The exterior inspection is carried out from ground level with the assistance of a magnified view where necessary. We will not damage the property to make an invasive inspection, so we may raise an item as a question to the builder to seek clarification. The industry standard for roof spaces is a “head and shoulders” inspection at the point of the access hatch. Please refer to your terms and conditions for full details on the survey process and limitations.

It is important to note that warranty providers and other such authorities tend to undertake a cost-benefit analysis when considering whether to enforce remedial works for an issue. Any deviation beyond a set tolerance is an important part of the analysis, but it is not the only part. The assessment will also consider the impact the defect has on your enjoyment of the property, and the difficulty of remedial works vs. the expected outcome. However, the decision to pursue a case where a deviation is beyond tolerance is always at your discretion. We are happy to help with opinion and advice on any issue you are facing.

You should be aware that warranty standards for cosmetic defects are largely subjective. For example, the NHBC warranty advises that walls and ceilings should have an "acceptable finished appearance", or that fitted furniture should be free from "conspicuous abrasions or scratches" - the terms "acceptable" and "conspicuous" are naturally open to interpretation.

Additionally, professional surveyors are required to inspect surfaces under specific conditions, such as the lighting and distance for observation.

This means that your surveyor may not include some cosmetic defects where they feel it did not reach the subjective threshold. However, you are always welcome to contact your surveyor if you feel there are any issues that have not been addressed.

The best general advice we can give for a situation where you wish to pursue a case for remedial works and/or compensation is to follow the correct process, as this will put you in the best standing for achieving an appropriate result. What we mean by this is to follow the right channels in the right order – always start with the builder’s own formal complaints process. Raise a case setting out the issues, the timeline, and your desired compensation (make it fair and calculated, as much as possible).

If they do not agree to meet your demands, then you are in the correct position to escalate the issue to the warranty provider. Beyond this you have the option of raising the issue to the Property Ombudsman.

Please contact us if you wish to discuss a specific issue.

At Knott Brothers Limited our aim is always to deliver a high quality service, by conducting a thorough survey according to consistent standards and producing a report for you that is accurate, informative and complete.

Sometimes, however, you may have cause to question our service because you are not happy or not clear about something. In such circumstances we will do everything possible to answer your questions promptly and clearly.

In the first instance, please give us a clear description of your question or concern to make sure that we have a full understanding of it. Our contact details are:

Knott Brothers Limited

1 Meridian South, Meridian Business Park, Leicester, LE19 1WY

0116 403 0404

hello@knottbrothers.com

www.knottbrothers.com

We will:

• Acknowledge your communication within three working days.
• Investigate your concerns and respond fully and in writing within 15 working days of receipt of your communication.
• Keep you informed if there is any delay to the above timeframe. For example, we may need to carry out some further inspections or investigations to provide you with a comprehensive answer.

If you are not satisfied with the answer you are entitled to request a further review. We will provide a final viewpoint within 15 days of your request for a review. In such circumstances we may request, at our expense, that another surveyor visit the property to review the matter of concern, or conduct other further investigations. With our final viewpoint we will provide details of how you can contact The Property Ombudsman who offer an independent redress scheme of which we are members. This service is provided without charge to you.

Your solicitor should conduct a set of legal searches during the purchase of your new property. These include environmental, water and drainage, land registry, chancel repair, title, and coal authority. They may also include flooding, radon, geological, landfill, and gas exploration licensing.

When buying a new property it is usually expected that the local planning application will have dealt with any measures required to address concerns that could be evident from the above searches.

There are also publicly available databases and tools that provide high-level information on several of the above items, however these should never be a substitute for the detailed legal searches.

Please contact us if you have any questions.