SURVEYORS PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE CLAIMS

Surveyors are often in a difficult position when it comes to allegations of surveyors professional negligence. This is mainly due to the fact that a surveyor can offer several levels of service that are not clearly understood by members of the public many of whom believe that a basic survey is effectively a full structural survey whereas in truth it mainly relies on a visual inspection without delving deeply into the underlying structure of a property to identify potentially catastrophic hidden defects.

Qualified Surveys

Members of the public who wish to instruct a surveyor directly should always make sure that the terms of reference are comprehensive enough to ensure that the report covers the risk perceived by the person instructing the surveyor. In most cases surveyors are instructed by other professional people on behalf of the client, for example if a bank needs to satisfy themselves about the security for a loan and in most cases the surveyor owes the ultimate client a duty of care and can be sued for any losses on the basis of the law relating to surveyors professional negligence.

Wide Ranging Topic

In addition to providing surveys relating to the condition of property, professional surveyors are often called upon to effectively manage the technical side of construction which may involve set out, subdivision, topographic surveys, strata, shadow diagrams, lease area, boundary definition and 3D visualisations. Clearly there may be substantial sums involved in commercial contracts with the potential for large losses if a surveyors professional negligence results in defective build.

Duty of Care

To succeed in a compensation claim based on a surveyors professional negligence it is necessary to show that there exists a duty of care which is usually present when a surveyor receives instructions and to show that the surveyors behaviour has fallen below a reasonable standard which has lead directly to financial loss now or in the future. It should however be noted that a judge may not ward the full cost of rectification but is more likely to consider any shortfall in value to be appropriate compensation.

Expert Litigation Lawyers

If you believe that you have suffered financial loss due to a surveyors professional negligence we offer free advice without further obligation and may be able to deal with any ultimate compensation claim using the no win no fee scheme. Just use the contact for or email and a specialist solicitor will speak to you without charge and without any further obligation.