Structural Reports and Assessments

Subsidence or Settlement Inspection

Subsidence usually refers to problems whereby a building is damaged by a failure in the ground. Settlement refers to a failure of the components of a building (exhibited through visible differential movement).

Signs of subsidence and settlement in buildings are very common and can be the result of many causes (sometimes a combination of more than one cause). In some cases a building can reach a state of equilibrium and if the problem is not too serious nothing further will need to be done. The main reason for an investigation will be to establish the cause of the problem, whether it is likely to get worse and if so what actions should be considered to rectify the situation.

The output from this inspection is a settlement report outlining what was found, an opinion on the cause and suggested actions.

Specific Structural Inspection

As the name suggests, this is restricted to visual observations of specific matters, concerns or problems. These inspections are generally required as a result of previously identified issues, such as partial failure of a beam where movement has been noticed or recent cracking in a wall or floor.

The inspection will be undertaken externally and internally as necessary and the Engineer must be provided with access to all necessary parts including any basements and roof spaces if possible. We do not normally move heavy furniture, lift floor coverings or make exploratory holes during an inspection. If our Engineer considers that access to any area would be unsafe, or potentially unsafe, we will be unable to access such areas unless safety measures are arranged; this may incur an additional cost.

The report associated with an SSI will set out the problem being investigated and will detail the inspection, associated recommendations for further work and/or remedial actions.

General Structural Inspection

A General Structural Inspection will deal with the structural loadbearing elements of the property and does not include those aspects normally dealt within a Surveyor's Report, such as services, decorations, roof coverings and the like, the position of the property with respect to local amenities and the condition of the property with regard to dry rot, timber infestation and dampness.

The structural loadbearing elements normally comprise items such as the roof trusses, rafters, purlins, floor slabs, joists, beams, columns, external walls, internal walls which support other elements and foundations. These elements will be visually assessed (and therefore only parts of the fabric of the building that are accessible are assessed) and an expert opinion formed on the general condition of the structure.The extent of the property to be assessed will be set out in the agreed Statement of Works and generally excludes any detached garages, outbuildings, walls, fences etc unless specifically requested.

Unless noted in the report we will not consider matters such as contaminated land, asbestos or other potentially hazardous materials, nor high alumina cement or other potentially deleterious materials.

Our report will include details of the inspection, our conclusions on the findings and our recommendations for any further investigations, monitoring, repair or remedial works, or other action required.