Claim examples

Negligent survey report – Residential survey failed to identify cracking in ground floor wall adjacent to the tree. Following purchase property required substantial underpinning.

Residential valuation – Claim for overvaluation pursued by the lender against surveyor following repossession and subsequent forced sale of the property.

Commercial valuation – Lender caught out in mortgage fraud recouped £2,000,000 from a surveyor who had provided the valuation on a nursing home, despite not knowing the borrower and having no experience of commercial valuations. The fee was “too good to ignore…”

Planning claim – Surveyor instructed in a planning and development role in respect of the development of an industrial unit to be used as a storage and distribution depot for a major food manufacturer. Development of the site abandoned and claim for costs pursued against surveyor after it emerged that the correct approaches were not made to the local authority regarding access roads and a local brown-field site earmarked for residential housing.

Commercial property claim – Claim for costs pursued by tenants for alleged failures in property specification following a leasehold agreement entered into. Allegations included the failure of the surveyor and property owners to adequately provide temperature control and lighting conditions for electronic and laser equipment.

Quantity surveying claim – Quantity surveyor over-valued works completed by a contractor.

Expert witness claim – Quantity surveyor recommended a client not to accept a supposedly inadequate payment into court in a contractor’s dispute with a client. The advice was based on incorrect quantity calculations. Paid £600,000.

Architectural claim – Dispute as to the acceptability of sports hall roof height. Roof height needed to be lowered.

Building surveying claim – Alleged negligence following condition survey report. Surveyors instructed to inspect the condition of a residential property, draw up a schedule of repairs and refurbishment work and invite tenders. During refurbishment, work contractors discovered that major structural timber supports required replacement in order to successfully complete work. The claimant argued that if this information had been available, he would not have proceeded with the work.

Rent review claim – Surveyors instructed by the claimant to investigate and negotiate with property freeholder following a rent review. The appeal failed after surveyors lodged an appeal after the deadline set out in the lease agreement.