What is a dilapidation report?
It’s important to protect your property, you protect it with insurance in case of rain or fire damage and protect it with home security to ensure that your internal assets are protected. So, when construction work is taking place in your area, it makes sense to protect your property from any potential damages that can occur. That is why a dilapidation report is the best way to protect your home during times of construction.
What is it & what does it do?
A dilapidation report is an independent document that records the current condition of a property at a given point in time, it records any existing damage. A dilapidation report is usually completed of neighbouring properties prior to nearby construction work taking place in adjacent or surrounding areas and is in the best interest of both parties (property owners and builders) as it protects property owners if any damage were to occur as a result of construction and protects builders from any exaggerated claims of damage from property owners.
Construction work can include a variety of work such as a new home build, renovations or drilling and digging to install water supply or sewer pipelines, paths, roads, level crossing removals, tunnels and other government infrastructure projects, all of which can inflict potential structural damage to your property. Demolition and excavation can also have structural effects, as having heavy equipment operating nearby can result in soil slippage or erosion, damage to neighbouring retaining walls and fences and/or damaged paving, driveways and landscaping.
Where does Structerre come in?
At Structerre, our team will undertake a property assessment to carefully survey and document the current internal and external condition of your property. We ensure we compile a detailed report of the requested property, noting any existing building defects such as cracks, gaps and subsidence, as well as noting the conditions of the outside of the property. To ensure the report is as accurate as possible, our engineers complete thorough inspections of the property – providing an outline of the condition of the house with accompanying photos and necessary measurements to give the most accurate picture of the inspected buildings prior to construction work beginning.
If you believe the neighbouring works have affected the condition of your property, we will return to undertake a comparative survey of the areas of concern. At Structerre, we care about our clients and have their best interests at heart. We want to provide a guarantee that we have taken every step to ensure you have the most accurate results and know the best steps forward.
If you are requesting a dilapidation report on neighbouring properties because your property is currently under construction, it is essential to inform your neighbours of this decision, as completing the report will require access to the neighbouring properties and we want to ensure that all parties are aware and have consented to the inspection.
If you have requested the report for your own property as there is neighbouring construction, there is no need to inform your neighbour or the construction team as the report will have limited effect on them, however, we do advise that notice is given in the case that any structural damage occurs.
We are in the business of helping people, and a member of our team will always be available to answer and assist in any query you may have regarding the results, booking or process of dilapidation reports.
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