What lies beneath

A building survey is expensive, at about €450 for a standard survey (including VAT), but it does bring peace of mind. Essentially, a survey tells you whether the price you are paying for your new home is worth it.

For instance, you may have the money to pay for the home but if, once you’re in, you find that the house doesn’t have proper foundations or the roof timbers are rotting then you will need to find thousands of euro from somewhere. A survey could also unearth aspects of the property that are in breach of planning or building regulations or it could find that an extension you thought just needed an overhaul actually has to be taken down and replaced.

Once you know what lies beneath the surface of your potential purchase you may be able to negotiate on price and if you plan to renovate the home it will also give you an indication of just how much work needs to be done.

But while a survey provides all of these benefits, it is not necessarily the last word on the subject.

When one friend was buying a two-bedroom house in Dublin, the survey came back saying the roof needed replacing, the extension was not properly built and would need to be demolished and that the house needed rewiring, repointing and replumbing, along with other works, at an estimated cost of €72,000.

The buyer took this to the estate agent and asked for a price reduction but was told this wouldn’t be possible.

He decided to buy the house anyway and spoke to a builder who told him the roof was fine, as was the extension (which needed a lot of internal work and a new concrete floor), and his bill (for extensive internal works) came to €30,000.

The home-owner realised that the surveyor had to cover all eventualities.

Another couple had a survey done in which the house was sound but the surveyor advised against buying it because the house was dark (true), as it was overshadowed by an office building to one side.

They went ahead and bought it, reconfigured some rooms to put the living spaces in the sunnier part of the house (upstairs), and have been happy there for 20 years.

For a registered surveyor go to the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland website at scsi.ie.