Instruct a survey

WALKER FRASER & STEELE – CHARTERED SURVEYORS

Standard Terms & Conditions of Engagement

We refer to your instructions received in this office today, requiring us to carry out a limited Valuation Report for Mortgage Purposes. We are obliged by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to seek formal confirmation from you that the scope and extent of the inspection which we shall make, is in accordance with your requirements. A summary of the Conditions of Engagement upon which this valuation will be prepared is provided below.

It is also a requirement of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors that we seek formal confirmation from you before accepting your instructions to proceed with the inspection. We are aware, however, that these requirements are generally laid down to comply with practices South of the Border where the method of purchasing a property is substantially different. For our part we will assume acceptance of the undernoted Conditions of Engagement unless advised by you to the contrary. We would also confirm that we operate a Complaints Handling Procedure and that this is available to you on request in the unlikely event of a dispute.

1. The property will be inspected by a qualified Surveyor to advise upon its suitability for Mortgage Purposes. However, a final decision on whether a mortgage will be granted rests with your chosen lending institution which may impose retentions in line with their lending criteria. The date of valuation will be the date of inspection.
2. The property will be inspected for the purposes of advising upon its suitability for lending purposes. The degree of inspection shall be in accordance with the current guidelines for this type of inspection as issued by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). If there is any doubt as to the scope and extent of the inspection (it is not a survey), we should be contacted prior to the submission of a binding offer to purchase and we shall be happy to provide further information. In the meantime for the avoidance of doubt, we would confirm that sub-floor areas will not be examined and roof voids will be inspected only from the access hatch and without entering the roof space. Common roof voids in buildings such as tenements will not be inspected. The exterior of the property will be inspected from ground level only.
3. It is recognised that a fully detailed survey of the property is neither required nor instructed. We are specifically not to inspect parts of the property that are covered, unexposed or inaccessible. Floor coverings and furnishings will not be removed. As a consequence, we shall, in preparing our valuation and recommendation, be entitled to assume that such parts of the property are outwith the scope of the inspection and free from defect and that there are no conditions in the adjoining properties which could have an adverse effect on the subject property. Unless otherwise expressly stated we have, in arriving at our opinion of value, made the following normal assumptions:
   1. The property is unaffected by adverse Planning, Road or other proposals, or any other known proposals to amend, alter, or develop any adjacent land or buildings which could have an adverse effect on the subjects under review. We shall be under no obligation to make any property enquiries at Local Authority offices.
   2. The property is held in Absolute Ownership (previously Feudal Tenure), and is not affected by any unusual or onerous title conditions or outgoings, and that a good title can be given.
   3. All alterations to the property have been properly regulated or that they can be properly regulated at minimal cost and that, where necessary, the superior’s approval has been obtained.
   4. We shall be obliged to value the heritable parts of the property only on the basis that an inspection of those parts of the property which have not been inspected would neither reveal material defects nor cause us to alter the valuation materially.
   5. The services will not be tested and are assumed to be in a functioning condition conforming to current regulations. Where electricity, gas, water and drainage are installed that they are a mains facility. In the case of non-mains water and drainage we will assume these facilities are satisfactory and have been or would be approved by the appropriate authority.
   6. The property and the immediately adjoining properties and locality are free from any contamination or any deleterious materials and that no high alumina cement, concrete, or calcium chloride additives were used in the construction of the subjects.
   7. Market Value (MV) is "the estimated amount for which a property should exchange on the date of valuation between a willing buyer and a willing seller in an arms-length transaction after proper marketing and wherein the parties had acted knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion".
4. Special conditions and assumptions relating to asbestos: -
   1. The valuer will not carry out an asbestos inspection, and will not be acting as an asbestos inspector in completing a valuation inspection of properties that may fall within the Control of Asbestos at Workplaces Regulations 2002.
   2. No enquiry of the duty holder, as defined in the Control of Asbestos in the Workplace Regulations 2002, of the existence of an asbestos register, or of any plan for the management of asbestos will be made.
   3. Your Legal Advisor/Conveyencer should confirm the duty holder under these regulations, the availability of an Asbestos Register and the existence and management of any asbestos containing materials.
   4. For the purposes of this valuation, we have assumed that there is a duty holder, as defined in the Control of Asbestos in the Workplace Regulations 2002 and that a Register of Asbestos and effective Management Plan is in place, which does not require any immediate expenditure, or pose a significant risk to health, or breach the HSE Regulations.
5. The clients undertake to pay the fee in accordance with our current level of charges. We reserve the right to withhold the report until payment of our fee.
6. It should be noted that Walker Fraser & Steele have no vested interest in the outcome of this transaction. Unless otherwise stated we are external Valuers as defined in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Appraisal and Valuation Standards (Fifth Edition).
7. It is recommended that this report be passed to the client’s Solicitor immediately to obtain independent legal advice.
8. In accordance with RICS recommendations we must state that this report is for the use only of the party to whom it is addressed, and their named client and no responsibility is accepted to any third party for the whole or any part of it’s content. However, in line with local Scottish Practice, we reserve the right to make the report available to other parties, and, if required to their lending institution.
9. As part of our remit, we may, where we feel qualified and experienced to do so, provide general comment on standard appropriate supplementary documentation, presented to us by the client’s lender and conveyencer. In the event of a significant amount of documentation being provided to us, an additional fee may be incurred. Any additional fee will be agreed in writing.
10. If the valuation report is received before or at the same time as this confirmation of your instructions and our Terms and Conditions, we have departed from the requirements of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Appraisal and Valuation Standards (Fifth Edition). This is due to time restrictions created by the traditional procedures for buying properties in Scotland.
11. Attention is drawn to the fact that if a subsequent transcription of this report is prepared on a lender’s individual report form, the wording, recommendations or phraseology may differ to comply with the lender’s specific reporting format.
12. The buildings Insurance figure provided, is an opinion of an appropriate sum for which the property and substantial outbuildings should be insured against total destruction on a re-instatement basis assuming reconstruction of the property in its existing design and materials. Furnishings and fittings are excluded. No allowance has been included for inflation during the insurance period or during re-construction and no allowance has been made for VAT, other than on professional fees. Further discussion with your insurers is advised.