this is not rocket science, it is literally tapping the walls and listening for the sound made) and found them to be studwork walls and fairly lightweight, which is common in modern construction (or where there has been an alteration). You may find some noise transfer between rooms.

Perimeter Walls

The type of construction that has been used in this property is dry lining used internally on many of the walls. It is likely that there will be insulation behind this for both thermal and noise properties.

The iding walls between the properties, we noted have more of a solid sound, we would therefore take an educated guess that these are built of some type of thermal block, which again not only has thermal properties but also has insulation properties.

Dry Lining Defined (Modern Properties)

Within modern properties, dry lining is a technique used on what are known as non-traditional housing such as timber frame and proprietary systems. This will consist of timber battens, which are lined with a plasterboard.

Finally, ceilings, walls and partitions have been inspected from floor level and no opening up has been undertaken (unless permission has been obtained by yourselves). In some cases the materials employed cannot be ascertained without samples being taken and damage being caused.

We cannot comment upon the condition of the structure hidden behind plaster, dry lining, other applied finishes, heavy furniture, fittings and kitchen units with fitted back panels.

FLOORS

Functionally floors should be capable of withstanding appropriate loading, preventing dampness, have thermal properties and durability. In addition to this upper floors should offer support for ceilings, resistance to fire and resistance to sound transfer.

Ground Floor

We believe the ground floor is a concrete floor. It may well be a suspended concrete floor. The floors felt solid and firm underfoot so we have assumed they are formed in concrete, we have not accessed the floor.

First Floor

We believe the first floor is a joist and floorboard but they are steal joists. There is a slight amount of give to the first floor, particularly to the rear bedroom. You need to be certain that you are happy to live with this and there may be some noise transfer from the bedrooms to the ground floor.

Noise Transfer

We spoke with various owners about noise transfer and they advised that it was minimal in their properties. During the course of the survey we did not hear any noise coming from adjoining properties but then again the majority of the property was empty. It would be first thing in the morning or last thing at night and at weekends when the issues arise.

Finally, we have not been able to view the actual floors themselves due to them being covered with fitted laminated flooring or tiles etc. The comments we have made are based upon our experience and knowledge of this type of construction. We would emphasise that we have not opened up the floors in any way or lifted any floorboards.

www.1stAssociated.co.uk 0800 298 5424

DAMPNESS

In this section we look at any problems that are being caused by dampness. It is therefore essential to diagnose the source of the dampness and to treat the actual cause and not the effect of the dampness.

Rising Damp

Rising damp depends upon various components including the porosity of the structure, the supply of water and the rate of evaporation of the material, amongst other things. Rising damp can come from the ground, drawn by capillary action, to varying degrees of intensity and height into the materials above.

The property is predominantly dry lined and means that we cannot take the usual electronic damp meter readings. However, we have carried out a visual inspection with no obvious signs of dampness.

Lateral or Penetrating Dampness

This is where water ingress occurs through the walls. This can be for various reasons such as poor pointing or wall materials or inadequate gutters and downpipes, such as poorly jointed gutters.

Due to the property having dry lined walls it was not possible to take any readings. We therefore carried out a visual inspection and there was no visual evidence of any dampness.

The only areas we would highlight is the light well at the rear of the property.

This area, is, we feel susceptible to Sorry to use the same photo again but we dampness. We could not actually believe that this photo shows the glass find where this is on the rear of the blocks. Not the ones to your apartment, we property. believe these are beneath the grey wall,

although it is very hard to be certain as to

their location.

Condensation

This is where the humidity held within the air meets a cold surface causing condensation.

We could see no obvious signs of condensation, however, it depends upon how you utilise the building. If you do your washing and then dry it in a room without opening a window you will, of course, get condensation. Common sense is needed and a balance between heating and ventilation of properties. Normally opening windows first thing in the morning resolves most condensation issues. You do have both an internal family bathroom and an internal en-suite bathroom both of which can be susceptible to condensation if the fans are not kept in good operational condition.

Finally, effective testing was prevented in areas concealed by heavy furniture, fixtures such as kitchen fittings with backboards, wall tiles and wall panelling. We have not carried out tests to BRE Digest 245, but only carried out a visual inspection. In this instance the walls were also dry lined, which stopped us taking tests with our electronic damp meter, therefore we carried out a random, visual inspection.

INTERNAL JOINERY

This section looks at the doors, the stairway, the skirting boards and the kitchen to give a general overview of the internal joinery’s condition.

Doors

majority of the doors had door closures indicating they are fire doors. The usual requirement is for half hour fire doors. The reason there are fire doors is because this is a multi occupied property and also it has the wall light ceiling in the lounge which means that fire can spread in theory from one floor to the next therefore the door closures are there to help try and retain the fire within certain rooms.

Staircase

The staircase is on a metal frame. It has slightly more movement that we would normally expect on a staircase but nothing we feel that most people could not live with.

Skirtings

These are smaller than the standard size skirting but other than that they are timber painted with a bull nose finish.

Kitchen

From our cursory visual inspection the kitchen looked in an as new condition, we did not even note any day-to-day general marks. We have not tested any of the kitchen appliances.

Finally, it should be noted that not all joinery has been inspected. We have viewed a random sample and visually inspected these to give a general overview of the condition. Please also see the External Joinery/Detailing section.

www.1stAssociated.co.uk 0800 298 5424

TIMBER DEFECT

This section considers dry rot, wet rot and woodworm. Wet and Dry rot are species of fungi, both need moisture to develop and both can be very expensive to correct. We would also add that in our experience they are also often wrongly diagnosed.

Dry Rot

Dry rot is also sometimes known by its Latin name Serpula lacrymans. Dry rot requires constant dampness together with a warmish atmosphere and can lead to extensive decay in timber.

In the areas inspected no evidence was found of any dry rot and we feel it is unlikely that it is occurring, given the conditions found.

Wet Rot

Wet rot, also known by its Latin name Contiophora puteana, is far more common than dry rot. Wet rot darkens and softens the wood and is most commonly seen in window and doorframes, where it can relatively easily be remedied. Where wet rot affects the structural timbers in a property, which are those in the roof and the floor areas, it is more serious.

In the areas inspected no evidence was found of any wet rot.

Woodworm

Active woodworm can cause significant damage to timber. There are a variety of woodworm that cause different levels of damage with probably the worst of the most well known being the Death Watch Beetle

In the areas inspected no evidence was found of any woodworm.

INTERNAL DECORATIONS

The property is magnolia throughout, which is a typical developers finish. You may wish to redecorate to your own personal taste. It is very difficult to advise on how frequently redecoration should take place. This very much depends upon the use and abuse the decoration gets, for example, within hallways this tends to be greater than for example within a spare bedroom.

Finally, we would draw your attention to the fact that removal of existing decorative finishes may cause damage to the underlying plasterwork necessitating repairs and making good prior to redecoration.

UNDERGROUND CAR PARK

We believe this is the area where there have been problems with dampness coming through the main floor terrace, which gives the access to your properties into the car park. We cannot be certain of this, but from our discussions we believe that the original terrace had fountains etc that is not ideal on a terrace such as this as was discovered.

Please see our comments within the Executive Summary. Also within the outside section of this report.

Finally, we have made a visual inspection of the underground car park only and have no way of knowing what the construction is without opening up the structure.

THERMAL EFFICIENCY

Up until the mid 1940s we did not really consider insulation in properties, for example it was only in the 1960s that we started putting insulation in the roof and then it was about 50mm, in the 1970s this was upgraded to 100mm. Then we started to think about double glazing and cavity wall insulation. Since then insulation standards have increased considerably and today we are looking at typically using insulation not only in the roof but also in the walls, floors and windows and more recently considerable work has been carried out on how efficient boilers are within properties. Care has to be taken that properties are not insulted disproportionately to the ventilation as this can cause condensation and you should be aware that you need to ventilate any property that is insulated.

As this property has been built very recently is should meet modern values. Values is the term given to the thermal efficiency of a property. In years to come there is likely to be known as a “SAP” rating (what the initials stand for escape us at this moment in time!). We would advise that during our discussions we were told that originally this property only had electric heating which is fairly common in cheaper developments as electric heating is far easier for a developer to install. However, it is quite surprising in this development but may be does give an indication of the general standard that the property was built at and the lack of understanding of the future market in the area.

Services

Service records should be obtained. It is essential for the services to be regularly maintained to run efficiently.

Summary

Assuming the above is correct, this property is average compared with what we typically see.

Further information can be obtained with regard to energy saving via the Internet on the following pages:

HTTP//www.est.org.uk, which is by the Energy Saving Trust and includes a section on grant aid. or alternatively www.cat.org.uk or www.ecocentre.org.uk for an alternative technological view.

Finally, we would advise that an energy rating is likely to be required for future house sales.

www.1stAssociated.co.uk 0800 298 5424

OTHER MATTERS

In this section we put any other matters that do not fit under our usual headings.

Security

A security system has been installed. A good alarm system should not only help reduce break-ins but also reduce your insurance! We are not experts in this field and therefore cannot comment further. Further information should be obtained from the vendor and the installer at a later date.

There are security gates to both the garage and the main entrance. The intention we believe is to increase the height of these to the ceiling to stop people jumping over them. From what we can gather there has been some instances of break-ins in the garage area.

Multi Occupied Properties and Smoke/Fire Alarms

We very strongly believe in that smoke alarms in this sort of multi occupied property should be interlinked so that you are aware that if there is a fire within another part of the property. We have spoken to several residence and none of them have actually heard the fire alarm system, two of which have lived in the property since it was built!

Having said that it is normal to carry out the fire alarm test during the working day and therefore it may well be expected that these people would not hear it. We are still awaiting contact from the Management Company.

Please see the Executive Summary.

Insurance

In a multi occupied property the insurance is normally organized and dealt with by the Landlord/Management Company who then recharges it to you. You should however obtain details to ensure that the insurance is adequate to solve any problems.

SERVICES

This survey does not include any specialist reports on the electricity supply and circuits, heating or drainage, as they were not requested. The comments that follow are based upon a visual inspection carried out as part of the overall Building Survey.

Services and specialist installations have been visually inspected. It is impossible to examine every detail of these installations without partially dismantling the structure. Tests have not been applied. Conclusive tests can only be undertaken by suitably qualified contractors. The vendor/seller should be requested to provide copies of any service records, test certificates and, ideally, the names and addresses of the installing contractors.

ELECTRICITY

It is strange to think that electricity only started to be used in domestic properties at the turn of the last century with gas lighting still being the norm for a good many years after.

The electric fuses and consumer units were located in the rear cupboard on the ground floor. The fuse board looked newish.

We carried out an earth test in the kitchen area to the socket point that is normally used for the kettle, this proved satisfactory.

The earth test carried out on the kettle socket point

Even with a property as modern this it is unlikely to meet current Institute of Electrical Engineers standards as they are constantly being updated. However being pragmatic with regards to this matter we do not feel that any test is required.

ACTION REQUIRED: If there is no record of an electrical test

having been undertaken within the last five years, it is recommended

that the installation be tested by a competent electrician (NICEIC

registered) and all recommendations implemented. Thereafter, the

installation should be re-tested every five years.

GAS

There is very little we can check for in a gas installation, we do inspect to make sure there is one and that it has a consumer unit and that the boilers are vented. Ideally you should have a service inspection carried out by an independent CORGI registered plumber.

We could not locate the gas meter. As we have said elsewhere in this report we have been advised that gas was added at a later date, which we feel is a sensible addition. Many developers do not put gas in initially as is saves costs.

All gas appliances, pipework and flues should be the subjects of an annual service by a competent engineer, i.e., a member of CORGI (the Council of Registered Gas Installers); works to gas appliances etc., by unqualified personnel is illegal. Unless evidence can be provided to confirm that there has been annual servicing we would recommend that you commission such a service prior to use to ensure safe and efficient operation.

ACTION REQUIRED: As a matter of course it is recommended that the entire gas installation is inspected and made good, as necessary, by a CORGI registered contractor. Thereafter the installation should be serviced annually.

PLUMBING AND HEATING

In this section we do our best from a visual inspection to look at how the water is supplied to the property, how the supply is distributed around the property, how it is used to heat the property and how it is discharged from the property.

Water Supply

The controlling stopcock was not located. It is important that its presence is established in case of bursts or leaks. The stopcock and other controlling valves have not been inspected or tested for operational effectiveness.

Water Pressure

When the taps were run to carry out the drainage test we checked the pressure literally by putting a finger over the tap and this seemed reasonable.

The Water Board have to guarantee a certain pressure of water to ensure that things like boilers, particularly the instantaneous ones have a constant supply of pressured water (they would blow up if they didn’t!).

Hot Water Cylinder

This is incorporated within the boiler unit.

Hot water cylinder on the left hand side of this picture.

Plumbing

The plumbing, where visible, comprises copper pipework. No significant leakage was noted on the surface, although most of the pipework is concealed in ducts and floors.

Heating

The boiler was located in the rear cupboard. It is one of the modern condensing boilers. There have been mixed reports on these as to how economical they are although they are being sold as being far more economical than previous boilers. There are some sceptics who say that unless they are run at a particular temperature constantly they are actually more expensive to run when you bear in mind the need to service them more regularly.

Our limited inspection of the hot water and central heating system revealed no evidence to suggest any serious defects but we would nevertheless recommend that the system be tested and overhauled before exchange of contracts and that a regular maintenance contract be placed with an approved heating engineer.

Soil and Vent Pipe

We did not note any soil and vent pipes. We assume that these are hidden from view, please see our comments with regard to the rainwater in the internal rainwater goods as they are also appropriate for this.

Finally, it should be noted that the supply pipe from the Water Company stopcock to the internal stop tap is the responsibility of the property owner.

We cannot comment on the condition of the water service pipe to the building. It should be appreciated that leaks can occur for some time before signs are apparent on the surface.

BATHROOM FITTINGS

In this section we consider the overall condition of the sanitary fittings such as the bathroom, the kitchen, the utility room and the cloakroom.

The bathrooms are as new. We noted that some of the mastic had been resealed. You should always keep an eye on the seals particularly in the showers as any leaks leak onto the property below; in your case it is the underground car park we believe. Particularly not in multi occupied properties

You will no doubt reap the benefits of any leaks coming from apartments above yours! If anyone else manages to overflow there shower or bath.

Finally, although we may have already mentioned it above we would reiterate that it is important to ensure that seals are properly made and maintained at the junctions between wall surfaces and baths and showers etc. We normally recommend that it is one of the first jobs that you carry out as part of your DIY on the property, as water getting behind sanitary fittings can lead to unseen deterioration that can be costly, inconvenient and difficult to repair.

ww.1stAssociated.co.uk 0800 298 5424

MAIN DRAINS

The sanitary system, as we know it now, came into being some 100 years ago during the Victorian era and works so successfully today it is often taken for granted. It is only in recent years that re-investment has taken place to upgrade the original drainage systems.

It is assumed that the foul drains from the property discharge into a public sewer; this should be confirmed by your Legal Advisor prior to exchange of contracts, who should also provide information in respect of any common or shared drains including liability for the maintenance and upkeep of the same.

The cold taps have been run for approximately quarter of an hour in the bathroom and kitchen. No build up or back up was noted.

Inspection Chambers/Manholes

For your information, inspection chambers are required to be provided in the current Building Regulations at each change of direction or where drainage runs join the main run.

Identified Inspection Chambers/Manholes

We did not note any manholes we felt specifically related to your property.

Finally, it must be emphasised that the condition of the property’s foul drains can only be ascertained by the carrying out of a test; such a test has not been undertaken. Should there be leaks in the vicinity of the building then problems could occur, particularly with respect to the stability of the building’s foundations. Drainage repairs are inevitably costly and may result in damage being caused to those areas of the property beneath, or adjacent to, which the drains have been run.

Rainwater/Surface Water Drainage

Whilst very innocent looking rainwater downpipes can cause lots of problems. If they discharge directly onto the ground they can affect the foundations and even if they are taken away to soak-aways they can attract nearby tree roots or again affect foundations.

Some rainwater drains are taken into the main drainage system, which is now illegal (as we simply do not have the capacity to cope with it), and can cause blockages to the main drains! Here we have done our best from a visual inspection to advise of any particular problems.

It is likely in this age of property and in this location to be what is known as a combine drain. These type of drains take both foul water and rainwater and can back up during periods of rainfall. They are now being used for multi-occupied properties by far more people than they were originally designed as the system has been upgraded there may also be some general slowness in the water going away during peek periods such as going to work time and come home from work/school etc.

Combined Drains Defined

This is where drains are shared with neighbouring properties.

Finally, rain/surface water drains have not been tested and their condition or effectiveness is not known. Similarly, the adequacy of soak-aways has not been established although you are advised that they tend to silt up and become less effective with time.

Please also see our comments within the Rainwater Goods section.

OUTSIDE AREAS

COMMUNIAL AREAS AND UNDERGROUND PARKING

Communal Space

Please see our comments with regard to the inverted roof in the Executive Summary and also with regard to service charges, again within the Executive Summary.

Underground Garage

As you are aware when we had discussions with neighbours etc there have been problems with break-ins to cars in the underground garage. From discussing this with one leaseholder he advised that they literally jump over the entrance gate. The proposal is to increase the entrance gate height to the top of the archway.

Neighbours

Left and Right Hand Neighbours

No one was in. We did resort to literally ringing every single person on the entry board and only found one person in. We did bump into three or four others during the course of the survey, which we dully questioned. Their answers having been incorporated in the survey.

POINTS FOR YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR

If you wish to proceed with your purchase of the property a copy of this should be forwarded to your Legal Advisor and the following points should be checked by him/her:

a) Responsibility for boundaries.

b) Rights for you to enter onto the adjacent property to maintain any structure situated near or on the boundary and any similar rights your neighbour may have to enter onto your property.

c) We understand the property has the benefit of the remaining part of an Zurich Warranty. Your Legal Advisor should advise you further in respect of the duration of this Agreement and whether any claims have ever been made either against the builder/developer. Your Legal Advisor should confirm that the Agreement is transferable and enforceable.

d) Obtain any certificates, guarantees or approvals in relation to:

i)	Double glazing
ii)	Central heating installation.
iii)	Planning and Building Regulation Approvals.
iv)	Any other matters pertinent to the property.

e) Confirm that there are no defects in the legal Title in respect of the property and all rights associated therewith, e.g., access.

f) Rights of Way e.g., access, easements and wayleaves.

g) Liabilities in connection with shared services.

h) Adjoining roads and services.

i) General development proposals in the locality.

k) Confirm from enquiries that no underground tunnels, wells, sewers, gases, mining, minerals, site reclamation/contamination etc., exist, have existed or are likely to exist beneath the curtilage of the site upon which the property stands and which could affect the quiet enjoyment, safety or stability of the property, outbuildings or surrounding areas.

l) Our Report assumes that the site has not been put to contaminative use and no investigations have been made in this respect.

m) Any other matters brought to your attention within this report.

LOCAL AUTHORITY ENQUIRIES

When you booked this survey we asked you if you required us to carry out a verbal check on the status of the property with the Local Authority regarding whether it is a Listed Building, in a Conservation area and any history that is available over the phone with regard to Planning Applications and Building Control. In this instance you have not requested that we carry out this work.

Finally, your Solicitor should carry out any Local Authority checks and any additional enquiries he/she feels necessary, advising us if they feel that we can have further input.

Finally, an extract from the book “Sold”!

“When you receive your full structural survey (now known as a Building Survey) or House Buyers Report, do remember that you have requested a list of the property’s faults so it is unlikely to make cheerful reading. Every property has its faults but what you are looking for are the serious ones. If your Report does reveal a serious problem that you had not anticipated when making your offer, the first thing to do is to decide whether you want to take on the repairs if an adjustment is made to the price. If you do, then get quotes for the work as quickly as possible and present your case in a fair manner. Most people are reasonable under such circumstances and will compromise but inevitably there are those who are sufficiently confident of their position to say take it or leave it. In a very active market, prices may have moved up sufficiently to cover the extra expenditure in theory and the vendor will not hasten to point this out but remember that he has probably got a vendor pressing him to proceed quickly and starting with a new purchaser will cause him delay”

It is our policy not to offer a conclusion to ensure that the Building Survey is read in full and the comments are taken in context.

If you would like any further advice on any of the issues discussed (or indeed any that have not been discussed!) then please do not hesitate to contact us on

0800 298 5424.

For and on Behalf of

^stAssociated

This Report is dated:

REFERENCES

The repair and maintenance of houses

Published by Estates Gazette Limited

Life expectancies of building components

Published by Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Building Research Establishment

Surveying buildings

By Malcolm Hollis 4th edition published by Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Books.

House Builders Bible

By Mark Brinkley, Published by Burlington Press

APPENDICES

LIMITATIONS

Our limitations are as the agreed Terms and Conditions of Engagement.

CONDITIONS OF ENGAGEMENT

The report has been prepared in accordance with our Conditions of Engagement and should be regarded as a comment on the overall condition of the property and the quality of its structure and not as an inventory of every single defect. It relates to those parts of the property that were reasonably and safely accessible at the time of the inspection, but you should be aware that defects can subsequently develop particularly if you do not follow the recommendations.

ENGLISH LAW

We would remind you that this report should not be published or reproduced in any way without the surveyor’s expressed permission and is governed by English Law and any dispute arising there from shall be adjudicated upon only by the English Courts.

SOLE USE

This report is for the sole use of the named Client and is confidential to the Client and his professional advisors. Any other persons rely on the Report at their own risk.

ONLY HUMAN!

Although we are pointing out the obvious, our Surveyors obviously can’t see through walls, floors, heavy furniture, fixed kitchen units etc. they have therefore made their best assumptions in these areas.

As this is a one off inspection, we cannot guarantee that there are no other defects than those mentioned in the report and also that defects can subsequently develop.

WEATHER

It was an overcast winters day at the time of the inspection. The weather did not hamper the survey.

We would add that some defects only become apparent upon physical occupation or are only present as a result of the extremes of weather (which are becoming a more frequent occurrence). As you are probably aware the year 2000 was the wettest year on record, 2003 the driest year on record and August 2004 was the wettest August on record in many areas, this may have adverse effects on lots of buildings in years to come.

NOT LOCAL

It should be noted that we are not local surveyors to this area and are carrying out the work without the benefits of local knowledge on such things as soil conditions, aeroplane flight paths, and common defects in materials used in the area etc.

EMPTY PROPERTY

The property was empty at the time of our survey, we were therefore not able to carry out our usual question and answer session or have our questionnaire filled out.

INSPECTION LIMITED

Unfortunately in this instance our inspection has been very limited due to lack of being able to see the structure and gain access to the upper floors of the property together with the co-operation with the Management Company which we have spoken to you about and hopefully they will be contacting us.

INFORMATION ON THE PROPERTY MARKET

We used to include within our reports articles on the property market that we thought would be of interest and informative to you, however we were concerned that in some cases these did not offer the latest information. We have therefore decided to recommend various websites to you, however it is important to realise the vested interest the parties may have and the limits to the information.

www.landreg.org.uk

This records the ownership of interests in registered land in England and Wales and issues a residential property price report quarterly, which is free of charge. The Land Registry is a Government body and records all transactions as far as we are aware, although critics of it would argue that the information is often many months out of date.

www.rics.org.uk

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors offer quarterly reports via their members. Although this has been criticised as being subjective and also limited, historically their predictions have been found to be reasonably accurate.

www.halifax.co.uk and www.nationwide.co.uk

Surveys have been carried out by these two companies, one now a bank and the other a building society for many years. Information from these surveys is often carried in the national press. It should be remembered that the surveys only relate to mortgaged properties, of which it is generally considered represents only 75% of the market. It should also be remembered that the national coverage of the two companies differs and that they may be offering various incentives on different mortgages, which may taint the quality of information offered. That said they do try to adjust for this, the success or otherwise of this is hard to establish.

www.hometrack.co.uk

From what we can see this is an internet based company who say they offer independent property research (in fact they say they are the only independent company), although they also advise that they are part of a property related group that has bought and sold over 60 million pounds worth of residential property, which indicates that they may have a vested interest. They do also comment that they have carried out their own independent surveys and they have at least two Hometrack recommended estate agents in each postcode area. We would refer you to the ‘About us’ section within their website to understand better where their information is coming from. We would comment that we have been pleasantly surprised with the quality of information provided by the company.

Motleyfool.co.uk

We also like the Motley Fool website which is a general financial site and although it is selling financial services and other services they do tend to give a very readable view of the housing market.