ᐅ Independent Building Inspector – Necessary or Are There Alternatives?
Created on: 4 Oct 2018 13:34
E
EdStark
Hello – what has been your experience with your building surveyors (building inspectors)? Were they worth the – often high – cost?
For my planned new build with a regional construction company that hires subcontractors and also provides its own site management (I am aware that this company may not always be acting in my interest).
I have now received an offer from TÜV: 3,300 for 4 site visits plus inspection reports. That’s 825 per visit to the construction site. I find that quite steep, especially since you can’t be sure if you are getting truly competent professionals.
What do you think? What alternatives are there? No independent building inspectors and just hope everything goes well? Hiring a freelance engineer online and hope they are reliable?
I understand that finding defects early during construction by experts can save a lot of money. Using independent surveyors may reduce risks somewhat. But even then, you can’t be completely certain.
Regards from Lower Saxony.
For my planned new build with a regional construction company that hires subcontractors and also provides its own site management (I am aware that this company may not always be acting in my interest).
I have now received an offer from TÜV: 3,300 for 4 site visits plus inspection reports. That’s 825 per visit to the construction site. I find that quite steep, especially since you can’t be sure if you are getting truly competent professionals.
What do you think? What alternatives are there? No independent building inspectors and just hope everything goes well? Hiring a freelance engineer online and hope they are reliable?
I understand that finding defects early during construction by experts can save a lot of money. Using independent surveyors may reduce risks somewhat. But even then, you can’t be completely certain.
Regards from Lower Saxony.
Snowy36 schrieb:
In general, a warning is warranted that currently it is a seller’s and tradesperson’s market... What good is it to file a complaint if the tradesperson says they do this 150 times a year? The challenge is to judge when the expert is “exaggerating” and when you really need to push hard...
Our windows are great; everything we complained about was fixed.
The same goes for the shell constructor.
Getting the plasterer to address issues is still going to be difficult, as many things are beyond the tolerance limits, and he simply has too much work.
And the carpenter really didn’t care at all about our complaint. Not even the expert can change that.Yes, but that is no reason to do nothing and just accept it.
EdStark schrieb:
And how much did that fun cost you?Around 3,000 euros about 4 years agoEdStark schrieb:
Yes, but that’s no reason to do nothing and just accept it. Yes, but what exactly would you do then?
Snowy36 schrieb:
Yes, and what would you do then?Well, our expert would have helped us draft a strong "letter of complaint." If things had escalated further, he would have referred us to a good lawyer or explained what payments we were allowed to withhold and what we were not.
Yes, that all sounds good… but in practice, it’s difficult.
How is the expert supposed to assess how serious a defect is? Whether it can be left as is or needs to be redone? And if they say it needs to be redone, will you actually do it if a lawyer says that would be disproportionate?
These are the practical issues that make things difficult.
How is the expert supposed to assess how serious a defect is? Whether it can be left as is or needs to be redone? And if they say it needs to be redone, will you actually do it if a lawyer says that would be disproportionate?
These are the practical issues that make things difficult.
EdStark schrieb:
That would be about €10,000 (approx. $11,000) at the technical inspection authority.What works for elevators might not necessarily be suitable for houses (or even in IT...).
Big name, little substance.