Building Surveys

Building surveys by an ALCO surveyor will help you understand what you are really buying.

About our Building Survey Services

A building survey, also known as a structural survey, is a detailed inspection of a property you intend to buy, that will highlight any issues or flaws a potential home may have – new build to period property renovations. The ALCO Properties surveyor will advise on any issues they discover and provide you with the necessary information to make an informed decision about the property purchase, allowing you to budget for future repair works and maintenance services or renegotiate your offer accordingly.

The ALCO surveyor would assess the condition of all parts of the property. Based on the assessment, the surveyor will produce a building survey report and if required an estimate for the required works allowing you to negotiate on your purchase price.

 

Why do I Need a Survey?

Our ALCO building surveys lets you know exactly what you are buying. Older homes will have an odd issue, however there is a big difference between major structural issue or full building renovation and the need to reseal or replace a few windows or doors.

A building survey is optional but is greatly recommended. You do not want to save a few hundred pounds now, only to discover at a later date that the home has an issue that will cost thousands to put right.

Once you have bought your new home, it is yours, flaws and all. The previous owners will not be liable if they had no knowledge of the problem, and you’ll still have a tough time even if they did, so you’ll save time and money by having all the information you need up front.

If you’re purchasing a newer home and just want to know an expert has looked over your property, a HomeBuyer survey may be the best option for you.

 

What does the Survey Include?

During building surveys (structural survey) your ALCO surveyor will check every accessible area of the property. For this survey, the surveyor will go up into the loft/attic, down into cellars, use special equipment to check for damp and mould, check floorboards, windows, and doors, and just about anywhere else a home can show its issues or age.

The ALCO survey will:

  • Provide detailed information about the structure and fabric of the property.
  • Discover problems that need urgent attention.
  • Discover problems that need further investigation to prevent serious damage.
  • Help you decide whether you require further advice before committing to a purchase.
  • Help you understand any ongoing maintenance required in the future.
  • Establish how the property is built, materials used, and how these will perform in the future.
  • Expose potential problems posed by hidden defects.
  • Outline repair options, repair timeline, and explain the consequences of not acting.
  • Provide a longer and more detailed visual inspection of a wider range of issues.
  • Provide a more thorough consideration of the roof space, grounds, floors and services.

ALCO surveyors are not approved, but complete surveys from the opinion of a construction expert and with a property maintenance service background. Our surveyors have a minimum of 15 years’ experience in the construction industry and are cheaper than an official surveyor. However, if your mortgage lender requires an RICS chartered survey please contact a relevant surveyor.

ALCO building surveys are a worthwhile investment that provides all the details and advice as mentioned above.

The cost for this survey is £300-£400 and can include where requested a quote for works required to bring the property up to standard, to the clients desired configuration or specification.

This fee will be reimbursed should you use ALCO to undertake future works on your property.

To find out more information on our building surveys please call us on 01483 573010 or you can email us at info@alcoltd.co.uk. Alternatively, you can contact us via our online contact form and we will reply as soon as we can.

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What our customers say about us

Jane Gallacher
2022-09-20
The workman who did the job was so polite and courteous and never assumed anything, he always asked before doing anything.
neil bouette
2022-08-08
Tom and his team are excellent to work with - great fun, kind, careful, and willing to go the extra mile to make things right. They understood the vision for our unique project and added their own ideas to make it special. They gave a clear quote that they stuck to. The few extras that did arise were agreed in a fair and open way. The team worked around any challenges quickly and provided innovative solutions. I felt I had their full attention and no problem was too tricky. The smart technology they installed along with air-source heat pump and AC has given an extra dimension. The quality of the final build was great, both inside features and the stonework outside. I enjoyed working with Tom and would highly recommend Alco.
Elspeth O'donnell
2021-10-12
A difficult job working between 2 flats but the men were very considerate and lined up each trade as the jobs progressed. This was the second major work ALCO had done for us, and I would use them again.
David Woodman
2021-09-20
Choosing Alco to work on a recent refurbishment was one of the best decisions we made for quite some time. Although I’m a keen DIYer I knew that knocking new doorways in load-bearing walls needed professional expertise. Alco certainly have that & the other work, a new partition wall & replacement coving to match the original Victorian coving was excellent. The men were highly professional & a pleasure to work with. We have other refurbishment projects in the pipeline & wouldn’t dream of using any other builders.
Ben Knight
2021-07-02
We undertook a very extensive, root-and-branch development of house in 2017 for which Tom and his team took on and managed from beginning to end. In around 14 weeks they completely stripped back and rebuilt our home from top to bottom including completely replacing all plumbing and wiring, knocking through structural wall (involving the lagest RSJ i've ever seen), tanking one area of the house, a new dormer, removing and replacing the staircase in a new configuration, building a garage, re-configuring every floor, up to all the decorative work. Across this time we had almost no friction at all with Tom or his team (which is amazing given the scope and significance of this project to us) and Tom was a thoughtful guide who not only delivered the work excellently but also pro-actively encouraged us to consider elements to optimise the build to the point that, 4 years later, we wouldn't change a thing about the way we did it. Tom and the Alco team have many great qualities but the 2 that stand out most to us is the energy with which they attacked the build - we often had 7 or 8 different trades on site working to complete the work on schedule, and Tom's wonderful attention to detail which ensured the highest level of finish (on one occasions i found Tom himself changing the screws in a set of door hinges so they all matched - something i would never have even noticed). Alco are an extremely safe pair of hands for any project - I can't recommend them highly enough
mick smith
2021-06-30
Tom and his team are professional and thorough, good service at a fair price. What you want and need from people working on your home
Rachael Balls
2021-06-29
Lee Graffham
2021-06-25
Couldn’t recommend ALCO more highly, helped me and my wife to extend and create our home in Witley sticking to our budget and to a high quality finish. Tom and his staff are hard workers, friendly and never once phased bye any issues or alterations to our build during or after completion. Have since recommended ALCO to friends and family after our good experience of working with them and will continue to do so in the future too, thank you Tom and all the staff at ALCO.
Rebecca Crosweller
2021-06-10
ALCO did a fantastic and most professional job on our project from start to finish. It was a complex build with lots of unknowns owing to the age of the property, but the team were creative and proactive throughout. We really felt like we got to know everyone well, and that's because Tom and his team are so personable and take such pride in their work. Highly recommend!
Volodymyr Bochkor
2020-02-28
Good company ! They always pay their supplies on time .