Our surveyors are armed with camera poles and drones, used alongside high-definition cameras, to allow them to inspect areas that others can’t reach. They get a bird’s-eye view of rooftops and high level areas, meaning potentially serious defects are spotted and explained to house purchasers, so that they know exactly what they are buying and how much to budget for repairs and maintenance.
Our building surveyors carry out RICS Level 2 and Level 3 surveys around the country, helping homebuyers from Liverpool and York down to Bristol, Reading and Cambridge.
Surveys are visual inspections assessing the condition of the property, informing clients of any defects that need addressing and key maintenance requirements. This means that buyers are fully informed about the property they are purchasing.
Everything that can be looked at, is looked at; however, there can be limitations to an inspection if areas are inaccessible. Importantly, many of those limitations can be overcome with the right equipment.
Drones and camera poles are invalauble for getting a close look at roof valleys, chimneys and high level structures in areas where it’s impossible to use a ladder.
Properties like these may present challenges to surveyors. Obstacles around the exterior of the property can prevent the safe use of a ladder, and while roofs can appear in good condition from the ground, we know that without a close inspection defects like slipped tiles and blocked gutters can be missed. Chimneys are also often not fully visible from ground level, but need careful inspection to ensure they are structurally sound and fit for purpose.
In other cases, properties are too tall to allow the use of a ladder to view some or all sections of the roof.
It can also be challenging to get a good visual on high-level valleys; these are often weak points of a roof because they are vulnerable to water and debris accumulation.
In these cases, the roofs looked in fair condition from ground level. However, camera pole inspections revealed slipped slates.
Drones helped our building surveyors identify the debris and vegetation blocking these valleys.
Camera pole investigations are also used to get a closer look at chimneys. The second image shows a capped chimney that was not visible from ground level.
Fortunately in many cases, high level inspections reassure us that there are no significant issues with the roof area, putting our clients’ minds at rest.
Even when defects are identified, our building surveyors can advise on the suitability of patch repairs and the remaining lifespan of the roof, often saving clients from undertaking major, unecessary and costly roof replacement works.
In the cases where a roof is at the end of its lifespan, our surveyors will provide estimated budget costs for remedial works. These are often used by our survey clients to negotiate on the purchase price of a property, saving them much more than the initial cost of the survey.
