Inspection Flashcards
What is the contents of your inspection checklist?
Set of things you might want to consider:
- Immediate area - location, flooding, local market, occupiers, facilties, contamination
- External Inspection - construction method, parking, access, loading, repair and condition, structural movements, defects, vegatation, site boundaries, date of construction
- Internal Inspection - layout, spec, maintenance, repair, asbestos, fixtures, fittings, services
In your liverpool street example, what were the differences in specification?
My unit was the 2nd floor - Cat II lighting, good natural lighting, floor to ceiling height, cat A assumed fit out.
Basemnt unit - relatively good natural lighting, access to rear courtyard, LED lighting, own entrance, demised toilets
Demised parts - right to use end of trip facilities, demised vs right to use
What made you pursue a nil increase in you Liverpool street example?
Hurdle rent for my unit was around £55 psf. The basement was on the market at £50 psf headline, and I felt that it was in many ways better specified than the 2nd floor. Therefore, a nil should be expected.
What did you note down during your Bedford inspection?
Recorded on a GOAD plan the current occupiers, agents boards etc.
Noted difference in footfall and type of occupier on goad.
Specification of the property, had a display staircase so example although wasn’t being used.
Also had a corridor out the back that allowed access to rear bins, not worth anything.
One of the comparables was set back and so when confirming comps I asked whether this was incorporated into the deal - confirmed 3% discount for set back.
What factors did you look out for when addressing whether the units in Hailsham could be occupied separately?
- Access (two separate accesses from road)
- Layout of the suites (if split to rear wouldn’t be possible because no access)
- Power (separate electricity meter)
- Drainage (capped off)
- Water supply (capped off)
What is RAAC? Tell me a bit about it.
Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete.
used in 50s-70s, it was low cost, its a deleterious (deh-li-terious) material, need an engineer if you suspect to have RAAC.
What are some other deleterious materials?
high alumina cement, calcium chloride, wood wool shuttering.
What is an inherent defect?
a defect that has always been there
What is a latent defect?
A defect that couldn’t have been discovered by a reasonably thorough inspection
What are the signs of wet rot?
wet wood, high damp meter reading, fungal growth, musty smell
What are the signs of dry rot?
white strands of fungus with orange fruiting bodies, cuboidal cracking
What can cause cracking in buildings?
- Subsidence
- Heave
- Cavity tie wall failure
- Drying plaster
- Settlement
- Thermal expansion
What is rising damp?
Rising damp is the process of water below ground level entering a property by travelling up through the pores in brickwork. This is known as capillary action. This usually results in a visible “tide-mark” around 1.5m high.
Groundwater also contains salts that travel up through the bricks and cause white marks to form on the internal wall - another common sign of rising damp.
What are the three main types of damp?
- Disrepair such as pluming issues
- Rising Damp
- Condensation
What is the RICS guidance on Japanese Knotweed?
RICS professional standard to Japanese Knotweed and Residential Property 2022
