Expert Witness
An Expert Witness is a witness who, by virtue of their education, training, skills or experience, has expertise and specialist knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient to help assist court and other bodies to understand issues in legal cases to they can reach a sound and just decision.
Expert Witnesses are appointed by the courts to give an expert opinion in a specific field in order to deliver expert evidence about facts, technical terms or topics and opinions based on a particular case. As Chartered Building Surveyors specialising in disabled accommodation, we are employed as an Expert Witness to offer opinion on issues in court, drawing from our own knowledge, training and experience relating matters such as; the suitability of an existing home and whether it can be appropriately adapted, the design of an appropriate adaptation scheme or new build project.
To find out more about Expert Witness, Contact Us.
Reinstatement Cost Assessments
Ensuring the correct insurance cover is in place for buildings is essential. It is not simply a case of being insured or not, as it often transpires properties are either under-insured (meaning exposure to potential costs in the event of a claim) or over-insured (leading to unnecessarily high premiums.) This is where Reinstatement Cost Assessments (RCAs) come in.
We survey properties in detail to prepare a cost breakdown for its reinstatement, including relevant plant and machinery, costs of demolition, professional fees and statutory fees as relevant. This can then be used by your insurers in the event that the building is subsequently destroyed and a sum needs to be paid out for the reinstatement of the building. RICS recommends that RCAs are carried out every three years and whenever there are significant changes to the buildings, so they are often carried out in tandem with a Building Survey or following the completion of adaptation or modification works.
To find out more about Reinstatement Cost Assessments, Contact Us.
Schedules of Condition
A Schedule of Condition is a factual record of the condition of a property, usually prepared for legal or contractual reasons as a benchmark at the time of inspection against which its condition can be assessed in the future, and any changes identified.
This is important when clients take on rental properties and are usually carried out at the same time as our Property Finding service. Such records are often prepared before construction begins for adjacent properties or structures that will be retained, or if part of a building is being refurbished. This not only helps protect against potential claims from neighbours, who may only begin to notice pre-existing defects in their property when the noise and vibration of construction begins, but can also establish contractor liability for damage to the employer’s properties.
To find out more about Schedules of Conditions, Contact Us.
Lease Plans
A Lease Plan is a scaled metric drawing depicting exactly what area of land is included in the lease. We prepare professional lease and title plans for properties across the UK, which are fully compliant with the Land Registry and prepared using CAD software.
We typically prepare the lease plans within 5 days of the survey and offer revisions if required by the client. Our lease plan and title plan service includes:
- Full measured survey of the property
- Preparation of the lease and title plans
- 5 working day turn around on average
- Fully compliant with the Land Registry
To find out more about Lease Plans, Contact Us.