BSI Surveyors

[Pangur]

We have just commissioned a building survey using www.adia.org and I thought others might find our experiences useful.

I contacted them a week before I was planning to get a surveyor in and gave them the surface habitable.  They told us once we'd confirmed, they'd send us the contact details of an architect in our area (74) who'd be able to do the survey for us.  When I confirmed, they said they would send me the contact details the next day, which they duly did.  We called the architect on Friday morning and he fixed an appointment for the following Monday.  We may just have been very lucky with the chosen architect, but he was helpful in the extreme, and quite happy for us to follow him around the house as he explained all the elements he was surveying, offering tips and pointers.  We received a detailed BSI report which basically gave us a to-do list for the next 10 years The report was posted to us within 2 days and he called the day it arrived to see if we'd got it and to tell us to make sure to call him if we had any queries.

He also came out on a second visit as we couldn't get into the cave on the first, which he certainly didn't have to do, and came for a coffee to discuss the findings further and gave advice on the best way to progress.  Obviously it is a good client introduction for him, and we will certainly be going back to him when we need an architect.  I'm sure it may be pot luck as to who they send, but we were extremely happy.

They charge €450 standard and a couple of hundred extra for larger places.  I have to say it was money very well spent, and we feel it gave us a very realistic idea of exactly what needed to be done if we were to buy the place.  This is the first time we have tried to buy a house so I'm not sure how the BSI might compare to the usual UK survey.  We do have a reasonable standard of French so didn't need to get a translator but the website is also in English so I'm sure they are used to anglophone clients.

Obviously I reserve the right to take it all back if we buy and the place falls down

[Ron Avery]

Architect and surveyor?  Is there such a person in France?   I have met many architects but they were all what I would call a project manager.

I am sure that you found value for money with your " architect" but what did you get for your £300?  Have you any come back if he missed the termites or the large crack down the chimney or that next door's land gives you no access to your property?. 

Is this a case of fishing, just chucking out the bait of a detailed survey and then reeling you in?  "All this work needs doing sir, and I KNOW just the man to get it done for you"

[Pangur]

You're so cynical Ron

The guy was a registered liberal architect who specialises in building techniques/diagnostics. He doesn't do chef de projet, so the only further work he would ever get out of us was drawing up plans for a possible extension.  All other work that he recommended be done was not going to put another cent in his pocket, nor was he pushing or recommending others, other than to stress how important it was that they were registered and we got references.

As I understand it, a registered architect in France is a professional covered by insurance and all the architects used by Adia are similarly qualified.  We weren't buying a barn that needs a lot of renovation so this survey seemed right for us. 

[Ron Avery]

Good to hear that you had a good experience with your man and glad your man is genuine,

 I, and expect others here, have met some of the kind I described. With many of us buying tumble down ruins, and the fact that pre-purchase surveys are not that common, well up to now anyway, there has not been a great demand for "structural" surveys or for that matter surveyors.  There was a thread on this a few weeks back.  Also "architect" can cover a multitude of activities that we would not normally associate with the term on the UK,

By the way, do you know what professional body your people come under and what recourse you would have were your scenario of "if we buy and the place falls down" occur?

[Pangur]

He's insured and accredited as a professional architect, specialising in building techniques and that is good enough for me.  Architects don't just design houses - there are a range of specialisms and you wouldn't necessarily ask the same people to give you structural advice and design an avant-garde loft conversion. 

If the house fell down, we would also have to take responsibility for the decision we made based on the information we were given.  I'm not British, and have never gone through this exercise in the UK so I'm afraid I don't know the differences between French and UK architects and surveyors.   

Anyway, I'd recommend them and others can make their own decisions based on their own needs and wants

[hastobe]

We had a survey done on a property we were considering buying before

Christmas (by a qualified UK Chartered Surveyor who lives and works in

France).  It cost a few hundred but saved us thousands as it

turned out that the house had subsidence and would have needed complete

underpinning. 

We used the same surveyor again for the property we are now buying and,

again, received a very comprehensive and balanced report within 24

hours of the survey - and absolutely no pushy selling of 'mates in the

trade'.  We now have a list of jobs that need to be undertaken -

highlighting those items that need doing urgently (leaking in the joint

between two sections of the roof, replacement of very dangerous

unearthed supply in one of the rooms).  We were anticipating a

complete reroofing job which he has told us is not, in fact, necessary.

I wouldn't dream of buying a house in the UK without a survey so why

should I throw caution to the wind when buying in France? Particularly

when you consider the number of French properties that have structural

problems following the 2003 draught.

Imho - the idiot is the person who risks thousands in order to save a

few hundred quid. I was always advised that you only risk what you can

afford to lose - I guess we are just not rich enough....

Hastobe

The surveyor is based in 47 and I can supply details if anyone wants

them - and I'm only connected to him as a satisfied customer

[Debra]

These surveys sound just like the structural survey we had on our house in the UK, which was a lot more expensive than has been quoted here.  We didn't have one on our French house as the usual "Homebuyer Report" type surveys we have in the UK usually tell you what you can see yourself anyway and the house seemed habitable and nothing immediately looked dodgy.  Our UK house had a few cracks we wanted to be sure weren't a big problem, hence the building survey.  So it was more for peace of mind than anything.  I must admit, we've found some strange things in our France house and wonder if we should perhaps have a survey, even now after we've bought it,  just to make sure there is nothing really dodgy and unsafe!  This could be because I've never owned a stone house before and don't feel so confident about spotting things - or if I do, knowing that they're nothing serious.

[hastobe]

Just noticed that this another bumped old post - gremlins at it again [*-)]- but I guess the comments are still valid....

Hastobe

[Debra]

Recent compared to some of the others though!

[Will]

This - as with about 16 other old topics concerning surveyors and lawyers - was reactivated a couple of days ago thanks to somebody using them for apparent advertising of certain French companies. Making and deleting those posts caused the topics to reappear in the active list, so it was not gremlins as such this time.